Separated by Price of Golf Ball

Between them they have earned over £6million on the European Tour this season and fortunes more away from the course.

Yet there is still a chance that Luke Donald could pip Rory McIlroy to the Race to Dubai money list title by just £3.55 - less than the cost of a golf ball - on Sunday.

McIlroy has to win the race-ending Dubai World Championship to keep his hopes alive and after an opening six-under-par 66, the 22-year-old US Open champion is in third place, two behind Swede Peter Hanson.

Donald, with the PGA Tour number one spot in America already in the bag, needs a top-nine finish to make sure of an unprecedented double and following a disappointing 72 he returned to the Earth course today in joint 26th position.

If McIlroy does win on Sunday and Donald is in a two-way tie for ninth, their respective earnings would be £3,430,138 and £3,430,141 - the tightest finish ever.

The Northern Ireland youngster has the momentum after winning the Hong Kong Open last Sunday with a closing 65.

He is still operating at less than full fitness, but said: 'To be honest, I'm sort of using it to my advantage in a way.

'It's sort of taken the pressure off me. I'm not 100 per cent and if it doesn't happen it doesn't happen and there's nothing I can do about it.

'You can just go about your game and try and play as well as you can.

I definitely don't feel invincible, but I feel like every time I tee it up I've got a good chance of shooting a good score.

'I don't think I've finished outside the top four since the US PGA (eight events ago - or 10 if you add a couple of four-man events) and everything seems sort of stress-free.

'It's not going to last forever, I'm sure. I'm sure there's going to be a point where I struggle, but right now it's nice to have that feeling.'

Donald was leading his only remaining challenger by three when he turned in 33, but he had to take penalty drops after driving into bushes on successive holes and then had a third bogey in a row.

'I felt very much in control and then I lost it,' Donald said. 'But this is two shots better than the first round last year and I still finished ninth. You've got to find the positives.'