DP World Tour Championship: Power Ranking the top ten in Dubai

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - NOVEMBER 19: Jon Rahm of Spain shakes hands with Dean Burmester of South Africa on the 18th green during the final round of the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates on November 19, 2017 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images) /

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DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – NOVEMBER 22: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland poses with the Race To Dubai and DP World Tour Championship trophies following the final round of the DP World Tour Championship on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates on November 22, 2015 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images) /

McIlroy was once sponsored by Jumeirah and made his sponsor proud by his play at the DP World Tour Championship.

He was a winner here in 2012 and 2015 with three more top-fives and nothing worse than a T11 in eight appearances.

He skipped the 2017 event and opened with a 75 in 2016 before playing the final 54 holes in 15-under to salvage a T9.

The Earth course allows McIlroy to utilize his distance off the tee without much worry about finding his ball. He led the field in 2015 in driving distance (322.1 yards) and was fourth in GIR (83.3 percent) to go with top-five putting marks.

The Northern Irishman will be craving his first worldwide win since March. He’s had seven top-10s in the mean time with only two missed cuts, though.

He finished T21 last week at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

McIlroy is fourth on the European Tour in par-5 scoring and ninth in birdie average.

Say what you want about a lack of elite play from McIlroy, but he’s at least been valuable in that his worst weeks are still usually top-25s.

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