DP World Tour Championship: Rory McIlroy beaten by Matt Fitzpatrick in play-off after dramatic finish to Race to Dubai season | Golf News

Rory McIlroy secured the Race to Dubai for the fourth year running despite narrowly missing out to Matt Fitzpatrick in a thrilling finish to the DP World Tour Championship.

An incredible final day of the DP World Tour season saw a host of players challenging for victory at Jumeirah Golf Estates, where Matt Fitzpatick broke clear of a congested leaderboard to close a bogey-free 66 and set the clubhouse target at 18 under.

McIlroy started with a share of the lead and briefly let a two-shot advantage slip during the back nine, only to deliver a dramatic 15-foot eagle on the final hole to force his Ryder Cup team-mate into extra holes.

The players returned to the par-five 18th for a play-off, where McIlroy found water with his tee shot and Fitzpatrick’s poor approach left both players missing the green with their third shot.

The world No 2 splashed out of the greenside bunker to 20 feet but missed his putt for par, as Fitzpatrick got up and down to close out his first worldwide title victory since October 2023 and secure the season finale for a third time.

McIlroy’s runner-up finish extended his winning margin in the season-long Race to Dubai standings, ensuring he would win the Harry Vardon Trophy for a seventh time and move within one of Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight Order of Merit titles.

Fellow Ryder Cup stars Ludvig Åberg and Tommy Fleetwood shared third place with Laurie Canter and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, while Rasmus Hojgaard finished three strokes back in seventh ahead of Robert MacIntyre, Angel Ayora and Haotong Li.

Fitzpatrick pips McIlroy in final-day thriller

Sixteen players went into the final day within three strokes of the lead, with Haotong Li’s four birdies in the first five holes and Canter’s fast start lifting both ahead of McIlroy before the overnight co-leader had teed off.

McIlroy quickly hit the front with a birdie-birdie start before adding another from close range at the fifth and taking advantage of the par-five seventh, which moved him two ahead when Canter followed four birdies in his first seven holes by three-putting the eighth for bogey.

Justin Rose also briefly co-led after playing a three-hole stretch in four under on his front nine, including a 50-foot eagle at the par-three sixth, while Fitzpatrick holed from a similar distance at the fourth during a run of three birdies in five holes.

McIlroy cancelled out a birdie at the 11th with a dropped shot at the next to lose his outright advantage, with Canter alongside him on 17 under after holing a long-range birdie at the 14th.

Fitzpatrick – playing in the penultimate group – made his move when he also took advantage of the 14th and drained a 25-footer at the next, while Åberg pitched in from off the 12th green and birdied the last to set the initial clubhouse target at 17 under.

McIlroy slipped one behind when he found the fairway bunker off the 16th tee on his way to an untimely bogey, with the Northern Irishman briefly in fifth when Canter closed a final-round 67 and Fleetwood made five birdies on the back nine to make it a four-way tie at the top.

Fitzpatrick broke clear of the pack with a six-foot birdie at the last, while Neergaard-Petersen made an eagle and two birdies in a late scoring burst to leave him and playing partner McIlroy both requiring a final-hole eagle to extend the tournament.

Neegaard-Petersen fell agonisingly short, with a tap-in birdie leaving him tied-second, with McIlroy’s eagle forcing his fourth worldwide play-off of the season before he narrowly missed out on a successful title defence.

More to follow..

What’s next?

The new DP World Tour season begins with the BMW Australian PGA Championship from November 27-30, held at Royal Queensland GC in Brisbane and live on Sky Sports.

McIlroy returns to action the following week in the Crown Australian Open at Royal Melbourne GC, the same week the Nedbank Golf Challenge takes place at Gary Player CC in South Africa, with both events also live on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the DP World Tour and more with no contract.

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