McIlroy Commits to Desert Classic

Getty Images

Rory McIlroy has confirmed that he has committed to play in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at the end of the month.

The world No 1 will make his first start of 2015 at this week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, but there were doubts over whether he would feature in the last of the three Desert Swing events due to his impending court case involving his former management company.

But McIlroy has announced he will make his ninth appearance at The Emirates, where he held off Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson to capture his first title as a professional in 2009.

The four-time major winner will headline another star-studded field which includes his Ryder Cup team-mates Stenson, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Lee Westwood and Stephen Gallacher, who became the first player to successfully defend the title last season.

“I’ve got great memories of Dubai and it will be fun to get back to a golf course where I have enjoyed success over the years,” the 25-year-old told the European Tour.

“It was nice to get my first professional win in Dubai. I had my parents there with me and it was a special moment that I will never forget. That win was a real stepping stone for the success that followed and my relationship with Dubai went from strength-to-strength.

“To think the tournament is older than I am is testimony to its strength. They have an outstanding field all the time, and the golf course is really in great shape. Obviously, I will be looking to win the event again."

Mohamed Juma Buamaim, vice chairman and CEO of golf in DUBAi, added: "We are delighted to welcome back a stand-out player in a field which exudes the energy of a major with all those big names battling for glory in Dubai.

“We have seen him first compete as an amateur in 2006 and now we will see him tee up as the world number one for the first time. His incredible journey has left indelible footprints in the tournament’s history.

“As his name has become synonymous with the golfing landscape of Dubai, I am confident his presence will radiate distinct energy to the tournament, one that will rub off on fans. I wish him the very best and hope that the future brings him more success.”

Related articles

• First Emirati golf player to compete in HSBC Golf championship
• Rory McIlroy hits hole-in-one in Abu Dhabi
• Rory McIlroy admits 'my body hates me!' after sharing Twitter picture of sweat-stained t-shirt
• Kaymer Has Rory in Rear View
• Jamie Donaldson finishes 2014 in world's top 25 as Rory McIlroy stays top of the charts
• Stenson Vows to Retain His Fire in Hunt for First Major

Kaymer Has Rory in Rear View

Getty Images

Martin Kaymer will take a one-shot lead into the weekend of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship as Rory McIlroy remained in touch with the German after a spectacular hole-in-one on the second day.

Kaymer kept a bogey off his card as he added a classy 67 to his opening 64 to set the early clubhouse target at 13 under, and that proved enough to earn him the halfway lead after Thomas Pieters bogeyed his final hole.

But it was McIlroy who provided the highlight of the second round when he celebrated his first ace in professional competition – a perfectly struck nine-iron finding the bottom of the cup at the 177-yard 15th that lifted him to within three of the lead.

The world No 1 struggled on the greens for much of the day, but he rolled in a clutch par putt from 12 feet at the 17th and holed from similar range at the last for a closing birdie – his fifth of the round – to cap a six-under 66.

McIlroy had started his day with a pair of birdies just as Kaymer was putting the finishing touches to his second round, and the US Open champion headed off to lunch having extended his overnight lead to five shots.

Highlights and reaction from the second day of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

Kaymer, who has won three of the previous nine events in Abu Dhabi, started at the 10th and soon got into his stride with birdies at 12 and 13 before another at the 18th completed a back-nine 33.

He started the front nine with an unlikely birdie as he holed his escape from a greenside bunker, but a cold putter then halted his momentum until he got one to drop at the eighth before closing with a cast-iron par.

But Kaymer insisted afterwards that he was happy with his performance despite letting a few opportunities slip on the greens, and he was particularly pleased with his game from tee to green.

"I guess the greens, I can read them very well and my stroke always feels well when I come here," Kaymer told Sky Sports 4. "Again, today, I didn't miss many fairways, which gives you the opportunity to go for a lot of flags.

"To be honest I really believe the golf course plays two or three shots tougher in the morning than in the afternoon, because once you miss the fairway, you're in that thick, wet grass and then it's almost impossible to get home in two on the par fours.

"So therefore, I was very happy to shoot five under today."

McIlroy was denied a place in Saturday’s final pairing by Pieters, who carded an excellent 67 despite not making a birdie at any of the four par-fives.

The young Belgian matched Kaymer’s back-nine 33 and three birdies over the next six holes pulled him level with the leader until his blotted his card at the ninth to close on 12 under.

England’s James Morrison earned himself a place alongside McIlroy in the third round after he birdied the final two holes to complete a six-birdie 67 that elevated him to nine under par.

Morrison shares fourth place with Peter Uihlein, who kept a bogey off his card in a solid 68, while Frenchman Alexander Levy (70) and Australian veteran Richard Green (68) are a short further adrift.

Further down the field, star American attraction Rickie Fowler scraped into the weekend with nothing to spare on two under after labouring to a 75 which was blighted by an ugly triple-bogey eight at the long eighth.

Justin Rose also made the cut on the number after managing four birdies in a workmanlike 69, but his Ryder Cup team-mate Henrik Stenson was unable to avoid a weekend off.

The world No 2 made a gallant attempt to bounce back from Thursday’s torrid 76, but his five-birdie 68 merely lifted him back to level par for the tournament, while defending champion Pablo Larrazabal’s 72 was one too many to make the weekend.

