{"id":778268,"date":"2026-09-21T22:56:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T22:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/778268\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T22:56:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T22:56:16","slug":"rory-mcilroy-closing-in-on-order-of-merit-it-would-be-amazing-to-match-montys-record-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/778268\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy closing in on Order of Merit: \u2018It would be amazing to match Monty\u2019s record\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rory McIlroy<\/a> will put the clubs away again for a few weeks, at least competitively. The world No 2 does so happy in the knowledge that his tied-second-place finish in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth sets him up for a strong finish to the season. As it stands, an eighth DP World Tour Order of Merit title is very much in his sights.<\/p>\n

McIlroy closed the gap on long-time Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed to just 308 points \u2013 3,423 to 3,115 \u2013 heading into the closing stretch of the season, which concludes with the Tour Championship in Dubai on November 12th-15th. Spain\u2019s Eugenio Chacarra, in third with 2,587 points, also remains in the mix if somewhat adrift.<\/p>\n

Reed, the American who returned to the DP World Tour from LIV earlier this year, suffered a wrist injury which forced his withdrawal from the BMW PGA. McIlroy made the most of his rival\u2019s weekend absence to make up ground in the standings. JJ Spaun was the tournament winner<\/a> at Wentworth.<\/p>\n

The Northern Irishman claimed a seventh order of merit title last year to move one shy of equalling Colin Montgomerie\u2019s record.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited,\u201d said McIlroy. \u201cI have three events until the end of my DP World Tour season. I\u2019m not sure what Patrick\u2019s schedule looks like coming up, but I feel like I have enough opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RoryRory McIlroy moved to within 308 points of Order of Merit leader Patrick Reed with his tied-second-place finish in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club, England. Photograph: Richard Heathcote\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

McIlroy\u2019s three remaining tournaments on the DP World Tour will be the India Championship and then the two final events of the season in the United Arab Emirates \u2013 the Abu Dhabi Championship and the Tour Championship in Dubai.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going back to the golf course in India that I played for the first time last year, so I\u2019ll know it a little bit better; and then going to Abu Dhabi and Dubai where I had a lot of success in my career,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m excited for the opportunity, and it would be obviously amazing to match Monty\u2019s record.”<\/p>\n

Reed, who injured his wrist when connecting with a tree root as he hit a shot, is not playing in this week\u2019s French Open. He is, though, entered for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland on October 1st-4th.<\/p>\n

\"PatrickPatrick Reed withdrew from last weekend’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth after injuring his wrist when his club connected with a tree root mid-shot. Photograph: Warren Little\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

A tied-seventh finish for S\u00e9amus Power in the Biltmore Championship on the PGA Tour<\/a> \u2013 won by Jacob Bridgeman \u2013 strengthened the Waterford man\u2019s bid for a stronger tour-card category in 2027, as he moved from 114th to 104th in the updated FedEx Cup Fall standings.<\/p>\n

With the Presidents Cup match between the USA and the International team taking place at Medinah this week, there is no regular tournament on the PGA Tour. It means Power\u2019s next outing will be in the Bank of Utah Championship next week, where he will aim to carry on the momentum of only his second top-10 of the season.<\/p>\n

Leona Maguire<\/a> returns to the LPGA Tour for this week\u2019s Walmart Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club, her first outing since regaining the Solheim Cup<\/a> with her European teammates in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

Maguire is aiming for a strong finish to the season, which will take her on from Arkansas to the Lotte Championship in Hawaii and then a string of tournaments in Asia, including the Buick LPGA in Shanghai, the BMW LPGA in South Korea and Maybank Championship in Malaysia. She will finish the year with the Annika Championship and the CME Globe Tour Championship in November.<\/p>\n

Lauren Walsh, who had a top-10 finish in the weather-hit La Sella Open on the LET, returns to the LPGA Tour this week for the event in Arkansas. The Kildare woman is aiming to move up the order of merit in her own quest to make the Tour Championship.<\/p>\n

Five Irish players \u2013 Anna Foster, Sara Byrne, \u00c1ine Donegan, Olivia Mehaffey and Annabel Wilson \u2013 are scheduled to compete in this week\u2019s Italian Open on the LET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy will put the clubs away again for a few weeks, at least competitively. The world No…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":778269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[43452,5904,13801,8693,2623,102134,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-778268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-dp-world-tour","tag-golf","tag-leona-maguire","tag-pga-tour","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-seamus-power","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}