LAY UP PAYS OFF
RORY McILROY has won 36 tournaments as a professional but few have felt as satisfying as yesterday’s rainextended Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
Drawing alongside Ernie Els as the only man to win the event on three occasions made a little history.
Starting his year with a victory for the first time in his career set down the World No 1’s intentions for 2023.
But by far the most visceral pleasure was reserved for the two-fingered salute his one-stroke victory over LIV Golf’s Patrick Reed delivered to the American.
McIlroy’s 68 was just enough to trump Reed’s superb 65, playing in the group ahead, after an absorbing back nine to-and-fro.
Roar
The expletive-laden roar he let out when his 15-foot birdie putt at the last dropped in to end The Duel in the Desert showed how much it mattered.
“It was a big release,” admitted McIlroy. “I had to bottle everything up and then I was finally able to let it all out on the 18th green.
“It’s never easy closing out a golf tournament. There’s always going to be people that make runs.
“I felt them closing in, and obviously on the back nine when Patrick drew level with me, I really needed to dig deep.
“It’s tough when you see the person right in front of you birdieing those holes, eagling those holes, whatever it is, so I felt the pressure but for the most part I did answer.”
For the tournament to boil down to a head-tohead between McIlroy and Reed after the children’s tee party between the pair that preceded it made for a gripping conclusion.
The only thing missing was a play-off and the opportunity to see whether McIlroy could bring himself to shake hands with Reed this time.
In avoiding that, the 33-year-old had cause to thank his own coolness of mind at the 72nd hole.
Choosing to lay up from an unpredictable lie perilously close to the water with a birdie needed to win would not always have been the McIlroy way.
But the safe play proved the right one as McIlroy wedged himself into range and then pulled the trigger.
“I hit two balls in the water on Sunday last year and then hit one in yesterday. I wasn’t going to get fooled a third time,” he said.
“It was nice to be able to play the percentages and make it pay off.”
So the
DP World
Tour which, if they had their way would not have a LIV golfer anywhere near their tournaments, was spared the embarrassment of having a player in a blue LIV cap being pictured smiling with the trophy afterwards.
McIlroy’s victory also spared Reed further controversy over his latest rules run-in.
He claimed to have identified his ball in a palm tree on Sunday with the help of a pair of binoculars and took a penalty drop from that spot rather than having to return to the 17th tee only for TV pictures to show later it was the wrong tree.