McIlroy paired with Race to Dubai leader Chacarra for DP World Tour Championship opener

Rory McIlroy and Eugenio Chacarra, the top two players in the Race to Dubai, have been drawn together in the last group out for round one of the DP World Tour Championship, according to tee times published by Sky Sports Golf.

The pairing sets up a direct contest between the chasing world number three and the Spaniard who currently leads the season-long standings heading into the final event at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

McIlroy arrives at the Earth course 534 points adrift of Chacarra, with the tournament offering 2,000 points to the winner, 1,335 for second and 752 for third, figures reported by Yahoo Sports. Any of those outcomes could still be enough for McIlroy to overhaul the Spaniard, depending on how Chacarra himself fares across the week.

A victory in Dubai would hand McIlroy an eighth career Race to Dubai title, a result Yahoo Sports notes would draw him level with Colin Montgomerie's record and extend his run of top-of-the-table finishes to five straight seasons.

He is not the only player with a claim on the title. Jon Rahm, McIlroy's Ryder Cup teammate, arrives in Dubai after winning in Abu Dhabi at the weekend, a result Yahoo Sports says has kept open his own route to the Race to Dubai crown.

Bookmakers have installed McIlroy as the clear favourite for the week. DraftKings odds published by Yahoo Sports and dated Monday 9 November had McIlroy at +305, with Rahm next at +540 ahead of Tommy Fleetwood at +990 and Adam Scott at +1325. Chacarra himself was priced at +1650, with Tyrrell Hatton (+1800), Matt Wallace (+1900) and Patrick Reed (+2600) also featuring in the field of contenders.

Both leading contenders have experience of closing out the season finale. McIlroy won the tournament in 2024 before losing in a play-off to Matt Fitzpatrick twelve months ago, while Rahm's previous triumph at the venue came in 2022, when he edged out Alex Noren and Hatton by two shots.

The tournament brings together the 50 leading players on the DP World Tour's points list for the climax of the 2026 season, with McIlroy, Chacarra and Reed among the names in contention as the campaign reaches its conclusion at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Round one begins with McIlroy and Chacarra set to tee off in the day's final group, a pairing that will offer an early look at how the two men at the top of the Race to Dubai measure up with the title still to be decided.