DP World Tour Championship: Rory McIlroy and leader Eugenio Chacarra paired for Dubai opener
Separating by 533.93 Race to Dubai points, the top two tee off together Thursday at 12:40 GST for $3 million and the Harry Vardon Trophy.
The Race to Dubai comes down to its final 72 holes and a head-to-head Round 1 pairing on Thursday, 12 November, at the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Race leader Eugenio Chacarra (4,243.79 points) and second-placed Rory McIlroy (3,709.86 points) walk to the first tee together in the anchor group at 12:40 p.m. local time (8:40 a.m. GMT).
With 2,000 points awarded to the tournament champion out of a $10 million purse ($3 million first prize), the math is unforgiving. Chacarra has won three times in 2026 and owns a 533.93-point cushion, meaning another trophy on Sunday hands the Spaniard the Race to Dubai outright regardless of McIlroy’s scorecard.
McIlroy climbed past Patrick Reed into second last week with a third-place finish at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship. Adding Dubai to his 2026 Masters triumph requires at least a projected top-four finish alongside help on the leaderboard, yet an eighth Harry Vardon Trophy would tie Colin Montgomerie’s historic mark. On the PGA Tour side, 19-year-old Blades Brown enters the off-week in Cabo lore after his final-round 63 (-23, 265) toppled Ben James in sudden death before Thursday’s Austin Championship opener.
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