Rory McIlroy is once again King of the European Tour.
He won the Race To Dubai on Sunday for the third time with a closing 66 that edged Andy Sullivan by a shot in the DP World Tour Championship.
It was a double-double for Rory. It was the second time he’s won both the season-ending championship and the Race To Dubai. He did it for the first time in 2012.
It did not come easy for the World’s No. 3 as he went head-to-head with Sullivan, who was both skilled and stubborn during the 18-hole showdown.
Sullivan got the start he wanted and needed with birdies on the first two holes that stretched his lead over McIlroy from one shot to three as McIlroy bogeyed the fourth hole. McIlroy cut into the lead when he birdied the seventh to make three in a row then found himself back within a shot when Sullivan bogeyed the eighth, his first bogey in 21 holes.
McIlroy took charge on the back nine with four birdies in five holes starting at the 11th and he walked off the 15th green with a two-shot lead. Both parred the difficult 16th and McIlroy appeared to be in cruise control.
But then McIlroy hit what might have been his worst shot of the tournament at the par three 17th. He fanned his tee shot and found the water right of the island green. His third shot, a wedge, stopped well short of the hole, about 16 feet and it appeared McIlroy might give up all of his two-shot lead with a double-bogey staring him in the face.
It was then that he hit the most important putt of the day when he holed the 16-footer for bogey to carry a one-shot lead to the 18th where both missed the fairway left and settled for pars on the home hole.
“It means an awful lot,” McIlroy said after the hard-fought win over Sullivan, who finished the day with a 68. “I had to play so well over the weekend. Dubai has been a pretty sweet place for me.”
McIlroy finished at 21-under par for the championship, Sullivan 20 while Branden Grace was alone in third at 15-under par.
Danny Willett didn’t have much hope of getting close to McIlroy. His final 70 did earn him the runner-up spot in the overall Race To Dubai points list.
For McIlroy, it was his 12th victory on the European Tour.
