Rory McIlroy fought back tears as he reflected on surpassing the great Seve Ballesteros in the Race to Dubai standings, despite suffering a heartbreaking play-off defeat to Matt Fitzpatrick at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
McIlroy, 36, closed out his final round in spectacular fashion with an eagle on the 18th at the Earth Course, drawing level with Fitzpatrick on 18-under par.
The Englishman had earlier birdied the same hole to set the target, forcing a dramatic sudden-death showdown between the Ryder Cup teammates.
But McIlroy found the water in the play-off, allowing Fitzpatrick to clinch the title and deny him what would have been a £2.3million winner’s cheque.
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Four players - Tommy Fleetwood, Ludvig Åberg, Laurie Canter and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen - finished just one shot back on 17-under, underlining how tight the competition had been going into the final day.
Despite the disappointment of missing out on the title, McIlroy still secured the Race to Dubai crown for the fourth consecutive season and the seventh time in his career, earning a £1.5million bonus in the process.
That seventh triumph moves him ahead of the late Seve Ballesteros, who captured six during his legendary career. Only Colin Montgomerie, with eight, has won more.
Five things to know about Rory McIlroy
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The magnitude of the achievement overwhelmed McIlroy as he revealed he had spoken to Ballesteros’ widow before teeing off.
“It’s amazing,” he told Sky Sports, visibly holding back tears.
“I had a conversation with his wife Carmen before I went out to play today and she told me how proud he would have been.
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Rory McIlroy fought back tears as he reflected on surpassing the great Seve Ballesteros in the Race to Dubai standings, despite suffering a heartbreaking play-off defeat to Matt Fitzpatrick at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai
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“I said this on this green last year, he means so much to this tour and to the European Ryder Cup team.
“We rally so much around his spirit and his quotes and everything he meant for European golf. To equal him last year was cool but to pass him this year… didn’t get this far in my dreams. It’s very cool.”
McIlroy also paid tribute to Fitzpatrick, praising the Englishman’s form at the end of the season.
“It was nice to summon what I needed to make the play-off but I then unfortunately hit the water,” he admitted.
“I am happy for Matt. He has had a great end to the season, playing great to get on the Ryder Cup team and has kept it going.”
Attention then turned to whether McIlroy could eventually match - or surpass - Montgomerie’s record of eight season-long titles.
“It seems within touching distance now. I would love to.
“I was the first European to win the Grand Slam and I’d love to be the winningest European in terms of Order of Merits and season-long races. I’ve hopefully got a few more good years left in me and hopefully I can catch him and surpass him.”