Rory McIlroy wanted a win in Abu Dhabi. He got a third place, and he got Jon Rahm back in form at the wrong moment.

The Northern Irishman closed on 19 under at Yas Links on Sunday, four strokes back of Rahm’s winning total of 23 under, with Tyrrell Hatton second at 21 under. Rahm’s closing 67 sealed his first DP World Tour win in some time, and the Spaniard did not pretend otherwise.

“It’s been quite a while since I’ve played good in a DP World Tour event!” Rahm told Sky Sports after his round.

He added that returning from a break for the birth of his new child made the win feel “quite special”.

Read also: ‘I don’t want to play against you anymore’: Ibrahim Maza is on his way to becoming a world star

McIlroy stays second, 533 points adrift

The arithmetic going into the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates is harsh on McIlroy. He has climbed above Patrick Reed into second place in the Race to Dubai, but Chacarra, who finished tied-22nd in Abu Dhabi, still leads by 533.93 points with 2,000 available to the winner in Dubai.

A win at the Earth Course would give McIlroy an eighth Order of Merit title, equalling Colin Montgomerie’s long-standing European Tour record. Reed, who finished 43rd in Abu Dhabi, remains mathematically in the race too.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the final round, McIlroy pointed at the week ahead rather than the one he had just lost.

“It was sort of a week where I felt like I had my chances,” he said, adding that he saw “encouraging signs in the game” to take into Dubai.

Read also: Lammens shrugs off Keane criticism as Manchester United staff point to quiet progress

Chacarra and McIlroy paired out last

Rahm’s win does not shift McIlroy’s maths directly. It does, however, hand Rahm form heading into Jumeirah, after a thin year by his DP World Tour standards.

McIlroy and Chacarra will play together in the final pairing. Chacarra, a Spaniard in his first full season on the main European tour, has won three times in 2026, most recently at the DP World India Championship in October.

The leader is not talking himself up. “He’s the No 2 player in the world and the No 1 in Europe,” Chacarra told The National of McIlroy. “The odds are on him.”

The 2026 DP World Tour Championship starts on Thursday, 12 November at Jumeirah Golf Estates, with a $10m prize fund and 2,000 Race to Dubai points on offer to the winner. A McIlroy win seals him the title regardless of where Chacarra finishes. An outright second only works if Chacarra comes third or lower and Reed is also denied the win.

Read also: Virgil van Dijk ‘in no panic’ over Liverpool future despite looming contract expiry

Read also: France rule Mathys Tel out of U21 camp as Tottenham wait on ankle scan