Rory McIlroy has a goal in mind - to dominate golf for the next 10 years like the iconic Tiger Woods once did.
The Northern Irishman tied for 22nd at the Jumeirah Golf Estates - Earth Course in Dubai in the final round of the DP World Tour Championship. However, he finished top of the DP World Tour standings due to his performances on the circuit across the season and was confirmed as the winner of the Race to Dubai for the fifth time in his career.
Despite his impressive year on the DP tour, the 34-year-old was still unable to break his drought in the majors this year. Heading into 2024, which will mark 10 years since McIlroy last won one of the big four tournaments, he aims to be more consistent and take over the sport in the manner Woods did during his prime which produced multiple major titles.
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“It's great,” McIlroy said after the event. “I think it shows my consistency year-to-year. Over the last 10 years, I think I've won eight season-long titles between America and between here, so it just shows my level of consistency. There's a few guys that are able to beat me sort of one week or the next week, but I don't think there's a lot of people that can beat me throughout the entire season.
"It's just about trying to be a little more clinical when I get to those weeks where I have chances to win.” Before he took to the green in Dubai season-ending DP World Tour Championship, McIlroy had already been confirmed as the Race to Dubai winner. This week’s event was McIlroy’s first since the Ryder Cup six weeks earlier, and McIlroy’s performance in the lucrative £8.43million tournament was average at best.
Only Seve Ballesteros with six and Colin Montgomerie with eight have more victories than the Masters finalist in what used to be called the Order of Merit. McIlroy ended 2023 with two Rolex series titles and recorded three top-seven finishes in the Majors, and is the World No. 2 behind America’s Scottie Scheffler. Next year, McIlroy will aim for a sixth DP World Tour title and a fifth major.
“Overall, it's been another really solid year,” he said as he expanded on his goals moving forward. "Stroke average has been great and I've played really good golf, really consistent. Hopefully, more of the same going into next year and beyond.
“Yeah, still got a little bit left in the tank. I think I've still got a good eight to ten years left in me where I can play at the top, top level. I'd like to think that I'm going to challenge, at least try to get past Seve and then sort of try to get past Monty as well.
“But it's certainly a goal of mine for the rest of my career to do something like that. It would mean a lot to me.” The final event of the DP World Championships in Dubai was won by McIlroy's Ryder Cup team-mate Nicolai Hojgaard, after he carded an impressive 64 to finish two shots ahead of Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland and Matt Wallace, who all tied for second place.
