DUBAI • Rory McIlroy cannot end his week as the Race to Dubai winner for a fourth time, but the Northern Irishman is perfectly at ease with the scenario even if it may disappoint the European Tour.
He begins today's season-ending DP World Tour Championship sixth in the order of merit and already out of contention to overhaul leader Bernd Wiesberger.
The Austrian, Spaniard Jon Rahm, Ireland's Shane Lowry and English duo Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick are all eligible to claim the US$2 million (S$2.7 million) Race to Dubai overall champion bonus.
Had McIlroy taken up European Tour membership at the start of the year, instead of waiting until close to the May deadline, high finishes at the Masters and in the World Golf Championships events would have afforded him a different situation going into this weekend.
This is not, however, a matter that remotely vexes Europe's most high-profile golfer, with the world No. 2's four victories this season justifying his overall approach.
The four-time Major champion could add a fifth here if he tops the field of 50 and earn US$3 million, the biggest winners' cheque in golf.
Issuing a a firm "no" when asked if his Race to Dubai position was in any way frustrating, the 30-year-old said ahead of today's first round: "I've won it three times. It's a wonderful feeling to be able to do it.
"But I just haven't played enough European Tour events to have a chance, so no.
"I haven't played enough and you look at someone like Bernd that's played 25, 26, 27 times. Those are the guys that deserve to be up there with a chance to win."
A Lowry victory would cap a year, which was kicked off by success in nearby Abu Dhabi and peaked with victory at the British Open.
Breaking with convention when assessing his mindset as a first-time Major winner, he said: "That's the incredible thing, since the Open, I actually don't feel any different.
"If you had told me before, were things going to change and would you feel different, I would have said yes. I don't feel any different as a player, as a person.
"It's obviously changed my career path a little bit but, as a person, I don't feel any different."
In the LPGA season finale, women's world No. 1 Ko Jin-young admitted her worries over her injured ankle as she prepares for today's CME Group Tour Championship, where a record winning prize will serve as extra motivation.
While the winner will pick up US$1.5 million and be crowned the champion of the season-long Race to the Globe points competition, the South Korean is in a race against time to be fit for the no-cut event at Tiburon in Naples, Florida.
She injured her left ankle making a swing at the Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA on Nov 1 and had to withdraw from the final two tournaments of the autumn Asia swing.
Although the issue is not serious enough to keep her from competing, it is still tender and Ko had to have a pain-killing injection after returning home to Seoul.
The 24-year-old added: "I practice maybe just one or two days on Monday and Tuesday and then I was here." REUTERS, THE GUARDIAN
DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Day 1: StarHub Ch201, 3pm
LPGA CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Day 1: Singtel TV Ch116 & StarHub Ch210, tomorrow, 2am
