The 2025 Race to Dubai came to a conclusion in the UAE, with back-to-back Rolex Series events making up the DP World Tour Play-Offs.
After the drama of seeing who would keep their cards and qualify for the Play-Offs at the end of the regular season, the top 70 on the Race to Dubai headed to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links.
The top 50 then made their way to Dubai for the DP World Tour Championship, where the winner of the Harry Vardon Trophy and the ten dual memberships available with the PGA TOUR would be decided.
Let's take a look at a dramatic fortnight in the desert.
Who were the big winners?
Rory McIlroy
The Northern Irishman may not have won either of the Play-Off events but a tie for third in Abu Dhabi and a runner-up finish in Dubai ensured he took home season-long honours for the fourth year in a row.
Having completed the career Grand Slam, won his home open and been part of a winning Ryder Cup team on American soil, McIlroy had already declared 2025 the best year of his career and a seventh Harry Vardon Trophy put a thick layer of icing on top of an already showstopper-standard cake.
He became emtional when asked what it meant to pass Seve Ballesteros' tally of six season-long titles and he is now aiming for number eight to match the record total of Colin Montgomerie.
"It seems within touching distance now," he said. "I was the first European to win the Grand Slam and I'd love to be the most successful European in terms of winning Order of Merits and season-long races. I've hopefully got a few more good years left in me, and hopefully I can catch and surpass him."
The next set of Play-Offs are 12 months away but you can bet all eyes will once again be on McIlroy in 2026.
Matt Fitzpatrick
Is anyone in the world playing better golf than the Englishman right now?
After a slow start to the season and some changes to his game, Fitzpatrick has not missed a cut since making the weekend at the Masters and that fine run culminated in a third victory at the DP World Tour Championship.
He has eight top tens in his last 12 starts and like McIlroy was part of that victorious Euopean team at Bethpage Black.
A Play-Off win over the Northern Irishman at Jumeirah Golf Estates ensured him a sixth top five on the Race to Dubai in 11 seasons on Tour, nine of which have contained wins, and after dipping as low as 85th in the world in May, he is very much back on the rise.
"It means the world," he said. "I struggled at the start of this year, obviously, and to turn it around in the summer like I did and have a Ryder Cup like I did...the Ryder Cup in particular, I feel like it's hard to top given everything.
"But the way that I played today, I feel like I really didn't hit one bad shot all day. I'm so proud of myself, the effort that everyone puts in behind the scenes. Yeah, what a feeling. What a feeling."
Aaron Rai
Another player who became a multiple Rolex Series winner across the season-closers was Rai, who ran out victorious in Abu Dhabi.
The likeable Englishman had had a relatively quiet season until an impressive third-placed finish at the BMW PGA Championship and after eight weeks off, he then took down Tommy Fleetwoood in a play-off in a repeat of his first Rolex Series win in Scotland.
"I think it's a huge thing to be playing against some of the best players in the world and to be competing with them," he said. "I think what is special, as well, about this week, I've struggled in the Middle East for quite a while. So it was great, even getting off to a good start and getting comfortable and knowing that I can play well out here.
"To win this week is very validating and gives a lot of belief about my game and how it stacks up around the world, and amazing competing with some of the best players in the world."
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
Already one of the breakout stars of 2025, a tie for third in Dubai ensured the Dane will have dual membership with the PGA TOUR next season.
After three wins on the 2024 HotelPlanner Tour season and runner-up finishes on both sides of the Atlantic in 2025, Neergaard-Petersen was in no way a surprise arrival at the Play-Offs despite being a rookie.
He finished 23rd in Abu Dhabi to actually drop a place in the Race to Dubai and needed to play his final five holes of the season finale in five under to get a PGA TOUR card.
He duly went eagle-birdie-par-birdie-birdie to move past Dan Brown and Jordan Smith and seal an international schedule for 2025.
| Players to secure dual membership with PGA TOUR for 2026 |
|---|
| Marco Penge |
| Laurie Canter |
| Kristoffer Reitan |
| Adrien Saddier |
| Alex Noren |
| John Parry |
| Haotong Li |
| Keita Nakajima |
| Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen |
| Jordan Smith |
To learn more about the ten new dual members, click here.
How did it unfold?
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
There was a five-way tie at the top of the leaderboard after round one and Fleetwood was a part of it but he was joined by Rai after 36 holes as his countryman carded a brilliant 64 with the help of an albatross in round two.
Rai led on his own after 54 holes but he was juts one clear of playing partner Fleetwood heading into what would be an entertaining final day on Yas Island.
McIlroy produced a Sunday surge with a stunning 62 that ensured a tenth top three in 14 appearances in Abu Dhabi but he could not haul in the leading duo as Fleetwood and Rai headed to a play-off.
And it would take just one trip back up the last to decide the winner, with Rai birdieing the 73rd hole to take home the title.
DP World Tour Championship
American Michael Kim flew out of the blocks with a stunning display of iron play in an opening 64 but he could not maintain that pace and rounds of 67-65 handed Dane Nicolai Højgaard a three-shot lead at the midway point.
It was another Dane in Neergaard-Petersen who shared top spot after round three but he shared it with McIlroy, a man with a stunning record at Jumeirah Golf Estates who was now favourite, but two-time winner Fitzpatrick was just two shots back.
Fitzpatrick birdied the last on Sunday to jump out of a leading logjam but, just as he did at the Amgen irish Open, McIlroy eagled the 72nd hole to force the season finale to a play-off.
He would then find water off the tee on the first trip back up the last, however, allowing Fitzpatrick to take the title with a par after a tidy up-and-down.
Magic moments
A look at some of the best bits from the final two events of the season.
