McIlroy’s ‘perfect’ shot upstages Race to Dubai battle

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Out of the running for the Race to Dubai title, Rory McIlroy still forced his way onto center stage at the season-ending World Tour Championship on Thursday by producing one of his greatest shots of the year.

McIlroy flushed a 3-wood from 291 yards with his second shot at the par-5 18th hole on the Earth Course, the ball settling five feet from the cup. He rolled in the eagle putt for an 8-under 64, leaving the second-ranked McIlroy a stroke off the lead held by ailing Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera.

“As soon as I hit it, I knew it was perfect,” the four-time major champion said, adding it was “possibly the best shot I’ve hit all year.”

It was McIlroy’s best round at an event he won in 2012 and 2015. Even if he makes it three victories in eight years in Dubai, it still won’t be enough for him to be crowned Europe’s No. 1 player.

Five players are still in contention for that honor, and former Arizona State star Jon Rahm made the best start of the quintet by shooting a bogey-free, 6-under 66 to move into third place, three strokes behind Lorenzo-Vera.

Rahm last played competitively in early October at the Open de Espana – a tournament he won by five shots – and said he barely touched a club for five of the past six weeks he took off in the longest break of his career.

Rahm needs a win this week to stand a chance of taking the Race to Dubai title for the first time. As does Tommy Fleetwood, who was happy with his start, too.

Fleetwood, winner of the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa last week, shot 67 for a tie for fourth place.

Of the other Race to Dubai contenders, Bernd Wiesberger shot 70 and was tied for 14th place, Matt Fitzpatrick shot 71, and Shane Lowry shot 73.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Webb Simpson birdied seven of his last 10 holes at the Plantation Course for a 7under 65 and the first-round lead in the RSM Classic, the final PGA Tour event of the year. He began the birdie run on the par-5 18th and played the front nine in 6-under 30 with birdies on Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 9.

Three players were 6 under. Cameron Tringale and Kyoung-Hoon Lee shot 64 on Sea Island’s Seaside Course, and Rhein Gibson had a 66 on the Plantation layout. The final two rounds will be played on the Seaside Course.

NAPLES, Fla. – Sei Young Kim set a goal of winning three times this year on the LPGA Tour, and she’s down to her last chance.

Reaching the goal would pay off big at the CME Group Tour Championship.

Kim scrambled to keep bogeys off her card along the back nine at Tiburon Golf Club, and then she pulled away from the pack with one big shot. Her approach on the par-5 17th narrowly stayed on the fringe of the green, and she holed the 12foot eagle putt that carried her to a 7-under 65 and a two-shot lead in the final LPGA Tour event of the year.

The winner gets $1.5 million, the richest prize in the history of women’s golf.

Nelly Korda did her best to make sure Kim didn’t get too far away, even after one round. She birdied the par-3 16th, holed a 35-foot eagle putt from just off the 17th green and closed with a 20-foot birdie.

That took her from middle of the pack to a 67, two shots behind.