Rory McIlroy is within touching distance of a sixth Race To Dubai title - otherwise known as the Harry Vardon trophy - which would move him alongside the legendary Seve Ballesteros in second on the all-time list.
Colin Montgomerie is at the top with eight Order of Merit awards to his name, and while the Northern Irishman has regularly admitted his desire to surpass the iconic Scot one day, he must first take care of business in 2024.
McIlroy has only played 11 counting events throughout this season but has racked up almost 5,000 Race To Dubai points thanks to a second at the Dubai Invitational and a victory at the Dubai Desert Classic early on.
The 35-year-old went on to finish second at the US Open, the Irish Open, and the BMW PGA Championship, with a couple more top-fives coming at the Scottish Open (T4th) and last week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (T3rd) also helping his cause.
Heading into the final event - the DP World Tour Championship - McIlroy has a lead of 1,785.02 points over South African Thriston Lawrence, now the only man who can catch the World No.3.
Immediately after finishing the week on 21-under, one stroke better than Lawrence, McIlroy admitted he was keeping half an eye on the wider picture as well as trying to win the tournament at Yas Links.
In relation to the Race To Dubai fight, he said: "I do feel in a good position. I saw Thriston making a charge today, and I was keeping one eye on the leaderboard and looking at what he was doing. I saw he posted 20-under.
“Obviously I wanted to birdie the last, anyway, but I know that birdie, even if it isn't to win the tournament this week, it obviously gives me that little bit extra of a cushion going into next week.
“Every shot counts at this moment in time, and I was glad to make the four at the last and at least give myself half a chance at this tournament this week but also give myself a little bit more of a cushion going into Dubai next week as well.”
The situation for both now is reasonably clear. If McIlroy finishes in solo 11th or better at the DP World Tour Championship, which is offering 12,000 RTD points in total and only contains 50 players, he will land the season-long title - regardless of whether Lawrence wins on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
| Race To Dubai Position | Name | Points | Events Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rory McIlroy | 4,997.66 | 11 |
| 2 | Thriston Lawrence | 3,212.64 | 23 |
From the South African's point of view, he must try to collect a first win of the season - adding to five runner-up finishes and five more top-10s - or hope McIlroy suffers a rare off day while still finishing at the sharp end of the leaderboard.
Even if Lawrence does come up short in his quest for the Race To Dubai crown, he is assured of competing against McIlroy over in the US next season after landing one of the 10 PGA Tour cards available to DP World Tour golfers.
Lawrence leads Rasmus Hojgaard and Paul Waring in that particular sprint, with Jordan Smith fighting to be the final man in after play concludes at the Earth Course on Sunday.
