Collin Morikawa won the year-long Race to Dubai title and the DP World Tour Championship last year. Luke Walker
By Ryan Herrington
The DP World Tour Championship hasn’t had a repeat winner since its inception in 2009, and that will remain the case for at least another year. Collin Morikawa, who became the first American to win the then European Tour’s season finale in 2021 — and, in the process, claim the circuit’s year-long points title — announced via social media on Monday that he has withdrawn from the event at Jumeirah Golf Estate in Dubai, citing “upcoming personal commitments.”
I was looking forward to returning to Dubai to defend my @dpwtc, but I unfortunately will not make it back due to some upcoming personal commitments. Last year was such a special moment in my career and I look forward to getting back there in the future. pic.twitter.com/Vc0M4WksAM
— Collin Morikawa (@collin_morikawa) November 14, 2022
At No. 35 on the DP World Tour points list after last week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge, Morikawa was safely inside the top 50 to gain entry into the event. He did so while making eight starts in qualifying tournaments, including two DP World Tour events in the Middle East in January. His ranked was boosted largely by top-five finishes at the Masters and US Open.
Morikawa isn’t the only American player who qualified for the DP World Tour Championship who is missing the event. Will Zalatoris, No. 6 on the points list, is still recovering from a back injury that has sidelined him since late August. The lone American competing in Dubai is Kurt Kitayama, ranked 36th, who also is a PGA Tour member.
Rory McIlroy, who won the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup title in August, is the top-ranked player in the season-long points list entering the finale. The Northern Irishman is attempting to claim the former Order of Merit title for the fourth time in his career (2012, 2014, 2015) and become only the second player to hold the season-long titles on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour in the same year, joining Henrik Stenson when he did it in 2013.
Trailing McIlroy on the points list are Ryan Fox, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland.
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