Rory McIlroy feels his closing 62 was just the confidence booster he needed ahead of next week’s DP World Tour Championship as he looks to clinch a fourth successive Race to Dubai crown and seventh overall.
McIlroy can move to within one of Collin Montgomerie’s eight order of merit titles if he can hold off his closest challenger in the rankings Marco Penge land the Harry Vardon Trophy next week at the Earth Course.
The Holywood man holds a strong advantage at the top of the rankings and he would love to close out a career defining season in style with a fourth DP World Tour Championship title and leave nothing to chance.
“I really like that golf course. It really suits me. Probably suits me a little bit better than this course does this week just in terms of what you need to do off the tee and into the greens. Yeah, look, this was a great confidence-builder this week coming off a couple weeks off and hopefully just produce more of the same next Thursday and onwards.”
McIlroy came up shy of Aaron Rai at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship but still managed to create history after he closed with a career low 62 at Yas Links.
McIlroy fired a sensational eight birdies and an eagle in a bogey free round to set the clubhouse target at 24-under but with Rai and Tommy Fleetwood left with three to play they found the necessary birdies to force a playoff on -25 to deny McIlroy the opportunity of a first title at this tournament.
Teeing off six shots behind Rai, McIlroy needed to run the tables and then some but an electric start of birdie, eagle raised a few eyebrows.
Four pars came before a birdie at the 7th and as he turned in 32 it looked like his race was run and a first title at this event would have to wait another year.
But the Masters champion roared into contention with five straight birdies to start a sumptuous back nine and he closed with a birdie on the last for his lowest round on the DP World Tour – the perfect tonic ahead of next week.
“I got off to a really good start. I was 3-under through two. Hit two great shots into the first, two great shots into the second, converted. And then stalled a little bit on the front nine. I birdied 7 to get to 4-under.
“I played the front nine very well this week, and then it was on the back nine that I couldn’t really get anything going. But I started the back nine with getting five birdies in a row. Drove it on to the 10th green again. Hit a couple of really good wedges in that stretch and knocked them in.
“Once I was 9-under through 14, I thought, okay, if I can post a number here, I knew 15, 16, 17, were playing tough back into the wind off the left.
“I did hit a good wedge shot on 15. Just got caught by the wind a built.
“16 and 17, I watched the a Aaron and Tommy played those two holes, and they played them unbelievably well. Yeah, just it’s hard to make birdies on those holes and I knew on 18, the one thing I said to Harry walking off the green is “At least we are going to make them earn it no matter what happens.”
“Obviously ended up one short but great day of golf, and a great way to end the week. And also a great way to sort of go into next week into Dubai, as well.”
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