Rory McIlroy comments on Patrick Reed and Eugenio Chacarra when asked about Race to Dubai chances
· Yahoo Sports
Rory McIlroy finished in third place this week at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, keeping his outside chances of winning the Race to Dubai for an eighth time alive.
McIlroy played some exceptional golf this week at Yas Links, but he was far too inconsistent to challenge Jon Rahm in the end.
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The Northern Irishman made 29 birdies and one eagle in Abu Dhabi, but he also made a quadruple bogey, a double bogey and six bogeys.
Rory McIlroy is still in with a shout of winning the Race to Dubai and he will be in the final group out alongside Eugenio Chacarra at The 2026 DP World Tour Championship on Thursday.
He leap-frogged Patrick Reed into second place in the standings this week.
And the six-time major champion has now opened up on how he feels about his chances of winning the season-long race next week in Dubai.
Rory McIlroy comments on Patrick Reed and Eugenio Chacarra when asked about Race to Dubai
McIlroy spoke to reporters after his final round in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
The Northern Irishman was asked whether he is content with his position in the Race to Dubai standings heading into the final event of the season next week in Dubai.
“Yeah, absolutely. That’s where I wanted to be,“ McIlroy replied.
“It’s a pretty familiar spot for me going into The DP World Tour Championship, and I’m excited for it. That was the goal coming into these two weeks to try to catch Eugenio and Patrick and try to win The Race to Dubai again.
“Yeah, it would have been great to win this week and give myself not as much of a deficit or even a lead, but I still feel like I’m right in there with a great chance.“
McIlroy then delivered his verdict on his performance this week at Yas Links.
“It was sort of a week where I felt like I had my chances,“ he admitted.
“You know, especially today, birdieing 10 and 11 on the back to get tied for the lead, and then I had two good chances, 12 and 13, and didn’t make those. Had to scramble for par on 14. And then, yeah, I just couldn’t keep my momentum going.
“But it was a good week. I saw some encouraging signs in the game. You know, I’m going to be in that final group going out on Thursday next week. So yeah, I obviously would have loved to have won the tournament, but enough positive signs to feel good about going into next week.“