Emotional Rory McIlroy dedicates record-equalling Race to Dubai title to hospitalised father Gerry

Detailed summary

Seventeen years after doing similar in its pilot edition, Rory McIlroy slipped into the media centre beside the 18th green at Earth Course as inconspicuously as he could manage to…

Seventeen years after doing similar in its pilot edition, Rory McIlroy slipped into the media centre beside the 18th green at Earth Course as inconspicuously as he could manage to watch the final throes of the Race to Dubai.

These days, being understated is a rather trickier gig. Being the first European to win a career grand slam, the star of multiple Ryder Cup wins for Europe and now a record-equalling eighth order of merit, will do that.

In 2009, he had watched through a window of the press room as Lee Westwood stole in to win the first DP World Tour Championship, and thus snatch the maiden Race from his grasp.

This time around, it was the opposite. Instead, it was McIlroy who was nipping in to take the title away from Eugenio Chacarra, the rising Spanish star, right towards the end and by the barest of margins.

As it was being rubber-stamped out on the green, McIlroy leaned back against the door, and scrolled his phone.

Maybe he was looking for confirmation he actually had achieved this history-making win and equalled Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight.

The permutations had been so complex that, over the final few holes, the organisers had taken to flashing up the consequences that each shot carried.

McIlroy acknowledged he had not even known the calculations himself until those morsels of information were flashed up on the screens.

In the end, he finished runner up in the tournament behind Tyrell Hatton. On account of finishing second on his own, he won the race by a mere 125 points ahead of Chacarra. Had he been tied for second, he would have lost out.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The National. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.