Rory McIlroy bids to create more history this week in Dubai as the Race to Dubai concludes with the DP World Tour Championship.
McIlroy is the front-runner to banish heartache from his near miss at the US Open and complete the season with a sixth Order of Merit title at the Earth Course, which would bring him to within two of Colin Montgomerie’s eight crowns.
The Northern Irishman’s only remaining competition comes in the form of South African Thriston Lawrence.
The world No. 47 has accumulated most of his points through five runner-up finishes and five more top-10s and trails McIlroy by 1,785.02 points.
McIlroy must finish solo 11th or better to guarantee the title, while Lawrence is bidding for a first win of the season from the 50-player field just to stand a chance.
“I do feel in a good position. I saw Thriston making a charge today, and I was keeping one eye on the leaderboard and looking at what he was doing. I saw he posted 20-under.
“Obviously I wanted to birdie the last, anyway, but I know that birdie, even if it isn’t to win the tournament this week, it obviously gives me that little bit extra of a cushion going into next week.
“Every shot counts at this moment in time, and I was glad to make the four at the last and at least give myself half a chance at this tournament this week but also give myself a little bit more of a cushion going into Dubai next week as well.”
The consolation prize for Lawrence is one of 10 PGA Tour cards handed out to DP World Tour golfers, enabling him to tee it up against the best in the world on a more regular basis.
“I’m just proud of myself and how patient I stayed and just executed a lot of good shots,” Lawrence said. “Stayed committed out there, and my putter was working nicely. Everything just worked out perfectly, and unfortunately not my week this week but hopefully next week.
“Just points-wise, I’m looking at the leaderboard, I’m 19-under but I’m not even on the leaderboard. There’s so many guys on 20-under. I knew that was crucial just to get a top five or top six, at least, just depending how the guys finished.”
Rasmus Hojgaard and Paul Waring are also in contention to land the lucrative pass to the PGA Tour, with Jordan Smith also in contention for that final spot.