Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Rory McIlroy’s banner year in golf ended with fitting drama Sunday when he eagled the last hole in regulation to force a playoff but lost out to Matt Fitzpatrick, who won the season-closing World Tour Championship for a third time.
The consolation for McIlroy? A fourth straight Race to Dubai title — crowning him as the year’s No. 1 player on the European tour — to add to his wins at the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam, The Players Championship and his home Irish Open. McIlroy also helped Team Europe win an away Ryder Cup.
All of his big individual victories came in playoffs but a final one proved just beyond the Northern Irishman, though, after he hit his drive into a creek on the first playoff hole — No. 18 — and made bogey. Fitzpatrick chipped to 3 feet and rolled in a par putt to win the title again at Jumeirah Golf Estates, after 2016 and 2020.
“You never like to see the way it ends, but obviously delighted,” Fitzpatrick said after sealing his first victory in two years.
McIlroy generated the biggest roar of the day when he poured in a 15-footer for eagle on No. 18 to complete a round of 5-under 67 and join Fitzpatrick (66) on 18-under par for the week. He also eagled the last at the Irish Open in September to force a playoff before going on to beat Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren at The K Club.
“In typical Rory fashion, he did it again,” said Fitzpatrick, who watched it unfold while sitting in the scorer’s hut. He met McIlroy outside, shaking his hand and giving his Ryder Cup teammate a hug.
They did so again after the playoff — which finished with both of them as winners.
Schenk wins at Bermuda
Adam Schenk finally won when he least expected it, closing with an even-par 71 in raging wind Sunday to hold on for a one-shot victory in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Southampton in his 243rd start on the PGA Tour.
Schenk was two tournaments from having to return to Q-school at No. 134 in the FedEx Cup. And then he handled some of the toughest conditions he ever faced, making one birdie and four crucial par saves in gusts that topped 30 mph.
The last one was as difficult as any. His approach to the par-4 18th at Port Royal went just over the green as Schenk clung to a one-shot lead. He chose putter to roll through about 6 feet of fringe because of the tight lie, and the wind pushed it to about 5 feet short of the hole.
He gave that winning putt a light touch, relieved when it found the center of the cup to hold off Chandler Phillip, who also shot 71.
“I’ve putt for PGA Tour wins so many times in my barn,” said Schenk, an Indiana native. “To see one go in is something I’ll never forget.”
Twice a runner-up in 2023, the year he reached the Tour Championship for the first time, Schenk with the victory gets a two-year exemption at a time on the PGA Tour when having full status is critical. Only the top 100 in the FedEx Cup — down from 125 — get full status for smaller fields in 2026.
Takumi Kanaya of Japan had a chance to catch Schenk, one shot behind and playing with him in the final group. The wind was so strong out of the left that his approach ballooned and landed in a back bunker. He hit a superb shot to 4 feet, but his wind-affected par putt lipped out.
Kanaya, at No. 120 in the FedEx Cup, would have moved to No. 83 with a par on the final hole. The miss moved him up only to No. 99 and facing plenty more stress next week in the final event.
Phillips was at No. 139, and his runner-up finish — the best of his PGA Tour career — moved him to No. 92 and should make him safe for a card.
Schenk hit a low point when he missed six straight cuts this summer. He made some tweaks to his game, and decided to putt one-handed to help with his biggest weakness, and thought he was making decent progress without great results.
Now he has a PGA Tour victory, getting him into at least one $20 million signature event next year, along with the PGA Championship and The Players Championship.
This didn’t come easily, especially in wind so strong that the tournament moved up the tee times to avoid the worst of it.
Schenk holed those nervy putts from 6 to 8 feet on the 12th and 14th holes. He hit onto the side of a hill on the par-3 16th, the scariest par 3 at Port Royal, right up against the ocean with the wind ripping off it. He slightly lost his balance on the chip, then beautifully played to 3 feet for another save.
And then he missed the putt he thought he hit perfectly, the wind moving his 6-foot birdie attempt on the 17th enough for it to spin out of the cup. That would have given him some breathing room. Instead, Schenk had to grind for one last par.
“I knew I could win. It’s just a matter of executing each shot and handling each situation I put myself in,” Schenk said. “I can’t believe it’s over. It seems like the longest day ever.”
