Who can stand in the way of Rory McIlroy in his quest for a 6th title at the Race to Dubai?

At the dawn of the first of the two DP World Tour Playoffs tournaments in the United Arab Emirates, Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy is well on his way to winning a 6th Harry Vardon trophy and equaling Seve Ballesteros' record.

Even if the advance of Rory McIlroy at the top of the general classification for the 2024 season of DP World Tour is considerable, mathematically there are 36 of them who can still stand in his way towards a 6th coronation, the third in a row.

Most have a slim chance but for the closest pursuers there is hope of winning on the eve of the 4th Rolex Series of the year on the course of Yas Links in Abu Dhabi.

Lawrence and Højgaard à plus the 1500 points

Alongside the four-time major winner on the provisional podium are the South African Tristan Lawrence with 1,572.39 points behind and the Dane Rasmus Højgaard in 3rd place with 1920.28 points to fill.

Gaps which could be reduced on Sunday since 1,500 points will go to the successor of Victor Perez in the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship and that the runner-up to the winner of the 2024 edition will see their total increase by 1000 points.

Mission (quasi) impossible

To maintain a chance of dethroning McIlroy in the last tournament of the season in Dubai the following week, the contenders, who are no longer part of Billy Horschel, 4th in the Race but who ended his season, are not left behind by more than 2,000 points (the total promised to the winner of the DP World Tour Championship in Jumeirah in 2 weeks).

From Tommy Fleetwood 5th to Robert MacIntyre 9th, this is the number of points to be scored this week to maintain a chance of blocking the way to the double title holder and five-time winner of the Harry Vardon Trophy (2012, 2014, 2015, 2022, 2023).

5th Tommy Fleetwood needs a minimum of 541.93 points

6th Matteo Manassero needs a minimum of 568.91 points

7th Niklas Nørgaard needs a minimum of 580.91 points

8th Jesper Svensson needs a minimum of 630.60 points

9th Robert MacIntyre needs a minimum of 632.29 points

The players who follow must all finish 2nd alone to pocket 1000 points and preserve their chances

11e Adam Scott

12th Sebastian Söderberg

13e Jordan Smith

14e Guido Migliozzi

For others starting with Romain Langasque we must win in the last two tournaments while hoping that Rory McIlroy finishes dead last each time. Very unlikely…

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