Rory eyes grandstand finish in bid to catch Willett in Race to Dubai
FOLLOWING on from the heroics he mustered to win the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour last month, it’s hardly surprising Rory McIlroy is far from daunted by the formidable task he faces in trying to claim the European Tour’s equivalent — the Race to Dubai — for an astonishing fourth time in five years.
Just four events remain and the Northern Irishman is trailing the current leader Danny Willett by the not so trifling margin of £1million.
What gives McIlroy hope is the gargantuan size of the purses involved over the next four events with total prize money on offer, would you believe, of £26.6m.
The 27-year-old has committed to play in three of them, and will be starting out this week at the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai with the aim of winning two, thinking he would be unlucky not to catch Willett if he pulls it off.
The Englishman can certainly see the danger signs, with McIlroy back on song after his difficult summer. Willett is down to play in all four, which is some undertaking given his chronic back condition and the fact the four events will take place in China, Turkey, South Africa and Dubai — meaning he will cover no fewer than 19,000 miles.
This will be McIlroy’s first event since the Ryder Cup and he is expected to have a new, non-Nike driver in the bag. This one, made by TaylorMade, purportedly gives him an extra 10 yards of carry and a few extra yards of roll. That’s what Willett and the rest of the field needs to hear, isn’t it?
McIlroy has a good record in the first event and also the finale in Dubai, while Willett’s willingness to take on another tiring journey and play the Nedbank Challenge in Sun City is surely based on the fact he’s a past winner of that tournament. Another man who certainly should not be discounted is Open champion Henrik Stenson, who currently splits the two UK players on the list and trails Willett by £370,000. He’s the only man who’s had a look-in during the McIlroy era with his win in 2013 and, with an awesome record on the Earth Course in Dubai, will be looking to at least stay in touch going into the last event.
Willett’s on pole, therefore, with a month of the race to go as he seeks to go one better than last year and pip McIlroy to the title. It could be some finish once more.