An emotional Rory McIlroy paid tribute to Seve Ballesteros and admitted he had exceeded his dreams after claiming another Race to Dubai victory at the DP World Tour Championship.
McIlroy finished runner-up to Matt Fitzpatrick in a thrilling climax to the DP World Tour season, where he made a final-hole eagle to force a play-off before finding water off the on the first extra hole.
The world No 2 narrowly missed on a successful title defence and fourth DP World Tour Championship victory but extended his winning margin in the season-long standings, securing him the Harry Vardon Trophy for a fourth successive year.
He overtook the late Ballesteros' tally of six Order of Merit titles and moved within one of Colin Montgomerie's record, with McIlroy now look to surpass both and become the most successful in DP World Tour history.
"It [overtaking Ballesteros] is amazing," McIlroy said. "I had a conversation with Carmen [Ballesteros' ex-wife] before I went out to play today and she told me how proud he would have been.
"He means so much to this Tour and the European Ryder Cup team. We rally so much around his spirit and around his quotes and everything he meant for European golf. To equal him last year was cool, but to surpass him this year, I didn't get this far in my dreams, so it's very cool."
"I want it (record number of Order of Merits), of course I do. I caught up with Monty [Colin Montgomerie] this week when he was here a couple days ago. It seems within touching distance now.
"I'd love to be the winningest European in terms of Order of Merits and season-long races. I've probably got a few more good years left in me, and hopefully I can catch him and surpass him."
McIlroy let a two-shot advantage lead slip over the closing holes to finish alongside Fitzpatrick, who posted a bogey-free 66 before finding a par in the play-off to claim a first worldwide victory since October 2023.
"There's just not many people in the game better than him - not just a golfer, but just as a person," Fitzpatrick said about McIlroy. "He's achieved so much in the game.
"It would be very easy to have a very large head and basically just like about himself - he's the polar opposite, he really is. He cares so much about other people, this tour and the game of golf, and that shows in how he is, each and every day.
"It's just a real privilege to call him a friend and be on a Ryder Cup team with him and achieve those things together and obviously play golf against him at this time in the world of golf, where he is one of the best players - if not the best player - in the world."
McIlroy completed Grand Slam glory at The Masters and also won the Amgen Irish Open on home soil, with three other top-four finishes on the DP World Tour part of a campaign that also saw him win twice on the PGA Tour.
"For me, it's Rory's best-ever year," former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley told SportNews. "He's had a lot of good years in his career, but just look at those achievements. Only the third living person to win the Grand Slam - a very, very high bar when it comes to golf, then you look at the big titles he's won behind that.
"He won the Amgen Irish Open in such dramatic fashion and then led the Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black and that wasn't easy for him performing in that hostile environment, with the abuse that he was getting.
"For me, he's the leading player in the game. I know the world rankings might not say that, in terms of the sheer consistency, of Scottie Scheffler, but he's the most charismatic engaging player there is in the game and he's getting better.
"He's an all-rounded player now. There's not a weakness in his game. We couldn't have said that a couple of years ago, even though he's winning titles and Order of Merit - he was in and out with the putter, in and out with the wedge, and that's not the case now."
The new DP World Tour season begins with the BMW Australian PGA Championship from November 27-30, held at Royal Queensland GC in Brisbane and live on SportNews.
McIlroy returns to action the following week in the Crown Australian Open at Royal Melbourne GC, the same week the Nedbank Golf Challenge takes place at Gary Player CC in South Africa, with both events also live on SportNews Golf. .
