The cream certainly rose to the top in the first leg of this year’s DP World Tour Playoff Series, with elegant Englishman Aaron Rai outduelling FedEx Cup champ Tommy Fleetwood in a pulsating final round at the Yas Links. Rai- who was probably slightly unfortunate to find himself on the periphery of the Ryder Cup conversation- missed a chance to win the tournament in regulation when his birdie putt grazed the cup at the 18th.
Tommy Fleetwood has been on a heater these past few months, but he couldn’t catch an inspired Rai, who birdied the first playoff hole to win his first DP World Tour title since the 2020 Scottish Open (where he curiously also beat Fleetwood in a playoff). The result has vaulted Rai to 9th in the Race in Dubai standings and underlined the depth of talent in European golf.
McIlroy inches closer to season-ending honours
Rory McIlroy is the Michael Myers of European golf, getting where he needs to be while expending little energy in the process. McIlroy seemed to be going through the motions at Yas Links, just hovering in and around Race to Dubai challenger Marco Pegne. But he locked in on Sunday, going full beserker mode to shoot his best round on this year’s DP World Tour season (62). That result vaulted him into a tie for 3rd, strengthening his grip on a 7th Harold Varder Trophy (and 4th in succession).
Monty nostalgia
Colin Montgomerie currently leads the all-time European Order of Merit table with eight titles. At the risk of betraying my age, I grew up in Monty’s era of dominance. The burly Scottish curmudgeon thrived in an era where the top European players were content plying their trade on their side of the Atlantic, only occasionally venturing Stateside for Majors or other key events. The European Tour was a much more viable commodity prior to Tiger’s reign and the rise of the FedEx Cup. Monty won eight Order of Merit titles despite picking up just ten top-ten finishes in Majors. To put that into context, McIlroy currently possesses 34 top-ten finishes in the Majors. McIlroy’s European dominance feels much more impressive when you consider the fact that he spends most of his time fighting for the biggest honours on the PGA Tour. Having said that, I do feel a slight pang of nostalgia for the days where the leading European player….um, played in Europe.
Who can mathematically catch Rory at Jumeirah?
There are only two players in the upcoming DP World Tour Championship who have a chance f catching Rory: Marco Penge and Tyrell Hatton. Penge is a far more realistic possibility but needs to finish in either a three-way tie for 2nd or higher to stand any chance of usurping the Northen Irish superstar. Penge has been a bastion of consistency on the regular DP World Tour season, winning three titles to apply some tangible pressure to the five-time Major winner. The tragedy- from a DP World Tour perspective- is that we will likely be seeing a lot loss of him in Europe once he gets dual membership with the PGA Tour (the perennial brain-drain continues).
Hatton hoping for miracle
Rory’s Ryder Cup comrade Tyrell Hatton is the only other man with a mathematical chance of securing top honours in the UAE. But Hatton not only needs to win, but he also needs McIlroy to completely tank on a course that suits him like few others. I think that Hatton will take a moral victory from simply being in this year’s conversation. The LIV operator barely scraped together enough events to be considered for the season-ending festivities but somehow finds himself 3rd in the Race to Dubai standings. His early-season win in Dubai was later supplemented by top-five fishes at the US Open, BMW PGA Championship and Alfred Dunhill Link. It really feels as if the belligerent Englishman is building towards Major contention.
