Rahm wins in Dubai, McIlroy ends season as Europe's number one

Jon Rahm won the DP World Tour championship in Dubai by two shots on Sunday as Rory McIlroy finished fourth to end the season as European number one for the fourth time.

Spaniard Rahm fired a closing 67 to finish on 20 under and seal a career hat-trick at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

England's Tyrrell Hatton and Sweden's Alex Noren shared second place after carding final rounds of 66 and 67 respectively with McIlroy ending at 16 under after a closing 68.

Rahm reeled off three birdies before bogeying the fourth and came back with three more to stay ahead before making par at the 18th.

"I like this course and this course likes me. I hope this is the third of many more," he said.

McIlroy secured the Harry Vardon Trophy for the winner of the Race to Dubai to crown the European tour's number one player.

"It means a lot," said the Northern Irishman, a four-times Major champion who last earned that title in 2015 and was already world number one.

"I was a model of consistency the whole way through the year...just a really consistent season, I kept putting in good performances.

"It would have been nice to get a win in here at the end of the year but Jon put in an incredible tournament and fully deserved it. I'm really proud of my year and excited for 2023."

DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP SCORES AFTER FINAL ROUND:

268 - Jon Rahm (ESP) 70-66-65-67

270 - Tyrrell Hatton 65-67-72-66, Alexander Noren (SWE) 66-69-68-67

272 - Rory McIlroy 71-68-65-68

275 - Matthew Fitzpatrick 65-67-70-73, Tommy Fleetwood 68-70-68-69

277 - Adrian Meronk (POL) 70-71-65-71, Rasmus Hoejgaard (DEN) 68-70-72-67

278 - Adria Arnaus (ESP) 67-68-75-68, Jorge Campillo (ESP) 71-65-71-71280 - Maximilian Kieffer (GER) 69-70-70-71

281 - Victor Perez (FRA) 69-73-73-66, Connor Syme 73-71-70-67, Min-Woo Lee (AUS) 71-67-74-69, Joakim Lagergren (SWE) 73-71-71-66

282 - Adrian Otaegui (ESP) 71-68-72-71, Richie Ramsay 69 70 73 70, Sam Horsfield 71-70-70-71

283 - Ryan Fox (NZL) 73-72-70-68

284 - Gavin Green (MAS) 70-73-68-73, Romain Langasque (FRA) 71 69 72 72, David Law 70-74-74-66

285 - Viktor Hovland (NOR) 74-70-71-70, Shane Lowry 73-70-71-71, Yannik Paul (GER) 68-71-74-72, Callum Shinkwin 68-76-71-70, Guido Migliozzi (ITA) 71-69-73-72