McIlroy targets Dubai double as Blixt wins Pro-Am

World number one Rory McIlroy may have wrapped up his second Race to Dubai crown but there is still the huge prize of the DP World Tour Championship trophy at stake when the final event of the Race to Dubai season gets underway at the Earth course, Jumeirah Golf Estates on Thursday.

The $8 million tournament will see the top 60 players on the European Tour do battle for the famous trophy - but they know they face a fight with the new Race to Dubai champion who has no intention of taking it easy at the end of a hugely successful campaign.

“I'm very proud to have won The Race to Dubai for the second time in three years but I’ll be looking to pick up two trophies on Sunday and not just the one,” said McIlroy, who has spent the past three weeks away from the golf course in preparation for one final charge on a title he last won two years ago.

“Obviously I had a fantastic stretch over the summer, which made up the bulk of the season for me but at the same time I’m still very motivated to go out there this week and perform well. I'm probably a little fresher than most of the other players after taking three weeks off so hopefully I can use that to my advantage and put in a good performance this week.”

Such is McIlroy’s advantage, he comes to the Earth course with more than double the number of points of nearest challenger in The Race to Dubai standings, defending champion Henrik Stenson.

“I'm comfortable on this course and I've done well every year that we've played here,” added McIlroy, who in five years has completed 20 tournament rounds over the Earth course with a combined score of 74-under par.

“I've actually felt like I've had a good little bit of preparation coming into this event. I feel good with my game and hopefully I've done enough work to be ready for Thursday.”

While McIlroy starts as hot favourite following a year that has seen him win two Majors, a World Golf Championship, the BMW PGA Championship and The Race to Dubai, the field contains a host of star names, including all of his team-mates from Europe’s 2014 Ryder Cup winning team.

Among them is Welshman Jamie Donaldson - currently third in The Race to Dubai - who also has his eyes on the prize after one of the best years of his career.

“It's a massive week,” said Donaldson, who has leapt to world number 24 on the back of six top five finishes, including victory in the D+D Real Czech Masters. “I love coming here - I've been here every year since the tournament started, so I should know the course well by now. I’ve played well here before, so looking forward to it.”
 
The Welshman’s most memorable moment of the year was his brilliant wedge shot on the 15th hole at Gleneagles that gave him victory over Keegan Bradley and clinched the Ryder Cup.
 
“This year has been special in a lot of different ways, obviously mainly The Ryder Cup and qualifying for that, while my rankings have improved again. I'm just looking to continue the form and have a great week and top it all off here.”
 
The tournament week got underway with the traditional Rolex Pro-Am over the Earth course, which saw victory go to the Rolex team of Stephane Oberer, Federic Torres, Dominique Bedel and Swedish pro Jonas Blixt with a score of -23.

Once shot behind on -22 was the Emirates Golf Federation team of French pro Romain Wattel and amateurs Khalid Yousuf, Ahmed Skaik and Mahmood Skaik, while Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee led his European Tour team of Paul Collingwood, Abdul Aziz Salem and Haiyan Mujarkech to third place on -20.

Wednesday sees a day of practice over the 7,675-yard Earth course before play gets under way with round one on Thursday at 7.30am.
 

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