Rory McIlroy hailed surpassing Seve Ballesteros by winning a seventh Race to Dubai title as more than he ever dreamed of, despite losing in a playoff against Matt Fitzpatrick in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
McIlroy staged a dramatic late fightback with an eagle at the 72nd hole to force a playoff, but Fitzpatrick prevailed after both players missed the green with their approach shots. While his Ryder Cup teammate celebrated a third win in the event, the Northern Irishman clinched the season-long crown to eclipse the late Ballesteros's tally of six and move one behind record-holder Colin Montgomerie.
McIlroy told Sky Sports: 'It's amazing, I had a conversation with Carmen [Ballesteros's ex-wife] before I went out to play today and she told me how proud he would have been. He means so much to this tour and the European Ryder Cup team. To equal him last year was cool, but to surpass him this year, I didn't get this far in my dreams, so it's very cool.'
McIlroy also set his sights on Montgomerie's mark, adding: 'I want it [eight titles], 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 order of merit and season-long races.'
Fitzpatrick had started the final day among a group of six players one shot behind McIlroy and Denmark's Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen. McIlroy began the final round in style and moved clear at the top of the leaderboard after going four under through the first seven holes. But, as he stumbled, Fitzpatrick put himself in pole position by landing a birdie at the last to complete a bogey-free round of 66, leaving McIlroy and Neergaard-Petersen requiring eagles to force a playoff.
While the Dane faltered, the Masters champion sank his putt from about 15 feet to set up the playoff. Fitzpatrick said: 'He [McIlroy] is one of only a few where you know you are going to a playoff. You are two clear with one to play and you know you are going to a playoff because he did it again in typical Rory fashion. I struggled at the start of the year, obviously, and to turn it round in the summer like I did, have the Ryder Cup like I did which is hard to top, but the way I played today – there was one bad shot all day. So proud of myself.'
