Given those circumstances, it surely didn’t even matter how McIlroy made it over the finishing line. Stumbling would be just fine, as long as it happened. Which is just as well. For long enough in the middle of his final-round 69—after four birdies in his first five holes and before two more in the last three holes—the 35-year-old Northern Irishman was doing many of the things golfers do when they end up losing.

Rory McIlroy has capped off a tumultuous year with another win in Dubai and another title as Europe's No. 1 player.

Rory McIlroy has won his sixth Race to Dubai title after triumphing in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship. The 35-year-old has now won three successive Race to Dubai crowns and his sixth overall — previously winning in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2022 and 2023 — to match the record of golfing legend Seve Ballesteros on the European tour.