Matt Fitzpatrick claimed DP World Tour Championship glory after beating Rory McIlroy in a playoff – as the Northern Irishman won his seventh Race to Dubai title.
Sheffield-born Matt won the event for the third time in his career at the first playoff hole after the Ryder Cup teammates ended regulation play tied on 18 under-par.
The 31-year-old booked his place in extra holes thanks to a stunning end to his final round on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates – birdieing the 14th, 15th and 18th holes to dramatically cut the deficit which had seen him drop three shots off the pace with six to play following a run of eight pars in a row from the sixth.
His closing birdie looked to have done enough to win outright after breaking him out of the logjam of players on 17 under-par – a group which included his Ryder Cup teammates Ludvig Åberg and Tommy Fleetwood alongside third round co-leader Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Laurie Canter.
However, Matt hadn’t reckoned with the remarkable resilience of Rory. The Masters champion and career grand slam winner looked to be out of the reckoning following bogeys at the 12th and 16th holes which had seen him surrender the lead. The Northern Irishman then produced a stunning second shot to 16ft on the 72nd hole before rolling in his eagle putt to join Matt at the top of the pile.
Neither player could repeat the fireworks at the first extra hole – Rory producing the first error when his drive found the creek in the middle of the fairway. His third shot after the penalty drop found a bunker, only slightly further from the green than Matt, whose third shot ended up in the rough to the right of the putting surface.
Matt’s stellar chipping performance throughout the week continued as he hit his fourth shot to less than 3ft. That meant Rory realistically had to hole his par effort from 20 ft to have a chance of extending matters. He didn’t, and Matt duly knocked home his par putt to win.
“This means the world,” said Matt after holing the winning putt. “I struggled a bit at the start of this year but to turn it around in the summer like I did, and have a Ryder Cup like I did, is amazing.
“I feel like I really didn’t hit one bad shot all day. I’m so proud of myself and the effort that everyone puts in behind the scenes. What a feeling!
“I’ve not been hitting it amazing all week. I kind of hit it really well yesterday, and I would say I hit it really well today. [My caddy] Dan was insisting on being patient all day and just letting the putts come. In the middle of the round, nothing was going my way, then I managed to roll a couple in and get myself in position.
“Everyone on the team has really come together and I couldn’t be happier. In that down period, I had the support of my wife and my friends and family, and to turn it around and be here now is very special.”
Matt’s win moved him to third on the final Race to Dubai rankings as Rory topped the points race for a fourth time in a row and seventh time in total – moving him one win ahead of the late Seve Ballesteros and now only one behind Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight wins.
Also up for grabs in at the end of the week in Dubai were 10 dual memberships on the PGA Tour – with Yorkshireman John Parry joining Marco Penge, Laurie Canter, Kristoffer Reitan, Adrien Saddier, Alex Noren, Haotong Li, Keita Nakajima, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Jordan Smith in claiming the cards for the 2026 season.
