Race to Dubai winner McIlroy wants to finish on a high

The golfing spotlight turns to Dubai this week where the top 50 players go toe-to-toe in the $10 million DP World Tour Championship, the fifth and final Rolex Series event of the year which will be played at the Jumeirah Golf Estate.

Needless to say, the field is flush with high-quality players among them a supremely talented trio who have won the event seven times between them since 2015 – Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Although the Race to Dubai honours have been decided, somewhat prematurely, there is still a lot to play for over the next four days at the Greg Norman-designed Earth course, which was built specifically for championships and launched in 2009

Among the star-studded field teeing off at 8:30 am (UAE) on Thursday morning are all ten of the players who represented the winning European Ryder Cup side and a clutch of rapidly emerging talents.

Australian Min Woo Lee, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, will be joined by exciting youngsters like Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard, Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune and Germany’s Yannik Paul, who will all be looking for a life-changing status to their careers as the new year approaches.

All eyes will be on McIlroy, the recently crowned 2023 Order of Merit winner, who looked in sparkling form during a practice round over the 7,675 yards, par-72 Earth course on Monday.

The 34-year-old Northern Irishman, who narrowly missed winning a fifth major title at the US Open when he finished second to Wyndham Clark, sent out an ominous warning to his rivals when he said that he had come to Dubai with just one intention, to win.

“This golf course sets up well for me and it's a place I've always done well at,” he said. "It's nice to come in here with at least that (Race to Dubai battle) off my mind so I can just concentrate on the golf tournament.

“I'd say I went through a period in my career where I didn't prioritise it, I guess. I won my third one in 2015 and if you look at 2016 through to 2021, I probably could have done more to try to prioritise it.

All in all, it looks like the next four days are going to serve up some spectacular golf filled with birdies and eagles and a potentially magical finish on Sunday when the winner will take home a tidy $3 million for his effort.