Rory McIlroy aims to cap stunning 2025 by closing in on Colin Montgomerie record

Rory McIlroy leaves the 18th green during a Pro-Am prior to the DP World Tour Championship 2025 at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Pic: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

Rory McIlroy is bidding to cap a memorable by year by securing the title as the European circuit's top player for a seventh time this weekend.

The world number two completed a career grand slam at the US Masters in April and played a starring role as Europe won the Ryder Cup in the United States in September.

The Irish golfer now arrives at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, which starts on Thursday, leading the Race to Dubai rankings.

Englishmen Marco Penge and Tyrrell Hatton are the only players who can relieve him of top spot and prevent him moving within one of Colin Montgomerie's record eight order of merit titles.

McIlroy has 4,640.96 points to his name from just 10 tournaments played while Penge, who has featured in 25, has accumulated 3,873.74. Hatton, the outsider of the three, is on 2,919.18.

There are 2,000 points available to the winner of the 52-man tournament at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai.

McIlroy, who will play alongside Penge in the final group on Thursday, said: "To move from six to seven, to go one past Seve (Ballesteros) would be amazing, to get one closer to Monty would be amazing.

"But when I say I'm not chasing anything, I think if I focus my energy on certain tournaments and try to play well at certain tournaments, then the Race to Dubai almost just sort of takes care of itself.

"Hopefully these season-long awards are something that just come along because you've won some big tournaments along the way."

Penge, who has won three times on the DP World Tour this year, needs at least a runners-up finish to have a chance of overhauling five-time major winner McIlroy.

The Lancashire-based 27-year-old said: "To have the chance to win the Race to Dubai is unbelievable really. Where I've come over the last nine months is still something that I'm almost still in disbelief of in a way.

"My game has improved so much this year, I've gained so much experience with playing with the top players in the world.

"I love it. I love playing in front of crowds, I love playing with the best players in the world. There's nothing better than playing with Rory McIlroy. He's the greatest player of my generation."