LONG TERM, one of Rory McIlroy’s goals is to leapfrog Luke Donald to become the world’s number-one-ranked golfer. Short term, the Ulsterman’s aim is to dethrone the Englishman at the top of the European Tour order of merit which comes to a conclusion after this week’s Dubai World Championship over The Earth course: and that more immediate challenge could prove to be the more difficult.

Donald – seeking to become the first player to top the US Tour and European Tour moneylists in the same year – carries a healthy €789,788 lead over McIlroy heading into the final tournament of the season.

It means McIlroy must win in Dubai and also Donald finish outside the top-nine in the limited 60-man field if he is to succeed in his late pursuit.

If the odds are still stacked in Donald’s favour, McIlroy – winner of the Hong Kong Open on Sunday to force the issue down to the wire – believes the manner of his latest win, overcoming lethargy, will stand to him.

As he put it, “to be able to win golf tournaments when you’re not playing your best is what the likes of Tiger did week-in, week-out whenever he was winning seven, eight, nine tournaments a year and that’s something, if you want to be a great player, you’re going to have to be able to do. I feel as if I’m learning to do that.”

Despite a hectic travelling itinerary in recent months, McIlroy has won the Shanghai Masters and the Hong Kong Open inside the last six weeks.

The Shanghai tournament, despite offering the largest top prize (€1.5 million) in the sport, was not recognised by any of the main tours and, so, didn’t count towards the European Tour moneylist.

McIlroy arrived in Dubai admitting to tiredness and quipping that he’d love “to stay in my bed for a week . . . I’ve got to conserve all of my energy and put them into the four tournament days.”

The global odyssey that McIlroy undertook following the Dunhill Links in Scotland in October saw him travel to Korea, then to China for a seven-day Golf Challenge on seven different courses in seven cities and then on to Bermuda and back to Shanghai. Then, after a holiday break in Dubai, he went back to China, briefly to Japan and back to Hong Kong.

“You definitely won’t see me go on a stretch like I have done this year (again),” said McIlroy, who accepted responsibility for mapping out such a schedule. “That was me just wanting to play, really just saying ‘you know what, last part of the year, I’m going to go and I’m going to play’. That’s what I wanted to do, so there’s no one to really blame but myself in that regard.”

McIlroy – one of six Irish players in the field in Dubai, along with Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell, Michael Hoey, Shane Lowry and Peter Lawrie – is the only player capable of overhauling Donald at the top of the European Tour moneylist heading into this week’s showdown in the desert, although the Englishman has destiny very much in his own hands.

“I think the advantage is still in my court. I didn’t expect anything less from Rory. I knew he’d put the pressure on me and make it tough going, but I’ve still got a nice comfortable lead.

“He is going to have to go out and win (in Dubai) and beat a high quality field. He did what he needed to do (in Hong Kong) and won the tournament. It was the same in Disney (where Donald won the last event of the PGA Tour to top the money list), except this time I have a lead. So, I hope I can hold on to the lead,” said Donald, who returned to tournament play in Sun City after a five-week break during which his wife gave birth to their second child.

Asked what it would mean to become the first player to win both moneylist titles in the same season Donald continued: “It would mean history. No one’s ever done it, officially, and it would be a lot of satisfaction – for all the hard work. It’s been a great year and that would be the icing on the cake.”

While US Open champion McIlroy continues his pursuit of Donald, and is scheduled to play in Thailand next week in the Asian Tour’s season-ending event alongside British Open champion Clarke, this week’s European Tour finale will mark McDowell’s last competitive outing of the year.

“It’s the last week of my season, time for a big finish,” said McDowell, who finished third behind Lee Westwood in the Nedbank Challenge in Sun City on Sunday before heading on to Dubai.