Rory McIlroy leads DP World Tour Championship with Tyrrell Hatton

To win his third straight DP World Tour Race to Dubai title, Rory McIlroy needs just an 11th-place finish at this week’s DP World Tour Championship.

After the first day of play at Jumeirah Golf Estates Earth Course, it certainly appears the world’s third-ranked player won’t settle for a finish that low.

Showing off a revamped backswing he spent weeks working on, McIlroy kept his misses to a minimum in posting an opening-round 67 and is tied for the lead after the first day of the event with Tyrrell Hatton at 5 under.

Saying the course played a bit more difficult than in recent years, McIlroy had one bogey on the front but cleaned things up on the back with three birdies and no blemishes. He said the recent work he’s put in will help him in situations just like this one, where missing the fairway is truly punitive.

48ft birdie making use of all the hole 😉

Rory hits the front! #DPWTC | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/7WsGtK13d4

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 14, 2024

“I think it’s a little bit more consistency. I think my start lines will come in a little bit so even my misses will become a little bit better. I think the criticism of my game over the past 18 months is that the misses had become a little too wide and they were getting me into trouble,” McIlroy said. “So we’re not going to hit perfect golf shots all the time.

“But if you can minimize the misses and make sure that they’re not destructive, that’s always a good thing.”