Masters champion Rory McIlroy arrives at the DP World Tour Championship primed to collect his seventh Harry Vardon trophy and fourth in a row.
The 36-year-old currently leads England’s Marco Penge in the Race to Dubai by 767.02 points after the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links.
That might sound like an unassailable lead, but the DP World Tour Championship has 12,000 points on offer – with 2,000 going to the champion.
That means there is a slim chance Marco Penge or even McIlroy’s Ryder Cup teammate, Tyrrell Hatton, could still claim the order of merit title.
To do that though, both golfers will need some help from the Northern Irishman and other players in the field.
|
Rank |
Player name |
Events played |
Total points |
|
1 |
Rory McIlroy |
10 |
4,640.06 |
|
2 |
Marco Penge |
25 |
3,873.04 |
|
3 |
Tyrrell Hatton |
9 |
2,919.18 |
|
4 |
Kristoffer Reitan |
30 |
2,655.65 |
|
5 |
Robert MacIntyre |
10 |
2,635.39 |
|
6 |
Adrien Saddier |
25 |
2,518.93 |
|
7 |
John Parry |
31 |
2,431.65 |
|
8 |
Alex Noren |
6 |
2,414.32 |
|
9 |
Aaron Rai |
9 |
2,391.60 |
|
10 |
Tommy Fleetwood |
10 |
2,366.47 |
The permutations
As mentioned, 2,000 points will be awarded to the winner, leaving only Marco Penge and Tyrrell Hatton as the only golfers who can still overtake Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy’s exhilarating final-round 62 last week lifted the five-time major champion into a share of third place in the first leg of the play-offs.
It extended his advantage to 767.02 points over Penge, meaning that if McIlroy finishes inside the top two this week then he cannot be caught and will be one step closer to matching Colin Montgomerie’s record.
Penge must be tied second or better to have any chance.
If Penge wins, then he will need McIlroy to come lower than runner-up.
Should Penge share second place then he would need the Ulsterman to finish outside the top eight.
For Hatton to be crowned the winner then he must win this week with McIlroy finishing outside the top eight and Penge missing out on a share of second place.
PGA Tour cards on the line
There is also plenty to play for elsewhere.
The leading 10 players, not otherwise exempt on the PGA Tour, will also lock up their cards in the United States for the 2026 campaign.
It is part of the DP World Tour’s strategic alliance with the PGA Tour.
Penge is already guaranteed one of those cards.
Kristoffer Reitan, Adrien Saddier, John Parry, Alex Noren, Laurie Canter, Haotong Li, Daniel Brown, Keita Nakajima and Jordan Smith currently occupy the other spots.
Penge will likely finish at the top of the list, but if he doesn’t, the leading player will also book tee times for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Genesis Invitational and The Players Championship.
Every player in the 50-man field at the DP World Tour championship remains in contention to secure their playing rights in the United States.