Luke Donald finally became the first player ever to win the money list both sides of the pond after finishing third in The Dubai World Championship.
Donald only needed a top nine finish to complete the job in Dubai despite what McIlroy did, the only way things could have been different was if McIlroy won and Donald finished 10th or worse. McIlroy finished ten shots off the lead in the end.
Spaniard Alvaro Quiros, the overnight leader, won the title by two shots after a 67 left him at 19 under par. Quiros played great golf all week and thoroughly deserved the win on a course that suited his long hitting.
After accumulating £4.19m in winning the US money list, Donald finished with earnings of £3,632,685 from the European Tour.
He won four tournaments this year, including the World Golf Championship Match Play event and the European Tour’s flagship event, the PGA Championship at Wentworth, which also saw him crowned world number one after beating Lee Westwood in a play-off.
One more tournament left for Donald which is the Australian Masters starting on Thursday.