Fitzpatrick and McIlroy deliver Dubai drama
Play-off tension, season-long triumph, and a finish worthy of champions
Seoul, Korea - Matt Fitzpatrick claimed the DP World Tour Championship title for the third time and Rory McIlroy secured a record-extending seventh Race to Dubai crown after a gripping finale on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
Fitzpatrick, 31, reached a play-off after a late surge of birdies on the 14th, 15th and 18th lifted him to 18 under par, erasing a deficit that had grown to three shots with six holes left following a run of eight pars from the sixth.
His closing three at the last looked likely to seal victory outright, breaking free from a pack on 17 under that included Ludvig Åberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Laurie Canter.
But McIlroy produced a moment of brilliance worthy of his Masters and Career Grand Slam pedigree. After bogeys at the 12th and 16th cost him the lead, he fired a superb second into 16 feet at the 72nd hole and rolled in the eagle putt to join Fitzpatrick at the summit.
The first extra hole saw neither man reproduce those heroics. McIlroy found the creek from the tee and, after taking a penalty drop, saw his third finish in a bunker. Fitzpatrick was also unable to find the green with his third, but his touch around the putting surfaces had been exemplary all week. He clipped his fourth to inside three feet, leaving McIlroy needing to hole a 20-footer to survive. He could not, and Fitzpatrick tapped in to close out the win.
Fitzpatrick’s victory lifted him to third on the final Race to Dubai Rankings, while McIlroy’s consolation for missing a third Tour title of the season was finishing as Europe’s No.1 for the fourth consecutive year and seventh overall. His latest crown moves him one ahead of Seve Ballesteros and to within one of Colin Montgomerie’s all-time record.
The week also confirmed the ten players earning dual PGA TOUR membership for 2026: Marco Penge, Laurie Canter, Kristoffer Reitan, Adrien Saddier, Alex Noren, John Parry, Haotong Li, Keita Nakajima, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Jordan Smith.