Only three players have a chance to catch Rory McIlroy for the European Tour's money title -- and they would each need to win the final two events on the schedule, while getting some help from McIlroy, to accomplish the comeback.

Jamie Donaldson, Sergio Garcia and Marcel Siem still have a mathematical chance to win what is called the Race to Dubai, but they would need to win this week's Turkish Airlines Open followed by next week's season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

McIlroy has not played since finishing second at the Dunhill Links Championship in October and has had a comfortable lead since capturing the Open Championship, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship in successive tournaments in July and August.

All three tournaments are official events on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, where McIlroy claimed his second money title this year. He is in position to capture both money titles for the second time, having also done so in 2012.

The European Tour is in the midst of a four-tournament Final Series. Following the final regular event in Australia, players' money earnings were converted to points, with each of the final four events offering 10 million total points, with 1.66 million going to the winner.

According to the European Tour, McIlroy will finish the season with at least 5,427,869 points -- his current total plus last place in Dubai, where he is scheduled to play next week.

Donaldson would need to win the next two events and have McIlroy finish outside the top five, while Garcia would need two victories and a McIlroy finish outside of the top seven. For Siem to claim the money title, he would need to win both and then have McIlroy finish outside the top 17.

The top 60 money winners through this week's Turkish Airlines Open advance to the Dubai event, where there is also a $5 million bonus pool offered to the top 15 finishers in the final Race to Dubai standings.