Morikawa DP world wins in Dubai, 1st USA No.1 in PGA Europe, McIlroy falls

Race to Dubai: Morikawa wins 2021 DP World championship, 1st American to be No 1 in PGA European Tour, McIlroy falls away.








 Collin Morikawa birdied five of the last seven holes to win the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on 17 under par and clinch the European Tour's season-long Race to Dubai title.




British Open champion, Ryder Cup winner and now the first American to finish a season as the European Tour’s No. 1 player.

The world number two carded a closing six-under 66 to finish three clear of England's defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick and Alexander Bjork.

Overnight leader Rory McIlroy closed with a 74 and in a tie for sixth place..

With the three-shot victory, Morikawa also captured the Race to Dubai title as the leading points scorer on the European Tour in the 2021 season.

It caps a stunning season for the 24-year-old, who secured his second major title at the Open Championship in July after winning the WGC-Workday Championship in February.

Morikawa finished on 17 under par for the tournament.





DP World Tour Championship 2021 - final leaderboard




-17 C Morikawa (US)*;

-14 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), A Bjork (Swe);

-13 N Hojgaard (Den), R MacIntyre (Sco);

-12 R McIlroy (NI) I Poulter (Eng), D Burmester (SA)



Selected others:

-11 P Casey (Eng), S Lowry (Ire), S Horsfield (Eng);

-9 S Garcia (Spa), T Hatton (Eng), M Armitage (Eng)





what's Collin Morikawa said in winner speech...?




"It's very special and an honour," "To be the first American to do that [win the money list], to put my name against many greats, hall of famers, it's special."

"To have this chance and close it out with a win in the DP World Tour Championship, what a great way to finish that."

He added: "I just kept telling myself to focus. I was excited for this moment, I've been telling everyone that the nerves are there but I'm excited.

"I channelled that energy into excitement and wanted to keep hitting good shot after good shot. Putts started dropping and that's always fun."




An emotional Morikawa paid tribute to his late grandfather.



"I lost my grandfather earlier this year, and recently my girlfriend and I were thinking about him," he said.

"We're just so lucky to be with the people we have around us. That's about it, just say thank you and enjoy the time you have with people because you don't know how much time you will have."



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BBC Sports & AP Sports

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