Rory McIlroy on Thursday opened up a sizable lead on Thriston Lawrence as he looks to close out a sixth Race to Dubai title.
Foremost on his mind is closing out the tournament.
At one of his personal playgrounds, McIlroy started with a 5-under 67 at the DP World Tour Championship to share the opening-day lead with Tyrrell Hatton.
McIlroy, who already has a comfortable lead in the season-long standings, needs to finish solo 11th or better in Dubai to move alongside Seve Ballesteros on the all-time list.
Lawrence struggled to a 73 on Day 1 and is in a tie for 37th in the 50-man field.
“I want to go on from here and win the golf tournament,” McIlroy said afterward. “I’ve opened up with a really good score, but I need to go out and play similarly over these three days – not just try to win the tournament, but also try to get the job done in the Race to Dubai.
“I’m under no illusion that that was probably Thriston’s worst day. If he goes out and has three good ones, I still need to go out there and play some very solid golf.”
The world No. 3 has three worldwide titles this year but hasn’t hoisted a trophy since May, at the Wells Fargo Championship. Since then he has kicked away a few chances to win, and over the past month he has worked to tighten up his swing to make it more efficient and less prone to the big miss. He tied for third last week in Abu Dhabi in the penultimate event of the season.
The players will re-pair over the next three days, pitting McIlroy against Hatton, his Ryder Cup teammate, who enters the week finishing in the top 2 in his last two European tour starts.
