Rory McIlroy has set his sights on catching Race to Dubai leader Danny Willett after being presented with the Harry Vardon Trophy and the Players' Player of the Year award at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation.
The Northern Irishman overcame an injury-plagued 2015 season to win his third Harry Vardon Trophy and was then honoured by his peers as he was voted Players' Player of the year for the second season in succession.
European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley was on hand to present the awards at the K Club, and he was full of praise for the World Number Three.
"For anybody else, it would have been a dream season, but obviously with his injury, he missed a couple of months and a chance to win some other large tournaments," he said.
"But despite that, for him still to win the Harry Vardon Trophy, our Order of Merit, for him to still be voted Player of the Year by his peers, is a testament to his skill and his determination.
"There is no question that this year, Danny Willett is currently leading our Race to Dubai and has kind of thrown the gauntlet down. I know that is a challenge that somebody like Rory relishes and looks forward to, to a very strong season now to be very competitive to defend the Race to Dubai."
Willett's win at the Masters Tournament in April has helped him open up a gap of 1,418,829 points to fourth-placed McIlroy, but the four-time Major Championship winner is determined to keep hold of his crown.
"He's over a million Euros ahead of me in that, and obviously won the Masters, which was a great achievement," he said. "That might mean I'll have to maybe add a couple more European Tour events to my schedule to try to catch up to him at the end of the year, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.
Any time you get Player of the Year and get recognition from your peers, I think that's one of the biggest accomplishments you can achieve in any walk of life - Rory McIlroy
"If the guys that are competing against you know what you've had to sacrifice and what you've had to work at to achievement that; that means an awful lot to me.
"I'm very grateful and very honoured and very humbled to win that award again."
