McIlroy eyes perfect finish to 'phenomenal' year

Rory McIlroy is acting greedy, and that could only mean good things for the fans at this week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

The world No1 has already got his hands on the Race to Dubai trophy, but why feel satisfied when he could actually leave the Emirates with two?

So, that’s the aim for this week then – make sure he ends what has been a remarkable season on a high by winning the European Tour’s season-ending championship.

McIlroy, who finished third here in 2009, fifth in 2010 and tied 11th last year, said he was not short on motivation, even if he did win Europe’s No1 crown two weeks ago in Singapore.

“I am obviously very proud and very honoured to have won the Race to Dubai this year. I’ve had four goes at it since 2009. I came close a couple of times, and you know, it was great to be able to do it this year,” said the 23-year-old.

“It’s been a phenomenal year, and I’ve still got one more tournament left and I want to try to finish the season strong. I really want to play well this week.

"This is definitely a great way to end what has been a great season. I would like to pick up two trophies at the end of the week. I think that’s the big thing.”

McIlroy, who is on the verge of signing a record deal with Nike rumoured to be in the region of $250million over 10 years, said money is no longer the biggest motivating factor for him, but winning tournaments is.

The Ulsterman, who missed the cut last week at the Hong Kong Open where he was the defending champion, said: “I’ve always said that we are probably overpaid for what we do…but I don’t mind.

“At this point, I just want to try to win as many trophies as possible. The money’s nice and it’s great that I never really have to worry about it. I guess in a way, you know, I can just concentrate on my golf and try to win tournaments.

“Winning (is the motivation). Trying to be the best player that I can be. Trying to win Majors. That’s the real motivation for me – trying to win as many tournaments and trying to win as many Majors as possible.

"I’ve got one in 2011; I backed it up this year with another Major winning season. I would love to say 2013 will be similar, and then going forward obviously.”

McIlroy, who missed the cut last week as the defending champion in Hong Kong, said he hates it when such a thing happens. “You never want to miss cuts. I’ve missed enough cuts this year; I didn’t want to miss another. So it was frustrating, but also, in a way, it might not have been a bad thing that I had a couple of days off.

“I mean, of course you can never be complacent. You can never just think of it as coming easy to you. You still have to work hard and you still have to dedicate yourself each and every day to trying to become a better player. And that’s what I want to keep doing in 2013 and years to come.”

McIlroy tees off with No2 Peter Hanson at 12.40pm on Thursday.

 

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