Rory McIlroy makes bold claim ahead of Race to Dubai as painful season nears conclusion

Rory McIlroy says he is intent on going down as the greatest European golfer of all time as he vies to secure a positive end to

The Northern Irishman's decade-long wait for major championship glory goes on, suffering a in June, when he held a two-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau with five holes to play but found a way to miss out.

There have been numerous other near misses, being by a single shot in September before on the second playoff hole at the BMW PGA Championship a week later.

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Despite several chances of victory passing him by, the final two weeks of the DP World Tour's Race To Dubai atop the standings and if he can seal the deal at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and Tour Championship, he will have won the season-long order of merit six times.

Colin Montgomerie is the only man who has more, winning the order of merit eight times. And in the majors, McIlroy only trails Harry Vardon (seven), Faldo (six), Seve Ballesteros (five), James Braid (five) and John Henry Taylor (five) with his four titles.

Success in the United Arab Emirates would take McIlroy a leap closer to his goal and he made no secret of the fact that it is on his mind ahead of the opening round at Yas Links on Thursday.

"I pride myself [on being] a European player," McIlroy said at Wednesday's pre-tournament press conference. "I would like to go down as the most successful European of all time. Obviously Race to Dubai wins would count to that but also major championships and hopefully I've got a few more Ryder Cups ahead of me as well.

"So that's something that I would like to, I think is a goal that's quite attainable over the next ten years. I'm very proud to be from Europe and have played on this tour and played on this tour consistently.

"It's something that I'm very proud of and I just think of the greats of European golf that I grew up watching, whether it was Faldo or [Ian Woosnam] or [Bernhard] Langer or just sort of the heyday of the European Tour in the '90s, I guess.

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"I remember when I got my... not even my European Tour card. I remember when I got my first money clip just when I signed up to be a member and that was a really proud moment for me. That's something that I've always been proud of and something I want to continue to do."

McIlroy, who won a fourth Dubai Desert Classic title in January, holds a commanding lead in the Race To Dubai Rankings. The 35-year-old is more than 1,500 points clear of second-placed Thriston Lawrence, with Hojgaard and Horschel trailing in third and fourth, respectively.