Rory McIlroy highlights Colin Montgomerie’s overlooked record fans rarely mention

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Rory McIlroy is back in action this week, heading to Dubai for the DP World Tour Championship as he looks to add another title to his collection.

McIlroy comes into the event after winning both the tournament and the Race to Dubai crown last year, adding to an already impressive career record.

The Northern Irishman has now won three consecutive Race to Dubai titles, and six in total. He currently sits top of the standings going into this year’s event.

Marco Penge and Tyrrell Hatton are currently second and third respectively, with both still having a mathematical chance of catching McIlroy before the season wraps up.

Rory McIlroy praises Colin Montgomerie’s ‘amazing’ DP World Tour record

While McIlroy’s six Race to Dubai titles are impressive, it is Colin Montgomerie who still holds the record with eight, a run that includes seven consecutive wins from 1993 to 1999. Back then, it was known as the Order of Merit.

Speaking about Montgomerie’s remarkable stretch, the Northern Irishman said: “I think it’s amazing to have that sustained excellence for that long.

“There are a lot of people who can have a good year or a two-year run. But to sustain that for seven years straight, it probably doesn’t get talked about enough, especially in that golden age of European golf where he’s going up against [Nick] Faldo and [Sandy] Lyle and [Bernhard] Langer and [Ian] Woosie.

“Not saying that this isn’t a pretty good generation, too, but he had to fend off some really tough competition.”

Rory McIlroy reflects on the challenge of catching Colin Montgomerie

Montgomerie’s achievements in golf, especially during an era packed with elite talent, remain some of the sport’s most impressive.

Monty added another title to his collection in 2005, and McIlroy has already made it clear that surpassing Seve Ballesteros and closing in on the Scot would be significant milestones.

“Yeah, of course, to move from six to seven, to go one past Seve [Ballesteros] would be amazing.

“To get one closer to Monty would be amazing. But I think when I say I’m not chasing anything, I think if I focused my energy on certain tournaments and try to play well at certain tournaments, then Race to Dubai is almost just… it sort of takes care of itself,” he continued.

“You know, hopefully these season-long awards are something that just come along because you’ve won some big tournaments along the way.

“So yeah, I guess you could say I’m still chasing that, but I think that’s just more a byproduct of playing the good golf that I know that I can.”

The Northern Irishman has demonstrated superb golf on the DP World Tour, adding to his achievements on the PGA Tour and his Ryder Cup heroics.

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This year saw him reach 20 wins after memorable triumphs at both The Masters and the Irish Open.