Head to head from the first hole
No hiding place on Thursday. Eugenio Chacarra and Rory McIlroy, first and second in the Race to Dubai, will play the opening round of the DP World Tour Championship together, out last at 0840 UK time.
The draw for round one was published this morning. Chacarra leads the season standings by more than 500 points with one event left. McIlroy needs to close that gap in four rounds to collect an eighth Harry Vardon Trophy, a haul that would draw him level with Colin Montgomerie’s record.
Starting alongside the leader at least gives him a front-row view of what he has to beat.
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Nine names still alive
The two of them are not the only ones with a mathematical chance. Patrick Reed, Casey Jarvis, Aaron Rai, Jon Rahm, Ryan Fox, Jayden Schaper and Daniel Hillier can all still finish the year as Europe’s No 1, and the late groups are built around them.
Reed goes off with Jarvis at 0830. Rahm, who won in Abu Dhabi last week, is paired with Rai at 0820. Fox and Schaper are at 0810, with Hillier alongside Jacob Skov Olesen at 0800. Tyrrell Hatton and Bernd Wiesberger tee off at 0750.
Early starters
Play starts at 0425 with Joost Luiten and Victor Perez. Tommy Fleetwood is out at 0630 with Davis Bryant, while Adam Scott and Adrian Otaegui go at 0455. Television coverage begins at 7am UK time.
McIlroy has won this event three times. From Thursday he gets to watch every shot the man he is chasing hits.
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