Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Rory won’t give up in Race fight
RORY MCILROY has not given up hope of winning a fourth Race to Dubai title despite lagging behind Open champion Francesco Molinari.
Mcilroy is almost two million points behind the Italian and needs to win at least one of the remaining two events to overhaul him.
The Northern Irishman has twice won the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in
Dubai but has not played in this week’s Nedbank Challenge since 2009, when he had to withdraw after two rounds with a stomach virus.
Victory at Sun City would at least take Mcilroy to second on the money list and see him paired with Molinari (below) – who leads defending champion Tommy Fleetwood by more than one million points – for the opening round in Dubai where players tee off in race order.
And Mcilroy, who has not won a European Tour event since the 2016 Irish Open, said: “I can’t look too far ahead but if I can do what I need to do this week, leapfrog a few guys and get into that final pair, that would be a huge step. “I’m going to need some great golf over the next two weeks but we’ll see what happens this week.
“I feel like my game is in pretty good shape. I didn’t play great in China but I’ve had a week off and have been just sort of reflecting on things. Hopefully I get off to a good start this week.”
Mcilroy won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in March.
But he’s also played in the last group in the final round six times in 2018 – including the Masters and Tour Championship – without claiming more silverware.
He added: “It’s progressing but I probably let a few slip through my fingers. But overall it’s been a consistent year. I’ve improved my world ranking and I have a chance to get back into the top five this week and next week.”