Rory McIlroy rallies, then holds on for Euro Tour finale, season-long titles

Rory McIlroy is again the king of the European Tour.

McIlroy, who trailed three-time 2015 winner Andy Sullivan by a shot heading into Sunday’s final round in Dubai, closed with a final round of 6-under 66 on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates to win the DP World Tour Championship and the tour’s season-long Race to Dubai for the third time in four years.

The final pairing of the 60-player field put on a show, both going out in 3-under 33. Both players made birdie on the 11th hole, with Sullivan maintaining his one-stroke edge. However, that was the last hole Sullivan would birdie, making pars into the house. McIlroy pulled level with a 30-foot birdie on the 12th and stretched the lead to two shots with birdies on the 14th and 15th.

However, what seemed to be a potential runaway halted quickly when McIlroy found the water with his tee shot at the par-3 17th. McIlroy found the green with his third shot, then drained an incredible bogey putt to hang on to a one-shot lead going to the par-5 finisher.

The Ulsterman called the bogey the best he’d ever made.

“I don’t think there’s been one that’s ever came at a better time, so, yeah, definitely the best bogey of my career,” he said.

A par was enough to give McIlroy his second win in this event (2012) with a 21-under 267 total, ending what had become a short-term trend of maddening Sundays.

“I feel like the last few events, I’ve come off the course a lot of times frustrated because I really feel like I could have done better and I put myself in the position to do better,” he said. “But I guess I saved the best for last.”

Branden Grace finished a distance third at 15 under par.

Danny Willett, who came into the European Tour season finale ranked second in the Race to Dubai, finished tie for fourth with five other players at 13 under par.

McIlroy, who picked up his fourth worldwide win and third European Tour victory of the year on Sunday, also earned a $ 1.875 million bonus as the winner of the Race to Dubai. However, McIlroy said that big check wasn’t what motivated him.

“So whether that’s off-putting to some people, the money doesn’t motivate me the way trophies do,” he said. “And I’m not saying that money’s not important. It obviously is. But there’s more things important to me and that’s collecting trophies and putting tournaments on my resumé and I was able to do that this week.”

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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