Fitzpatrick grabs Race to Dubai momentum as McIlroy labors
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Matt Fitzpatrick’s fast start helped him move out in front in the Race to Dubai as Rory McIlroy struggled in the first round of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
Fitzpatrick birdied his first five holes and finished with a bogey-free 7-under 65 on Thursday for his lowest round on the Earth Course, where he is a two-time winner.
The U.S. Open champion was tied for the lead with Tyrrell Hatton, who went on a run of four straight birdies from the 13th hole but finished with his lone bogey on the par-5 18th.
McIlroy leads the Race to Dubai standings as he bids to be the European tour’s leading player for the fourth time in his career, but needed a birdie on the 18th just to get under par with a 71 that tied him for 22nd.
Ryan Fox, who is second in the points table to McIlroy, managed only a 73 to sit tied for 33rd.
Fitzpatrick would clinch a first Race to Dubai title with a third win at the World Tour Championship, provided McIlroy or Fox don’t finish the event in second.
Even a second-place finish would be good enough for Fitzpatrick as long as McIlroy doesn’t finish lower than seventh.