Rory McIlroy reveals next target after emotional sixth Race to Dubai victory

Rory McIlroy has his sights acceptable connected his adjacent portion of golfing past aft helium claimed a sixth Race to Dubai rubric pursuing an affectional triumph astatine the DP World Tour Championship.

Heading into the year’s last lawsuit successful Dubai, McIlroy held a steadfast pb astatine the apical of the season-ending Order of Merit rankings.

However, the Northern Irishman made definite determination was nary doubt, holding disconnected young Dane Rasmus Hojgaard down the agelong to assertion a two-shot triumph and his 4th triumph of the year.

His sixth Order of Merit rubric – and 3rd successful a enactment – sees him gully level with European large Seve Ballesteros but McIlroy is not taking his ft disconnected the state and has acceptable his sights connected breaking Colin Montgomerie’s tally of 8 titles.

‘I’m up for it,’ helium aboriginal admitted. ‘I’ve conscionable won my 3rd successful a row, and I’ve truly made it a precedence of my docket implicit the past fewer years to springiness myself the champion accidental coming into the extremity of the twelvemonth to triumph the Race to Dubai.

‘I don’t spot that being immoderate antithetic for the foreseeable future. I’m going to spell for my seventh adjacent twelvemonth and effort to pursuit Monty down.’

While McIlroy’s latest triumph reinforces his bequest arsenic 1 of Europe’s modern-day greats, the affectional scenes from the 35-year-old aft winning connected the Earth Course astatine Jumeirah Golf Estates were illustrative of the rollercoaster twelvemonth the World No.3 has endured.

Close calls astatine the US Open and the Irish Open person stung connected the course, portion McIlroy has besides endured a tumultuous twelvemonth with his idiosyncratic life.

In May, Rory and wife, Erica, filed for divorcement before reconciling a period later. There were affectional scenes arsenic the brace posed alongside their daughter, Poppy, with the trophy connected Sunday.

‘Erica, Poppy, I cognize you are present somewhere,’ McIlroy added during the trophy presentation. ‘I emotion you and acknowledgment for sticking by me.’

‘I’ve been done a batch this twelvemonth professionally, personally,’ helium aboriginal said. ‘It feels similar a fitting extremity to 2024. I’ve persevered this twelvemonth a lot. Had adjacent calls. Wasn’t capable to get it done.

‘So to beryllium capable to get implicit the line… I’m truly pleased with the mode I finished and thankfully I hung on, connected a pugnacious day, and got it done.’

Asked whether this play had been the astir draining of his career, McIlroy’s effect was instant: ‘Yeah, it’s been rather the year.

‘But you know, I’m ace blessed with wherever I americium successful my vocation and successful my life, and I consciousness similar everything’s worked retired the mode it was expected to.’

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