Dubai, Nov 14 (AP) Rory McIlroy was already an overwhelming favorite to win the European tour's season-long Race to Dubai title.

He made his chances even better on Thursday.

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McIlroy shot 5-under 67 and was tied for the lead with Tyrrell Hatton after the first round of the season-ending World Tour Championship.

A top-10 finish will guarantee McIlroy wins the year-long points race — formerly known as the Order of Merit — for the sixth time, tying with the late Seve Ballesteros and moving two behind Colin Montgomerie's record haul.

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Thriston Lawrence, the South African who is second in the Race to Dubai standings behind McIlroy, is the only player who can catch the Northern Irishman and opened with a 73, leaving him six strokes behind his rival already.

Lawrence has to win — nothing less is good enough — and then needs McIlroy to finish tied for 11th or lower.

Paul Waring, the winner in Abu Dhabi last week in the first event of the end-of-season playoffs, was alone in third place after a 68. (AP) AM

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)