Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
RORY GOES ON THE TEAR AFTER PAINFUL FINISH
BY
RORY MCILROY’S frustration boiled over in a never seen before manner when he nearly tore the shirt off his back following a dismal final round 74 at the seasonending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
Mcilroy slumped from the overnight lead at 14-under par to a share of sixth place at 12-under par on the Earth Course.
The four-time major champion was looking to become the first threetime winner of the DP World crown.
Mcilroy opened the door on his rivals when he was just one-under par through 14 holes and would go on to drop shots at the 15th, 16th and final holes.
He found a greenside bunker when his approach shot into the 15th struck the flagstick and raced backwards, leading to a bogey. He then three-putted the 16th, also for bogey.
On the last hole, where he had double-bogeyed on day two, he found the water that splits the entire 18th fairway ahead of walking off with what was a fourth bogey of the round.
It was clear that
Mcilroy was not about to comment immediately after his round but the sight of him with the right side of his shirt hanging off his shoulders was entirely unexpected.
Mcilroy was spotted inside the scorer’s hut with the upper left side of his body exposed.
He ended 19th on the Race to Dubai standings and one place higher than a year ago.
The Ulster man has one event remaining this year and that is the Tiger Woods hosted Hero
World Challenge, starting on December 2 in the Bahamas.
Shane Lowry (inset) ended one shot back of Mcilroy with a 72nd-hole birdie but only after a ninth hole double-bogey in his round of 72.
Collin Morikawa became the first American to capture the DP World/european No 1 double.
The 24-year-old Californian clawed his way from just inside the top-10 after 11 uneventful holes to birdie five of his closing seven in a round of 66 for a three-shot success at 17-under par.
The British Open champion proudly strode up the last to create European Tour history.
“It’s so special. You know, I came here last time, first time to Dubai, obviously not having played too many European Tour events, and I told everyone that I wanted to come out here and win: win The Race to Dubai and win the DP World Tour Championship, and I had it in my control this week,” said Morikawa.
“Obviously if I won, I would have sealed the deal, and that’s all I focused on really.
“I couldn’t really get my head too focused on The Race to Dubai. I knew there were many, many scenarios that could have happened.
“But I wanted to come out here and win.
“I felt like my game has been in a really good spot over the past month and a half since the Ryder Cup, so you know, it’s just an amazing win.”