For a long time on Sunday it looked like McIlroy would also win the final event of the DP World Tour’s season, holding a two-shot lead midway through the round before faltering down the stretch with bogeys on the 12th and 16th holes seeing him drop out of the lead.
Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, was serenely putting together a bogey-free round of 66. Three birdies in the opening five holes were followed by a run of eight pars and three birdies in his final five holes, including one on the last as he surged into the lead.
That left McIlroy and his playing partner Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen needing to hole eagle putts on the last to force a play-off. Neergaard-Petersen missed from around 20 feet.
McIlroy learned the line and holed his 15-footer. And, as he did at the Irish Open in September, roared with delight.
But unlike in Ireland, McIlroy was unable to win the play-off, handing Fitzpatrick the advantage by hitting his tee shot into water and then failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker as he posted a six.
Fitzpatrick, who played the hole more conservatively, was also off the green after three shots, but played a delightful chip and tapped in for a five.
“It means the world,” said the beaming Englishman who overcame poor form early in 2025 to qualify for the Ryder Cup team and finish the year on a high.
“I struggled at the start of the year and to turn it round in the summer and have the Ryder Cup I did is hard to top, but the way I played today, there was one bad shot all day.
“I’m so proud of myself. The effort everyone puts in behind the scenes. What a feeling.”
More to follow.
