The wildest of circumstances would prevent Rory McIlroy from winning a sixth Order of Merit at next week’s DP World Tour Championship.

Journeyman Paul Waring of England birdied the final two holes to fend off late challenges from Tyrrell Hatton and Rory McIlroy to win the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

The nearly man has to wait a little longer, but for the journeyman everything has changed in an instant. While Rory McIlroy’s tie for third here at the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship on Sunday was not quite enough to wrap up the Race to Dubai a week early,