McIlroy sets sights on Race to Dubai success

Rory McIlroy has set his sights on securing Race to Dubai glory this year, starting with a positive showing at the WGC-HSBC Champions.

The Northern Irishman has won The Race to Dubai European Tour Golfer of the Year in three of the last four years, and he is well positioned to challenge for overall glory this year as well, as he is currently third in the overall standings, behind Masters champion Danny Willett and Open winner Henrik Stenson.

With only four events remaining in the season, the four-time major winner knows he will have to hit top form quickly, starting with a positive showing at this week’s event in Shanghai.

“If I play the way I know that I can, hopefully I can pick up some of that ground going into Dubai,” McIlroy said.

The 27-year-old is unsure why he has performed so well at the end of season events in the past, but he is desperate to repeat that success this year.

He continued: “It’s sort of one of these things where I’ve won it three of the last four years and I’ve sort of got used to ending the season on a bit of a high in Dubai.

“Thinking about it this year, I was really like I’d love to have that feeling again, having that feeling of capping the season off as best I possibly could and there’s a few big opportunities coming up in the next few weeks to be able to try and emulate that success I’ve had there. That starts this week in Shanghai.”

The WGC-HSBC Champions is due to get underway on Thursday, with McIlroy playing his opening round alongside former Masters? champions Bubba Watson and Adam Scott.

Tagged Rory McIlroy, WGC-HSBC