Northern Irishman McIlroy, with 5,164.5 points going into the DP World Tour Championship at Dubai this week, has now finished top of the formerly named European Tour money list five times, first in 2012 and again in 2014, 2015 and last year.
McIlroy, who made more than seven million euros ($7.48 million) in prize money in nine tour events this year, is 2,083 points ahead of second-placed Jon Rahm, the Masters champion, with Adrian Meronk third.
Poland’s Meronk played in this weekend’s Nedbank Challenge at Sun City where he added 94.5 points after finishing 15th.
The tournament in South Africa was won by American Max Homa, who finished four shots ahead of Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard
The top 50 finishers in the Race to Dubai rankings will compete for a $10-million purse at Jumeirah Golf Estate from Thursday.
