Sergio Garcia believes that Northern Irish golf ace Rory McIlroy deserves to end the year as European number given his superb season despite the mathematical probability of the Spaniard ending the year on the top spot.
It is a view also shared by former double European Tour Number One Lee Westwood who stated also the European Tour should not copy the PGA Tour and alter the Race to Dubai points scoring system.
For a third week in succession McIlroy is not contesting the Tour's Final Four Series at this week's Turkish Airlines Open at Belek and in his absence the four-time major winner is currently 29,43,563 euros ahead of second placed Jamie Donaldson of Wales and a further 93,821 euros clear of the third placed Garcia while the Spaniard is 1,31,919 euros in front of Germany's Marcel Siem, Sport24 reported.
Donaldson, Garcia and Siem could still deny McIlroy the European Number one crown but only with victory this week and then success also in next week's season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
And while Garcia, who is competing in this week's 78-player Turkish event for a first time, remains determined to win for a second time this season, he says McIlroy is deserving of the title.
The Spaniard said that he is a big believer if one has done something extraordinary to be able to achieve that, and to win the Race to Dubai before the last tournament is played, why shouldn't one be the winner.
He said that McIlroy has done something quite extraordinary this season and this summer, and he deserves to be the Race to Dubai Champion, even before they play the Dubai World Championship next week.
Garcia's view is shared by Westwood, who was crowned European Number One in 2000 and 2009. He said that if one looks at McIlroy's season, he's won two major championships, a World Golf Championship, and their Flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship, which is a phenomenal year.
Westwood said that if one puts that up in somebody's career, those four tournaments that would a good career, and McIlroy's achieved that in six months, basically. So he added that he has no problems with the Race to Dubai being over before the final event, given this year with what McIlroy has done.
