DUBAI – Looking back on a phenomenal year, golf’s world number one Rory McIlroy said he had taken his game to a new level by conjuring victories when not necessarily being at the peak of his powers.The 23-year-old Northern Irishman increased his big lead at the top of the rankings by winning the DP World Tour Championship by two shots on Sunday, capping the final event of the European season with a fantastic run of five birdies in a row.It was McIlroy’s fifth victory of the campaign and was achieved even though he had been under the weather for most of the week, fighting sunstroke and a fever.“That’s the big difference this year,” he told reporters in Dubai. “When I’ve not been playing my best I’ve still been able to compete and to win tournaments.“That’s something I said earlier in the year I wanted to try and get better at. Being able to win without your best game is what (14-times major champion) Tiger Woods has done for so many years.
