Rory McIlroy: with this win

Rory McIlroy rounded off a spectacular year in style with victory at the European Tour's season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai

Nick Bonfield
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With this win:

Fifth European Tour International Schedule victory in his 115th European Tour event.

New record for single-season earnings with €5,519,117. Beats Luke Donald's €5,323,400 set in 2011.

Second European Tour title of the season, alongside the PGA Championship, his second major victory.   Second consecutive European Tour season he has recorded multiple victories. In 2011 he won the US Open Championship and UBS Hong Kong Open.   Sixth multiple winner of the season, following Branden Grace (Joburg Open, Volvo Golf Champions, Volvo China Open and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship), Louis Oosthuizen (Africa Open and Maybank Malaysian Open), Bernd Wiesberger (Ballantine's Championship and Lyoness Open powered by Greenfinity), Paul Lawrie (Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy and Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles) and Peter Hanson (KLM Open and BMW Masters).

Last four European Tour titles have come from just 26 European Tour appearances, starting with the 2011 U.S. Open.

Has finished in the top ten 17 times from his 26 European Tour events dating back to the 2011 U.S. Open.

Has finished in the top ten in 66% of European Tour starts this season (10/15).   Winning total of 265 (-23) matches the 72-hole tournament record set by Lee Westwood in 2009.   At 23 years and 205 days, he is the fourth-youngest player in European Tour history to have five victories to his name. Seve Ballesteros (21 years and 42 days), José María Olazábal (23 years and 21 days) and Sandy Lyle (23 years and 90 days) achieved the same feat at a younger age.   Other facts:   Second European Tour victory in Dubai (2009 Dubai Desert Classic) and the third of his five European Tour wins to come on Asian soil.   Fourth appearance at DP World Tour Championship. Previous best performance: third in 2009.

Has won an average of €367,941 per event from his 15 events on The European Tour in 2012.   Has earned more than €15m in European Tour Official Career Earnings from 115 events, an average of €138,486 per event.   The 46th Northern Irish win in European Tour history.   Fifth victory in 2012, following the Honda Classic, US PGA Championship, Deutsche Bank Championship and BMW Championship. Only Branden Grace has matched his tally of five professional victories in 2012. His tenth victory as a professional.

Story courtesy of the European Tour

Nick Bonfield
Nick Bonfield
Features Editor

Nick Bonfield joined Golf Monthly in 2012 after graduating from Exeter University and earning an NCTJ-accredited journalism diploma from News Associates in Wimbledon. He is responsible for managing production of the magazine, sub-editing, writing, commissioning and coordinating all features across print and online. Most of his online work is opinion-based and typically centres around the Majors and significant events in the global golfing calendar. Nick has been an avid golf fan since the age of ten and became obsessed with the professional game after watching Mike Weir and Shaun Micheel win The Masters and PGA Championship respectively in 2003. In his time with Golf Monthly, he's interviewed the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Jose Maria Olazabal, Henrik Stenson, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood and Billy Horschel and has ghost-written columns for Westwood, Wayne Riley, Matthew Southgate, Chris Wood and Eddie Pepperell. Nick is a 12-handicap golfer and his favourite courses include Old Head, Sunningdale New, Penha Longha, Valderrama and Bearwood Lakes. If you have a feature pitch for Nick, please email nick.bonfield@futurenet.com with 'Pitch' in the subject line. Nick is currently playing: Driver: TaylorMade M1 Fairway wood: TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 Hybrid: Ping Crossover Irons (4-9): Nike Vapor Speed Wedges: Cleveland CBX Full Face, 56˚, Titleist Vokey SM4, 60˚ Putter: testing in progress! Ball: TaylorMade TP5x

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