With this win Rory McIlroy secured his first European Tour International Schedule victory in his 46th European Tour event and moves to second in The Race to Dubai with winnings of €609,409. This victory beats his previous best finishes of second in the 2008 Omega European Masters and tied second in the 2009 UBS Hong Kong Open.
Aged 19 and 273 days becomes the seventh youngest winner in European Tour history
Becomes the sixth different teenager to win on The European Tour. He follows Dale Hayes (18 and 290 days – 1971 Spanish Open); Seve Ballesteros (19 and 121 days – 1976 Dutch Open and 19 and 191 days – 1976 Trophée Lancôme); Paul Way (19 and 149 days – 1982 KLM Dutch Open); Sergio Garcia (19 and 176 days – 1999 Murphy’s Irish Open and 19 and 267 days – 1999 Linde German Masters) and Aaron Baddeley (19 and 331 days – 2001 Greg Norman Holden International)
*First teenager to win on The European Tour since Aaron Baddeley at the 2001 Greg Norman Holden International, who was 19 and 331 days
*Becomes the youngest winner on The European Tour since Sergio Garcia, who was 19 and 267 days at the 1999 Linde German Masters
*Becomes the youngest winner of the Dubai Desert Classic aged 19 and 273 days, beating the previous record of David Howell, who was 23 and 236 days in 1999
*The third first-time winner on the 2009 European Tour International Schedule. They are: Lin Weng-tang (UBS Hong Kong Open) and Rodney Pampling (Sportsbet Australian Masters) and Rory McIlroy (Dubai Desert Classic)
*Joins Wayne Westner (1993), Ernie Els (1994), Richard Green (1997), David Howell (1999) and Robert-Jan Derksen (2003) as players making the Dubai Desert Classic their first European Tour win
- The 33rd win for Northern Ireland in European Tour history
*The sixth different golfer from Northern Ireland to win a European Tour event
The 362nd different golfer to win on The European Tour
The first Northern Irish player to win on The 2009 European Tour International Schedule
*First Northern Irishman to win on The European Tour since Darren Clarke at the 2008 KLM Open
*First player from Northern Ireland to win the Dubai Desert Classic
*Becomes the 17th different player to win the Dubai Desert Classic in the 20th anniversary of the event
- With Rory McIlroy winning, Northern Ireland becomes the 12th different nation to win the Dubai Desert Classic
*Becomes the first wire-to-wire winner of the 2009 European Tour season
*The first wire-to-wire winner with no ties since Søren Kjeldsen at the 2008 Volvo Masters
*Follows Eamonn Darcy (1990), Seve Ballesteros (1992), Ernie Els (1994) and José Coceres (2000) as players winning the Dubai Desert Classic in wire-to-wire fashion
*Moves to 16th in the Official World Golf Ranking from 39th
*Gains a place in the HSBC Champions in November
*Gains a place in the 2009 World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play
