NEW DELHI — The narrow fairways and perilous jungle of Delhi Golf Club were the big talking points heading into the DP World India Championship, but Rory McIlroy said his biggest challenge was on the greens.

McIlroy endured a disappointing weekend and had to settle for a T42 finish as Race to Dubai rival Eugenio Chacarra powered to victory in New Delhi.

After reaching the halfway mark within four of Chacarra's lead, McIlroy lost all momentum and closed with a two-over-par 74 to finish 17 shots off the pace. After his final round, the world No. 2 responded to criticism from Kevin Kisner.

The six-time major winner did not have a driver in the bag throughout the tournament due to the claustrophobic nature of the course, which put an emphasis on long iron play. McIlroy was satisfactory in that regard, ranking 27th in the field for strokes gained: tee to green.

With the putter, however, he ranked 111th out of the 144-man field, losing 0.79 strokes per round. McIlroy admitted he took too long to adjust to the characteristics of the Delhi Golf Club's Bermuda greens to have any chance of winning.

"I think my strategy is good enough," McIlroy said of his driver-free game plan. "It's just more my execution. For the second year in a row, I've struggled on the greens.

"I feel like the greens here are really tricky to read. Grainy, you're tricky to read. I think my strategy is good. I just need to execute a little bit better.

"I didn't have as much trouble with the trees as I did with the greens this week. They were tricky. I felt got the hang of them a little bit by the end of the week, but I certainly struggled for most of the week."

McIlroy's forgettable week has left him almost 1,000 points off the pace in the Race to Dubai as he vies to equal Colin Montgomerie's record of eight titles.

That deficit will likely grow next week, with Chacarra competing in the final event of the regular season, the Genesis Championship in South Korea. Third-place McIlroy and second-place Patrick Reed are taking the week off.

McIlroy will return for the playoff opener in Abu Dhabi next month, and he knows he has plenty of work to do on the range to ensure he is capable of mounting a meaningful challenge.

"I'm excited to get home and do some practice," he said. "I didn't really touch a club after Wentworth until I turned up this week. Didn't feel I was at my sharpest, so looking forward to getting home and practicing and feeling like I turn up at those last two events ready to play and ready to go.

"Eugenio is playing well. Looks like he's going overtake Patrick in the race for Dubai. That makes my job a bit harder going into the last two events."