McIlroy, Stenson among final 4 as Race to Dubai nears end

“I think I do enough good things on the golf course and off the golf course in terms of what I do charity-wise and how I try to carry myself”, McIlroy said ahead of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

The year-long Race to Dubai on the European Tour enters its home stretch with the season-ending DP World Tour Championship starting Thursday, with four players still in the hunt to secure the honour of being called Europe’s No1.

The video starts in the locker room at Jumeirah Golf Estates: Finland’s Mikko Ilonen pours the Claret Jug – the most valuable prize in golf and awarded to the Open champion – while Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg opens his mouth to drink its contents.

Both men begin content in the knowledge that the outcome to see who finishes the season at the top of the European pile is in their own hands.

It’s worth pointing out that Rory McIlroy needs a win and some help this week in order to win the R2D, even though he didn’t play in the first two Final Seires events in Turkey or in South Africa. If Willett finishes second, he wins the Race to Dubai if Stenson finishes outside the top two and Alex Noren does not win. Noren’s dominance throughout the tournament’s last 18 holes allowed for him to jump into the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking, surpassing the likes of Bubba Watson, Danny Willett, and Rickie Fowler to name a few. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship and finished tied for 31st at the Barclays but bounced back with a PGA Tour win during the FedExCup playoffs at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

“I still have a lot to play for this week”, McIlroy told Sky Sports television on Sunday.

Asked if he was likely to play next year, McIlroy added: “After what I read, maybe not”.

In April, Danny Willett became the first Englishman in two decades to win the US Masters.

McIlroy is a three-time victor of the race, and he will need Stenson to collapse to win his fourth title since 2012. I’m in a great position. “I hope I can finish it off in good style, too”. “I’ve been here for the last couple of weeks”. I’ve played this golf course pretty well in the past and hopefully can play it just as well, if not better, this week.

NO MATTER what else Alex Noren goes on to achieve in his golfing career, it is safe to say that he will never forget 2016. And I knew I needed to have some strong tournaments here in the last – I was playing three out of the last four weeks on the schedule, and I knew I needed to play some good golf.

“Mathematically I can win, but it’s not going to happen”.

‘I haven’t looked at all the other scenarios, I’m just focused on the fact that if I win it would be a very nice end to a fantastic year, ‘ said 29-year-old Willett.