RORY LETS IT SLIP
Mini meltdown puts McIlroy on back foot
DEFENDING champion Henrik Stenson remained on course to achieve a personal milestone worth more than £1.3million as Rory McIlroy suffered a nightmare twohole spell in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
Stenson goes into the final round at Jumeirah Golf Estates tied for the lead on 14 under par with Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello.
World number one McIlroy had caught Stenson at the top of the leaderboard when he carded his fourth birdie of the day on the 10th, only to run up back-to-back double bogeys on the 12th and 13th.
The four-time Major winner repaired some of the damage with birdies on the 14th and 18th to card a 70 and finish alongside Victor Dubuisson, Tyrrell Hatton and Thorbjorn Olesen on 10 under, one shot behind former US Open champion Justin Rose.
Shane Lowry carded a level-par 72 to leave him on seven under. The Offaly native, who had a hole in one during Friday’s round, managed only three birdies which were cancelled out by bogeys on the ninth, 14th and the final hole.
McIlroy was left to rue his mini meltdown on the back nine, where he drove into a bunker on the 12th and compounded the error by threeputting, before duffing two chips from right of the green on the 13th.
‘The 12th and 13th ruined the scorecard a bit,’ said the 25-year-old, who had already secured his second Race to Dubai title in three years after four wins this season.
‘It makes life a little more difficult for me tomorrow. I need to be aggressive, I need to go at pins, hit it close and make some putts.
‘I felt a little better out there today than yesterday so knew if I stayed patient the birdies would come. I got on a nice run with three birdies in a row from the fifth and another one at 10, but unfortunately the back nine was not quite as good as the front.
‘It was annoying to follow one double bogey with another. I was a little frustrated but it was nice to get a couple back and at least keep myself in touch.’
Stenson felt he had ‘hit the wall’ during the second round at the end of a long season, but admitted the prospect of winning the first prize of £830,000 and securing a bonus of £510,000 for finishing second in the Race to Dubai behind McIlroy was providing extra motivation.
‘I felt a little stronger today but I wasn’t exactly jumping out of bed this morning,’ said Stenson.
‘But what do you expect at 38? I’m a little low on energy but when the mind wants something you can pull through. It would be great to win. It’s a great championship and it would mean a lot to defend a title and get the win. It’s been a good year but when you assess it you always look at the trophies and there hasn’t been one yet.’