An emotional Rory McIlroy hailed winning his seventh Race to Dubai title and surpassing Seve Ballesteros as more than he ever dreamed.
McIlroy put on a dramatic late comeback to take an eagle on the final hole at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, but lost in a playoff to Matt Fitzpatrick.
As his Ryder Cup teammates celebrated their third win in the competition, the Northern Irishman took home his season-long crown, beating the late Ballesteros’ six wins and moving one ahead of record holder Colin Montgomerie.
McIlroy told Sky Sports: “It’s amazing. I had a conversation with Carmen (Ballesteros’ ex-wife) before we went out to play today and she told me how proud he would be.
“He means so much to this tour and to the European Ryder Cup team. We rally so much around his spirit, his quotes and everything he gave to European golf.
“It was cool to match him last year, but to surpass him this year is really cool because I never would have gotten this far in my wildest dreams.”
McIlroy has also set his sights on Montgomery’s mark, adding: “I want it (eight titles), of course I do. I want to be the first European to win a Grand Slam and the European with the most wins in terms of the Order of Merit and races in a season.”
Fitzpatrick started the final day in a group of six players with a one-shot lead over McIlroy and Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.
McIlroy started the final round in style, finishing the first seven holes at 4 under to move to the top of the leaderboard.
But despite his stumbles, Fitzpatrick made a birdie at the end to finish the round with a bogey-free 66, forcing a playoff with McIlroy and Neergaard-Petersen both claiming eagles, and moving into pole position for the win.
– Rory McIlroy loses to Matt Fitzpatrick in playoff to win Euro title
While the Dane was staggering, the Masters champion sunk a putt from about 15 feet to force overtime, but Fitzpatrick won after both players missed the green on their approach shots.
“He (McIlroy) is one of the few guys who knows he’s going to go to the playoffs. He can play one game with two games left, but he knows he’s going to go to the playoffs in typical Rory fashion,” Fitzpatrick said.
“Obviously I struggled at the beginning of the year. To turn it around like I did in the summer, it’s hard to win the Ryder Cup the same way, but the way I played today, I had one bad shot all day. I’m very proud of myself.”
Tommy Fleetwood was in a group of four including Neergaard Petersen, who tied for third after the 67th and final race, but Tyrrell Hatton, the only player who started the final day with the faint hope of stopping McIlroy from winning the Race to Dubai title, dropped down the field and finished in a shared 14th place.
