Rory has more Major glory firmly in his sights

RORY McIlroy has set a short-term goal of more major glory and a longterm objective of surpassing Colin Montgomerie’s record number of money list titles.

McIlroy’s chances of winning the Race to Dubai for the third year in succession were effectively ended when he withdrew from the Turkish Airlines Open due to security concerns.

And the world No 2 was playing alongside Henrik Stenson on Sunday when the Swede carded a closing 65, matched by McIlroy, in the DP World Tour Championship to succeed McIlroy as European No 1.

Winning the Open at Royal Troon was a big factor in Stenson’s success and McIlroy would love to add more Majors to his collection in 2017 and claim a fourth Race to Dubai title, halfway to equalling Montgomerie’s total.

“When you see someone do something you’ve done before and haven’t quite achieved this year, of course you want to do it again,” the four-time Major winner said.

“Of course I want to win the Race again. I’ve got a few more years and it would be nice to pass Monty. That will be a nice little target to aim for and, hopefully, I can get my fourth next year.

“I know if I win tournaments and play well in the big events these things sort of happen in the process.”

McIlroy recorded two top-10 finishes and two missed cuts in this year’s Majors, labelling his putting as “pathetic” after making an early exit from the US PGA Championship.

“It would be lovely to go into the Christmas break and not touch a club. However, I know if I want to hit the ground running in 2017 I’m going to have to keep on top of it,” he said.