Rory McIlroy remained upbeat despite a barren seven-hole spell ensuring that he suffered yet another near-miss in his bid to win the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
A final-round 66 on Sunday left McIlroy one stroke adrift of surprise winner Gary Stal and meant that he finished runner-up in Abu Dhabi, his usual season-opener, for the fourth time in five years.
McIlroy’s troubles were mostly confined to a difficult third round on Saturday, when he carded a one-under-par 71 including just two birdies to start the final round eight off the pace.
Photo: Reuters
Still, he was left looking on the bright side.
“I feel it’s been great because there are a couple of things to work on and hopefully that will make me perform in a couple of weeks time,” McIlroy told reporters.
“I went [seven] holes without a birdie from yesterday to today, so it was nice to finally get it going, but that little stretch cost me the tournament,” he said.
France’s Stal emerged from the pack to achieve his first European Tour victory as US Open champion Martin Kaymer surrendered a 10-stroke mid-round lead.
Had McIlroy’s eagle chip on the last hole found the cup instead of grazing the edge and drifting long, the world No. 1 would have forced a playoff.
McIlroy’s fortunes turned after he recruited longtime caddie J.P. Fitzgerald to help him read the greens from the eighth hole onward.
He made six birdies to finish a stroke behind Stal’s 19-under (269), and one clear of Kaymer, who dropped six shots following two penalty drops.
“I know what it’s like to let a lead slip. It’s tough, a couple of bad swings, some guys make birdies around you and all of a sudden from being very comfortable you’re put under pressure,” McIlroy told reporters.
“You’d think there was only one winner, but it goes to show funny things can happen and if you stay patient your time will come. It was just a little too late for me,” he added.
McIlroy plans to remain in the United Arab Emirates in advance of Dubai’s Desert Classic, set to begin on Thursday next week.
“My only bogey was a three-putt. Tee to green, I can’t fault that. I feel I hit the ball very well,” McIlroy said.
“I did not putt as well I would have liked this week. Yesterday was a bit of a disappointment, but overall, it was a good start to the season,” he added.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but