Rory McIlroy set up a thrilling conclusion to The Race to Dubai with victory at the UBS Hong Kong Open. The European Tour season will reach a dramatic climax at the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World, where World Number One Luke Donald and World Number Two McIlroy will battle to become European Number One. The 22 year old Northern Irishman put Donald’s dream of becoming the first player to top the money list on both sides of the Atlantic firmly on hold with a remarkable display at Fanling, chipping in from a greenside bunker at the last to finish 12 under par. There were five birdies and no bogeys in the US Open Championship winner’s closing 65 as he held off a string of challengers. McIlroy finished two clear of France’s Grégory Havret, who was also round in 65, and now heads to the Earth Course needing a second consecutive victory and Donald to finish outside the top nine.

‘ I’ve wanted to win this tournament so badly since that play-off in 2008,” said McIlroy, who has now finished second, second, sixth and first in the last four years at Fanling. “I’ve had to wait a couple of years to get there, but to get this trophy in my hands is very special. It meant a lot knowing that I had to go out there and play well to keep myself alive in The Race to Dubai, probably to keep second place in the World Rankings. To produce the sort of golf I did today was very pleasing.

‘ That was one of the goals going out today, was to win this tournament to keep myself in with a shout next week. That’s very dependent on what Luke does because he’s got such a big lead – if I can somehow get myself into contention next week, you never know.

‘ Another little bit of motivation was I woke up this morning and saw Lee Westwood shoot 62 in Sun City, and I thought I really needed to win to stay above him in the World Rankings, and there you go.  It was nice to be able to do both.

‘ I’ll always come back to the tournaments that I love and Hong Kong is one of those tournaments. I absolutely love it here and it will be great to come back next year and defend this title. ‘