McIlroy wins record-equalling eighth European title

DP World Tour Championship final leaderboard

-15 Hatton (Eng); -10 McIlroy (NI); -8 Chacarra (Spa), Lindell (Fin); -7 Olesen (Den), Reitan (Nor), Laporta (Ita), Lindberg (Swe), Perez (Fra)

Selected others: -4 Wallace (Eng); -3 Rahm (Spa), Schaper (SA); Par Fleetwwod (Eng), Reed (US), Fox (NZ); +1 Rai (Eng)

Rory McIlroy pipped Eugenio Chacarra in a thrilling battle to win a record-equalling eighth season-long European tour title, and his fifth in a row.

Tyrrell Hatton secured a commanding victory at the DP World Tour Championship, but all eyes were on the battle to win the season-long Race to Dubai crown.

Chacarra and McIlroy went toe-to-toe in Dubai where the overall lead in the rankings chopped and changed down an absorbing back nine as neither man backed down.

But a late surge from Northern Ireland's McIlroy allowed him to finish runnder-up behind England's Hatton in the tournament and collect enough points to edge out the gutsy Spaniard Chacarra.

It means McIlroy ties Colin Montgomerie's long-standing record, while enhancing his claims to be Europe's greatest ever golfer.

Race To Dubai finale - As it happened

After Jon Rahm's victory in Abu Dhabi last week, fellow former LIV Golf member Hatton showed his class with a five-shot success at the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Hatton showed his combustible side earlier in the week but he was serene on Sunday as, while all the scrambling for the Race To Dubai title was going on, he rose above the mayhem and strolled to his ninth DP World Tour victory.

It was that head-to-head battle between Chacarra and McIlroy that dominated the tournament though, a battle that, after a long hard season, came right down to the final few holes.

Chacarra, in just his second season on the DP World Tour, is the only three-time winner of the campaign and was desperate to add his name to compatriots Rahm and Seve Ballesteros as the third Spanish order of merit winner.

After four early birdies, he made three bogeys in four holes around the turn as it looked like the pressure had got to him, but he responded brilliantly with two more birdies to push McIlroy all the way.

Chacarra finished a gutsy display in a tie for third to finish second in the standings and earn a PGA Tour card for next season.

But a bogey-free 67 from six-time major champion McIlroy saw him finish in outright second, with enough points to make it five Race To Dubai triumphs in a row.