McIlroy ready to roar in Dubai

Even after wrapping up the European Tour money title, top-ranked Rory McIlroy still has plenty to play for when he tees off on Thursday at the season-ending Dubai World Championship. A victory at the $8 million tournament will allow McIlroy to overtake Tiger Woods as the all-time leading money earner in a single season. Woods amassed a combined PGA and European Tour earning of $11,557,729 in 2007. A victory for McIlroy would put him $395,857 ahead of Woods. “I would like to pick up two trophies at the end of the week,” McIlroy said. “I really want to play well this week, finish the season on a high. There’s been a lot of high points this year and it would be great to finish on one as well.” McIlroy clinched the Order of Merit money title after finishing third at the Singapore Open, becoming the second golfer after Luke Donald to win the US and European money titles in the same season. The week is lacking the usual drama for the first time since the Race To Dubai was rolled out in 2009 because McIlroy wrapped up the money title so early. But the No.1-ranked Northern Irishman said the anti-climactic end to the season was not a reason to scrap the winner-take-all format in favour of something closer to the FedEx Cup in the United States. The American format features three playoff events that whittle the field down to 30, who then all have a chance to win $10 million in a final tournament. “I played well during the FedEx Cup playoffs this year on the PGA Tour and felt a little hard done by, playing so well and not being able to win that,” McIlroy said. McIlroy leads a stellar field of 57 players this week in Dubai. There have been three dropouts — Thomas Bjorn, Ross Fisher and Retief Goosen.