Jon Rahm’s resounding triumph at Yas Links has set the table for a barnstorming DP World Tour Championship. The season-ending event looked set to be a shootout between the trio of McIlroy, Chacarra and Reed (with several other names hoping for some convoluted scenario to have a shot at season-ending honours).
Rahm winning big at Yas just turns the pressure up a notch. A three-time winner at the Earth Course, Rahm has the type of presence that could cause massive upheaval come Sunday afternoon. In preparation for the event- which has just got underway- here are my picks for the five most memorable climaxes in DP World Tour Championship history.
5. 2010- Robert Karlsson beats Poulter in nailbiter
For this opening spot we travel back to the early years, before the DP World Tour had taken the FedEx Cup Playoff series to heart and introduced season-ending playoff events. Robert Karlsson won the ‘Dubai World Championship’ in dramatic fashion, overcoming a three-shot overnight deficit to force a playoff with Ryder Cup Übermensch Ian Poulter. Karlsson started in blistering fashion, birdying the first two holes before holing out for eagle with a magnificent eight-iron on the 3rd. The playoff turned into a melodrama all its own, with both players birdying the first playoff hole before controversy erupted on the 2nd. Poulter miscued his approach, leaving himself a full 30 feet from the cup. Karlsson laid down the gauntlet with a beautiful approach to three feet. Poulter then picked up a bizarre one-stroke penalty after dropping the ball on his marker before moving it. Poulter two-putted for bogey while Karlsson made his birdie putt, securing the first playoff victory in the event’s young history.
4. 2013- The Iceman Cometh
With the likes of McIlroy and Rahm pushing European golf into brave new directions, it’s quite easy to overlook Henrik Stenson’s 2013 achievements. The Swede helped pave the way to a new era of European golfing excellence, becoming the first man to claim the FedEx Cup and DP World Tour Order of Merit in the same season (McIlroy would repeat the feat in 2022). Stenson obliterated the Earth Course in 2013, breaking the tournament record with an eye-catching 25-under-par (which remains the historical score to beat). He put the icing on the cake on the 72nd hole, hitting an iconic 3-wood within tap-in range (that same club that he would lean on heavily during his stunning 2016 Open Championship win).
3. 2021- Morikawa makes history while Rory hulks out
Everything seemed to be going so swimmingly for European poster child Rory McIlroy. The Earth Course specialist held a two-shot lead with four holes to play during the pulsating 2021 edition of the DP World Tour Championship. This one literally had a bit of everything. Matt Fitzpatrick got hot with the putter before fading a bit down the stretch. Collin Morikawa started sedately before catching fire on the back-nine, heaping the pressure on European heavyweight McIlroy. Rory caught a terrible break on the 15th, as his ball cannoned off the flagstick and into a bunker for a momentum-destroying bogey. McIlroy bogeyed the following hole to completely ruin his chances. McIlroy lost his cool in the scorer’s hut, ripping his shirt ala Bruce Banner in a moment that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the WWE. Morikawa finished sublimely to become the first American to claim the DP World Tour Order of Merit title.
2. 2012- Rose shoots course-record 62 in pursuit of McIlroy
This 2012 banger is the perfect distillation of Justin Rose’s career. The Englishman blitzed the Greg Norman-designed Earth Course during the final round, shooting a course-record 62 to vault past Rory McIlroy into the lead. But it still wasn’t quite enough for Rosey, as the Northen Irish superstar dug deep to birdie the final five holes and win by two shots! It was a significant moment for the Northern Irish whippersnapper (who at that age- with that hairdo- looked like an amalgamation of all the members of One Direction). The victory marked the first of his seven Order of Merit titles and the beginning of his love affair with the Earth Course. Will he make it eight this week?
1. 2025- Fitzy outlasts McIlroy in dramatic playoff
You can accuse me of recency bias if you want, but last year’s DP World Tour Championship was wild. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the entire tour was still basking in the afterglow of that Ryder Cup triumph at Bethpage Black. An incredible nine players led or held a share of the lead over the final few hours of play, with the likes of Aberg and Fleetwood looking to claim maiden wins at the Earth Course. Fitzy enjoyed a fast finish, making three birdies in his closing five holes to reach the clubhouse lead. McIlroy then pulled out a textbook alpha moment on the 18th hole, draining a 15-footer for eagle to take things to a playoff (just the 2nd playoff in the history of the event). McIlroy then went from the sublime to the ridiculous, driving into the water on the first playoff hole to hand Fitzy his 3rd Jumeirah crown. The Northen Irishman never left empty-handed, claiming the season-ending Order of Merit title to pull within one of matching Monty’s era-defining feats.
