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

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