Luke Donald has become the first man to win the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic in a single calendar year.
For the Englishman to be denied, Rory McIlroy needed to win the European Tour's final event - the Dubai World Championship - and see Donald finish outside the top 10.
However, after an impressive opening round, the Northern Irishman failed to dent Donald's hopes and finished on nine-under-par, eight shots off the current lead of Alvaro Quiros.
World number one Donald was mounting a late charge for the summit of the leaderboard to finish the season in style.
Earlier in the year he won the American PGA Tour money list in dramatic fashion by triumphing in the Disney Classic.
