11/12/2026 07:03:00
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11/12 07:01 CST McIlroy opens World Tour Championship with 69 to boost bid for
record-tying Race to Dubai title
McIlroy opens World Tour Championship with 69 to boost bid for record-tying
Race to Dubai title
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) --- Rory McIlroy started the strongest of the
Race to Dubai title contenders at the season-ending World Tour Championship on
Thursday, shooting 3-under 69 to lie in third place and two strokes off
first-round leader Joost Luiten.
McIlroy is seeking to claim the year-long award --- crowning the best No. 1
player on the European tour that season --- for a record-tying eighth time, and
for the fifth straight year. He is guaranteed to do so with a victory at
Jumeirah Golf Estates this week.
The world No. 2 is second in the Race to Dubai standings behind Eugenio
Chacarra, who shot 72 and was already three strokes behind McIlroy.
Patrick Reed, third in the standings and the other realistic title contender,
failed to turn around his recent slump in form and shot 75. Jon Rahm, who needs
to win and hope for Chacarra and McIlroy to finish way down the leaderboard,
opened with 71.
Luiten handled the Earth course best on a day when the wind picked up and thick
rough lining the fairways and around the greens proved to be punitive.
The Dutch player went out in 31 after five birdies in his front nine and was
even par coming home, with a 6-foot birdie putt at the par-5 18th wrapping up a
round of 67.
With so many points on offer this week, a win would come with a huge reward for
any outsider like Luiten. That's because also up for grabs this week are 10
places on next season's PGA Tour available to European tour members who are not
otherwise exempt.
Luiten isn't currently one of those 10. He was a stroke clear of Jakob Skov
Olesen, who is among those in line for a PGA Tour card.
Victor Perez, Gregorio De Leo, Freddy Schott and Francesco Laporta were
alongside McIlroy a further shot back after their 69s.
Kaneko earns rookie award
Kota Kaneko has become the second Japanese player to win the rookie of the year
award on the European tour, at the end of a season when he won the Austrian
Alpine Open and finished runner-up at the Soudal Open in a two-week stretch in
May.
Kaneko also had four other top-20 finishes to qualify as one of the leading 50
available players for the World Tour Championship, where he shot 74 in the
first round.
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