Related articles

• McIlroy opens defining year seeking first win in Abu Dhabi
• McIlroy Opens Defining Year Seeking First Win in Abu Dhabi
• Rory McIlroy admits 'my body hates me!' after sharing Twitter picture of sweat-stained t-shirt
• First Emirati golf player to compete in HSBC Golf championship
• Jamie Donaldson finishes 2014 in world's top 25 as Rory McIlroy stays top of the charts
• McIlroy ends year as top golfer

McDowell EurAsia Cup Ready

Getty Images

Graeme McDowell is the highest-ranked player at the EurAsia Cup being held in Kuala Lumpur this week.

Miguel Angel Jimenez is Team captain with a number of Ryder Cups under his belt, along with McDowell and Thomas Bjorn.

However Victor Dubuisson, Jamie Donaldson and Stephen Gallacher are all currently in qualifying positions, with Joost Luiten, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Pablo Larrazabal all with a chance at Gleneagles.

Paul McGinley's Ryder Cup team may contain a couple of the EurAsia team come Gleneagles.

"One of the toughest parts of the Ryder Cup is putting pairings together, and getting foursomes pairings right," said McDowell.

"That's why a tournament like this, the EurAsia Cup, to me is something that's very, very important for both The European Tour and the Asian Tour. Asia is the main area of growth for the game of golf in the world, so it's a natural place for The European Tour.

"It's obviously a big part of the European Tour and to have a Europe versus Asia match is something that our schedule needs from a Ryder Cup point of view.

"We need this event to become something very special, something the guys look forward to and something that is part of Ryder Cup Team building; a chance to put ten guys together, come out here and play against a good team and try some pairings and really enjoy playing team golf.

"Team golf is very different from what we are used to as individuals because you're playing for each other.

"You just don't want to let your team mates down and there is a lot of extra pressure from that, but it's also one of the main reasons why European Teams have been so successful."

McGinley's vice-captain for Gleneagles, Des Smyth, will operate in the same role for Jimenez in Kuala Lumpur this week, so he will get to know the players as they get a chance to impress.

Playing captain Jimenez has featured in four Ryder Cups as a player, winning two, and has also been a vice-captain twice and he agrees that the EurAsia Cup could be a vital part of the preparation.

"The Ryder Cup started in 1927 and probably now is the event in golf and everyone wants to play and I think is the important thing," said Jimenez. "Now we start the EurAsia Cup in 2014 and hopefully with the support of the players and the effort of these two big tours, the EurAsia Cup will become a big event along with the Ryder Cup."

All ten players on each team will be in action in every session at Glenmarie's Garden course, with five fourball matches played on the opening day on Thursday, followed by five foursomes on Friday and ten concluding singles matches on Saturday.

Team Asia

Thongchai Jaidee (Captain, Thailand), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand), Gaganjeet Bhullar (India), Nicholas Fung (Malaysia), Kim Hyung-sung (Korea,) Anirban Lahiri (India), Prayad Marksaeng (Thailand), Koumei Oda (Japan), Siddikur Rahman (Bangladesh), Hideto Tanihara (Japan).

Team Europe

Miguel Angel Jimenez (Captain, Spain), Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Jamie Donaldson (Wales), Victor Dubuisson (France), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain), Stephen Gallacher (Scotland), Pablo Larrazabal (Spain), Joost Luiten (Netherlands), Graeme McDowell (N Ireland), Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark).

Related articles

• McDowell excited by EurAsia Cup
• Jamie Donaldson lines up alongside Ryder Cup stars in the EurAsia Cup next week
• El Mecanico Congratulates Smyth
• 100 pre war cars prepare for new flying Scotsman Rally Route with a Midlands send off
• Pablo Larrazábal and Thorbjorn Olesen receive EurAsia Cup calls
• Ryder Cup: Miguel Angel Jimenez wants to make history at Gleneagles by becoming European team's oldest ever player

McGrane Joost in Touch

Getty Images

Damien McGrane defied the miserable conditions to card a superb 67 and set the early clubhouse target in the third round of the KLM Open in Zandvoort.

McGrane, whose sole European Tour victory to date in the 2008 Volvo China Open was achieved in similar wet and windy weather, recorded three birdies and no bogeys to reach eight under par at Kennemer Golf Club.

The 42 year old began the day four shots off the lead, but with the leaders getting the worst of the conditions he was just one off the lead when he reached the sanctuary of the clubhouse.

Home favourite Joost Luiten recovered the lead after signing for a eound of 66.

France's Julien Quesne and Spain's Miguel Angel Jiménez shared the lead on nine under, Luiten having chipped in twice for birdie and Quesne carding 14 pars and just one birdie so far.

Jiménez had shared the overnight lead with compatriot Pablo Larrazábal, but Larrazábal's bid for a third European Tour title got off to a start as miserable as the weather.

The 30 year old ran up a triple-bogey seven on the opening hole and also dropped a shot on the fifth, and although he birdied the seventh another bogey on the 13th left him four off the lead.

Jiménez had topped his third shot on the par five second but rescued a par with a superb pitch, only to bogey the next after missing the green with his tee shot and failing to get up and down.

The 49 year old, already the oldest winner in European Tour history after his win in the Hong Kong Open aged 48 and 318 days last November, had to wait until the 13th for his first birdie of the day, but that was enough to reclaim a share of the lead.

Related articles

• McGrane Flies High at KLM
• Larrazabal tied with Jimenez for lead at KLM Open
• Spaniards Larrazabal, Jimenez lead at KLM Open
• Padraig Prefers Ghost Spider
• Spaniards Larrazabal, Jimenez in front at KLM Open
• Spaniards Larrazabal, Jimenez Lead at KLM Open