Rory McIlroy looking to finish out the European Tour season with a win
When the European Tour's Final Series began a little less than three weeks ago, Rory McIlroy said his goal for the four-event series was to score a win.
He flailed to a disappointing finish on Sunday at the Turkish Airlines Open.
He wound up in a tie for 11th at the WGC-HSBC Champions.
After skipping the exiting BMW Masters, McIlroy has one last crack at finding a fourth worldwide win in 2015 this week at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. There are few better places for the Ulsterman to notch a victory. He won here in 2012, and since the tournament started in 2009, he's finished outside the top five just once, a T-11 finish in 2011.
A win here would also give the Race to Dubai, the tour's season-long points race, to McIlroy for the third time in four years. McIlroy comes into the season finale with a slim lead over Danny Willett, who has played 10 more events than McIlroy this season. If he wins the tournament, McIlroy will get a $1.875 million bonus as Race to Dubai champion.
McIlroy was surprised to maintain his lead in the standings after last week's event in China, and he's happy to have control over his fate.
"I didn't quite think I'd be in this position, and coming into this event, especially after taking the week off last week, but a few of the guys didn't capitalize on that in China thankfully and I find myself in a position where it's totally in my hands," he said Tuesday. "If I go out and win the tournament, I win the overall thing no matter what anybody else does, and that's a nice position to be in."
McIlroy not only has to concern himself with Willett but also with Henrik Stenson, the two-time defending champion whose record in this event is even better than that of the four-time major winner. McIlroy maintained that it doesn't matter who's chasing him down, so long as he comes out on top.
"I just want to win the tournament," he said. "I don't care who finishes second, who finishes third. If I am the champion at the end of the week, it means that I win The Race to Dubai and that's all I'm really thinking about."
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
