Every edition of the event has been held at the Earth Course at Dubai’s Jumeirah Golf Estates, and in 2023, Nicolai Hojgaard became the 10th player to win it, when he defeated Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland and Matt Wallace by two shots.
That handed him a $3m payout from the $10m purse, although it wasn’t enough to earn him the Harry Vardon Trophy, which is awarded the player at the top of the Race to Dubai standings after the event, with Rory McIlroy winning it for the fifth time.
The first edition of the tournament, when it was known as the Dubai World Championship, saw Lee Westwood claim $1.666m from the $7.5m purse after his victory over fellow Englishman Ross McGowan, before Robert Karlsson became the first Swede to lift the trophy with a playoff victory over Ian Poulter in 2010.
Lee Westwood won the inagural tournament
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A year later, Spaniard Alvaro Quiroz beat 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie by two. Other one-time winners of the event are Danny Willett, who claimed the title in 2018 and Collin Morikawa, who won in 2021.
However, four players have multiple DP World Tour Championship wins. In 2012, Rory McIlroy beat Justin Rose by two shots for his maiden DP World Tour Championship title, while also claiming his first Race to Dubai title. Three years later, he made that two titles when he beat Andy Sullivan by one. That year, he also claimed the Race to Dubai title for the third time having also won it in 2014.
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In between McIlroy’s brace of DP World Tour Championship titles, Henrik Stenson claimed back-to-back victories, in 2013 and 2014. On the second occasion, McIlroy was also strongly in the running for victory, before falling two shots short.
Matt Fitzpatrick then tasted victory for the first time in 2016 after finishing one ahead of Tyrrell Hatton. Four years later, he denied Westwood his second title by one shot to win again, although that year, Westwood had the considerable consolation of the Race to Dubai title.
While McIlroy, Stenson and Fitzpatrick had each won the tournament twice before the 2024 edition, one player has the outright lead.
Jon Rahm claimed the title for the first time just a year after turning professional, at the 2017 event, when he beat Kiradech Aphibarnrat by one, and two years…
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