Race To Dubai Projected Rankings: Rory McIlroy Closes Gap

Rory McIlroy (left) smiles at the 2026 DP World Tour Championship with Eugenio Chacarra looking on (right) — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Rory McIlroy came up just short of an incredible eagle on the last hole at the DP World Tour Championship but still made a strong start to his bid to win a record-equalling eighth Race To Dubai crown.

Had that putt dropped at the end of his first round, McIlroy would've provisionally gone above playing partner and current Race To Dubai leader Eugenio Chacarra.

McIlroy still finished three shots better off than his main rival for the Harry Vardon Trophy, with the Northern Irishman shooting 69 to sit on three under while the Spaniard shot an even-par 72.

There's plenty of Race To Dubai permutations to go through, but as it stands even with McIlroy in a tie for third and Chacarra down in 23rd it'd be the Spaniard who'd win the title if things stayed as they are.

There's obviously a long way to go at the Earth Course, where blustery conditions made it pretty tough for the field including all the Race To Dubai contenders.

Only four of the top 10 broke par with Jon Rahm carding a one-under 71 along with Daniel Hillier, while 10th placed Jacob Skov Olesen produced the best round of the bunch with a 68.

That was just one off Joost Luiten's lead of five under after round one, but Olesen isn't one of the nine players still technically able to win the Race To Dubai title.

McIlroy needs at least a solo second finish to usurp Chacarra at the top of the rankings, provided the Spaniard doesn't finish third or better - as well as Patrick Reed, but the American already is in trouble after he finished three over for his opening round.

Rahm was also pretty solid overall, but he has to lift the trophy on Sunday to stand any chance of winning a second Race To Dubai - and even then he needs Chacarra to finish ninth and McIlroy and Reed finish third or worse.

Race To Dubai Projected Rankings - As It Stands

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After R1 of DP World Tour Championship
Pos.	Projected	Name	Score (pos)	Points	Proj. Pts
1	1	Eugenio Chacarra	Par (T23)	4,243.79	4,369.79
2	2	Rory McIlroy	-3 (T3)	3,709.86	4,237.86
3	3	Patrick Reed	+3 (T41)	3,528.62	3,605.42
4	6	Casey Jarvis	+2 (T31)	2,892.98	2,985.50
5	8	Aaron Rai	+4 (T44)	2,560.15	2,628.55
6	7	Jon Rahm	-1 (T16)	2,525.45	2,676.14
7	9	Jayden Schaper	+2 (T31)	2,445.79	2,538.31
8	10	Ryan Fox	+2 (T31)	2,427.52	2,520.04
9	11	Daniel Hillier	-1 (T16)	2,351.25	2,501.94
10	4	Jacob Skov Olesen	-4 (2)	2,111.49	3,446.49

DP World Tour Championship points breakdown

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Position	Points
Total Pts	12,000
Winner	2,000
Runner-Up	1,335
Third	752
4th	600
5th	509
6th	420
7th	359
8th	300
9th	267
10th	240

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.