Rory McIlroy has admitted that a third consecutive Race to Dubai title is now out of his hands following his withdrawal from the Turkish Airlines Open.
McIlroy has not issued a statement regarding his reasons for withdrawing from the tournament, which begins on Thursday (Nov 3), but it is understood he has security concerns surrounding the first of the three Final Series events, which is being held at Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort in Antalya.
An explosion in a car parked outside the Antalya Trade and Industry Chamber injured around a dozen people on October 25. While earlier last month European Tour officials investigated reports from Turkish media that two rockets were fired from a mountainous area close to the highway linking Antalya to the resort town of Kemer.
Tiger Woods was also another high profile withdrawal from the event in Turkey, citing a failure to rediscover his competitive form, while world No.8 Patrick Reed has also decided not to make the trip over from America on account of the security issues in the area.
McIlroy, who finished joint fourth in the WGC-HSBC Champions on Sunday, trails new Race to Dubai leader Henrik Stenson by more than a million points after the Open champion was joint second in Shanghai to overtake Danny Willett in the standings.
“I guess it’s out of my hands,” McIlroy said in China. “I took the decision not to go to Turkey next week and those boys can battle it out. If I still have some sort of a chance going into Dubai, that’s great. But if not, I think over the course of the season they have had big wins and played well. They are two major champions, so I’m okay with that.”
Willett is the only member of the top three scheduled to play in all three Final Series events, with Stenson joining his Ryder Cup team-mate in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City.