Defending Race to Dubai champion Rory McIlroy heads into this week's season-ending DP World Tour Championship with his eyes firmly fixed on lifting the Harry Vardon Trophy for a seventh time.
On Thursday, McIlroy will tee-off at Jumeirah Golf Estates with a 767-point advantage over nearest challenger Marco Penge in the Race to Dubai standings.
The Northern Irishman can make it four wins on the spin in the season-long race if he triumphs again on Sunday. If he does so, McIlroy would become a seven-time champion, moving past Seve Ballesteros on six and closing to within one win of Colin Montgomerie's record of eight.
And the 36-year-old is delighted to be writing his name into the golf history books alongside such illustrious company.
"To move from six to seven titles, to go one past Seve would be amazing," said McIlroy on Tuesday. "To get one closer to Monty would be amazing.
"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.
"So yeah, I guess you could say I'm still chasing that, but I think that's just more a by-product of playing the good golf that I know that I can."
Before becoming the Race to Dubai, European golf's season-long battle was known as the Order of Merit and Scotland's Montgomerie was the dominant force, winning a remarkable seven times in a row from 1993 and 1999 - and then again in 2005.
It is an achievement McIlroy believes does not receive the acclaim it should. "There's a lot of people who can have a good year run or a good two-year run but to sustain that for seven years straight and win eight Order of Merits ... [that] probably doesn't get talked about enough," said McIlroy. "Especially in that golden age of European golf where he's going up against [Nick] Faldo and [Sandy] Lyle and [Bernard] Langer and Woosie [Ian Woosnam].
"I'm not saying this isn't a pretty good generation, too, but he had to fend off some pretty good opposition."
Another victory this weekend would be a fitting way to end an unforgettable season which has seen McIlroy secure a career Grand Slam and finally don the famous Green Jacket at Augusta for winning the Masters.
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Scottie Scheffler, winner of the 2024 Masters, puts the green jacket on Rory McIlroy after the Northern Irishman beat Justin Rose in a play-off to clinch the 2025 Masters at Augusta National. Getty Images -
Rory McIlroy poses with the Masters trophy during the green jacket ceremony after winning the 2025 Masters to complete golf's Grand Slam. Getty Images -
Rory McIlroy celebrates after sinking his winning putt to beat Justin Rose in a play-off for the 2025 Masters. Getty Images -
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, right, shakes hands with Justin Rose of England. EPA -
Rory McIlroy celebrates winning with caddie Harry Diamond. Getty Images -
Rory McIlroy poses with daughter Poppy and wife Erica Stoll holding the Masters trophy. Getty Images -
Rory McIlroy putts in a play-off against Justin Rose to win the 2025 Masters. EPA -
Rory McIlroy celebrates winning with caddie Harry Diamond. Getty Images
He also had to overcome a hostile home crowd in New York to help Europe beat the United States and claim back-to-back Ryder Cups.
And in the opening DP World Tour play-off in Abu Dhabi last week, McIlroy produced a sensational final round performance that saw him record a 10-under par 62 at Yas Links.
While it left him one short of reaching the play-off - which saw Englishman Aaron Rai defeat Tommy Fleetwood - McIlroy will be hoping to carry that momentum into a tournament he has won three times before.
"Obviously it was a great day on Sunday," said McIlroy. "It looked like I was probably going to have a similar cushion over Marco to what I had last week but I was able to turn it on on the back nine and make a few birdies and give myself a chance to win the tournament, but also a little bit more of a lead going in here.
"So I thought last week was overall pretty good. I certainly played really well on the weekend. Found myself in a familiar position going into this week, going out last on Thursday, and you know, it will be good to tee it up again alongside Marco. I'm excited for a great week.
"I feel like my game rounded into some really good form at the weekend, and hopefully I can continue that from Thursday on."
World No 2 McIlroy was speaking on the day that the DP World Tour announced the inauguration of the Rory McIlroy Award, a new annual trophy named in honour of Europe’s first winner of the career Grand Slam.
The award will be presented to a player on the DP World Tour who performs the best across all four Majors in a season.
McIlroy becomes the fifth person to have a DP World Tour award named after them and he said: "It's an amazing honour to have my name up there along with Harry Vardon, Sir Henry Cotton, Seve Ballesteros and John Jacobs, that's very special."
