McIlroy clinches seventh overall title, as Fitzpatrick wins in Dubai

DP World Tour Championship - final leaderboard

-18 M Fitzpatrick (Eng)*, R McIlroy (NI)

Selected: -17 R Neergaard-Petersen (Den), T Fleetwood (Eng), L Canter (Eng), L Aberg (Swe); -15 R Hojgaard (Den); -14 R MacIntyre (Sco); -12 T Hatton (Eng), J Rose (Eng); -9 M Penge (Eng)

* denotes won via play-off

"I did not get this far in my dream."

It has been quite the year for Rory McIlroy and despite being beaten to the DP World Tour Championship title by Matt Fitzpatrick, the emotion of his achievements in 2025 came spilling out on Sunday.

Completing the Grand Slam by winning the Masters in April was the highlight of four victories that included Pebble Beach in February, the prestigious Players Championship in March and the Irish Open in September.

There was also a starring role in helping Europe win a first away Ryder Cup in the United States since 2012.

And he has ended the season by clinching a seventh Race to Dubai title - eclipsing Seve Ballesteros' tally of six and leaving him one behind Colin Montgomerie's record of winning the European tour's season-long race eight times.

"I had a conversation with Carmen [Ballesteros' former wife] before I went out to play and she told me how proud he would have been," said an emotional McIlroy on Sky Sports, his voice choking up as he held back the tears.

"He means so much to this Tour and the European Ryder Cup team. We rally so much around his spirit, his quotes and everything he meant for European golf.

"To surpass him this year, I did not get this far in my dream."

And on chasing Montgomerie's record, he added: "I want it. Of course I do.

"I was the first European to win the Grand Slam and I would love to be the European with the most wins in terms of the season-long races."

For a long time on Sunday it looked like McIlroy would also win the final event of the DP World Tour's season, holding a two-shot lead midway through the round before faltering down the stretch with bogeys on the 12th and 16th holes seeing him drop out of the lead.

Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, was serenely putting together a bogey-free round of 66. Three birdies in the opening five holes were followed by a run of eight pars and three birdies in his final five holes, including one on the last as he surged into the lead.

That left McIlroy and his playing partner Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen needing to hole eagle putts on the last to force a play-off. Neergaard-Petersen missed from around 20 feet.

McIlroy learned the line and holed his 15-footer. And, as he did at the Irish Open in September, roared with delight.

But unlike in Ireland, McIlroy was unable to win the play-off, handing Fitzpatrick the advantage by hitting his tee shot into water and then failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker as he posted a six.

Fitzpatrick, who played the hole more conservatively, was also off the green after three shots, but played a delightful chip and tapped in for a five.

"It means the world," said the beaming Englishman who overcame poor form early in 2025 to qualify for the Ryder Cup team and finish the year on a high.

"I struggled at the start of the year and to turn it round in the summer and have the Ryder Cup I did is hard to top, but the way I played today, there was one bad shot all day.

"I'm so proud of myself. The effort everyone puts in behind the scenes. What a feeling."

More to follow.