A day after insisting he had no need to snatch a share of the Ryder Cup‘s profits, Rory McIlroy took strides towards a pair of pay cheques that would somewhat prove his point.
Such is the eye-watering state of golf’s finances, the world No 3 is well placed to leave Dubai on Sunday with a further £4million to his name.
For now, £1.6m of that sum is near enough guaranteed, with McIlroy all but certain to finish top of the order of merit standings, though the more immediate matter of winning the DP World Tour Championship is a tighter affair.
After carding a second-round 69, built on a front-nine charge before he stalled on the way back in, McIlroy is one shot off the nine-under-par lead held by Antoine Rozner of France.
A victorious finish to the season is within reach for the Northern Irishman, as indeed is the £2.6m prize for first, which is worth reiterating if only to highlight the absurdity of American golfers demanding cash to play in the Cup next year.
McIlroy said: ‘It’ll feel much better to hold two trophies on Sunday, I think. Going into the weekend, it’s not quite a foregone conclusion (that he will win the order of merit), but close to it. So right now, it’s all about trying to win the golf tournament.
‘It would be bittersweet if I were to be on the 18th green with one trophy and not two, but it has still been a consistent year. I would love to be on that green with two trophies.’
The order of merit, or the Race to Dubai to use its current branding, was only ever in a modicum of doubt entering this week – Thriston Lawrence of South Africa needed to win while hoping McIlroy finished outside the top 11. As it stands, Lawrence is eight shots behind McIlroy so no inversion of those standings seems likely.
As for the tournament, Rozner, the world No 154, set a fine pace with a 65 that took him to nine under. But McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton are only a shot back after matching 69s, with the dangerous trio of Joaquin Niemann, Shane Lowry and Rasmus Hojgaard on their heels.
McIlroy had stormed his way to four birdies in seven holes to lead, but played the next nine in two over before a three-wood from 270 yards at the par-five 18th set up a closing four. Hatton shot only a single bogey all day but was wrestling with his swing and the fiery edges of his temper throughout the loop.
McIlroy said: ‘I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t kick on after such a great start. I just started to miss a few fairways around the turn and not by much either but the rough is so thick, and you lose all control of your golf ball if you hit it in there.’
Hatton said: ‘I’m just not feeling very comfortable – every shot felt like a bit of a struggle, I guess. Three-under is a pretty acceptable score, all things considered. But it’s fair to say I’m pretty frustrated.’
