11/22/2012

Wozzilroy's Christmas Crackers

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Caroline Wozniacki brought the house down on Thursday when she spiced up Rory McIlroy's post-round news conference at the DP World Tour Championship by asking her boyfriend what she was getting for Christmas.

The Danish tennis player, a former world number one, interrupted the normal talk about birdies and bogeys and five-irons and three-woods with a question out of the blue from the back of the room.

A smiling Wozniacki, dressed in all white, took the microphone from one of the reporters and asked McIlroy amid roars of laughter from the assembled media: "If you win this week am I going to get a really nice Christmas present?".

The world's number one golfer pulled his cap over his eyes before telling his girlfriend: "Have you not already got a lot of nice presents?

"I have been looking, I have been looking. But it won't take winning this week to buy you a nice present - I'll get you a nice present anyway."

It drew another smiling response from the golf-watching Wozniacki: "That must be because I'm an unbelievable cheerleader".

McIlroy prompted more giggles from the floor when he said: "You're a better tennis player", to which the Dane replied, "That's not very nice".

An expensive gift is sure to be heading Wozniacki's way next month with the Northern Irishman having already banked almost $13 million in official earnings by winning the money-lists on both sides of the Atlantic.

McIlroy can add $1.33 million to his bulging account by landing the first prize here this week plus a $1 million bonus from the end-of-season prize pool.

He is, however, more concerned about adding the Dubai title to his European money-list crown come Sunday night.

"It would be great to emulate what Lee Westwood did in 2009 and win both trophies," he told reporters after a first-round 66 left him one stroke behind tournament leader Luke Donald.

"That's the goal and the motivation this week. I've come to the last two DP World Tour Championships with a chance of winning the money-list and missed out.

"Having already wrapped it up this year, I guess I can go out there and play without thinking about it. It is definitely a nice thing to not have that pressure on your shoulders."



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Padraig on Top of DP World

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Padraig Harrington was low on confidence entering the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai and so a 5-under 67 opening round was more than a pleasant surprise.

"I shot 67 doing handstands today," Harrington told reporters. "Sometimes you do that when your expectations are low.

"Today I wasn't very confident going into the tournament so anything was going to keep me happy out there and I'm pleased with the score."

Harrington, winless on the European Tour since 2008, chose not to fret on the handful of missed opportunities he had to tie or claim the outright lead. Instead, he was satisfied with his performance and relatively good health.

"I had the flu all week in Hong Kong," he said. "I played two rounds of golf but the rest of it I spent holed up in bed trying to recover.

"I suffered a bit of a relapse this Tuesday. I still have a bit of a cough so I won't be doing too much practice this week, just taking it easy."

Harrington trails leader Luke Donald by two strokes.

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Illness Knocks Lowry Dubai Out

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Shane Lowry's hopes this week of crashing into the world's elite top 50 and topping the magical €1m mark for the first time in one season hung in the balance overnight after a mystery virus landed him in a Dubai hospital.

Lowry only needed to tee it up in Thursday's first round of the €6.2m DP World Tour Championship to be guaranteed at least €19,371, sending his winnings for 2012 to €1,015,910. 

A top-six finish on Sunday would propel the Clara man into the world's top 50, earning a first invite to the Masters if he's still there on December 31.

Forced out of Tuesday's Pro-Am with a searing headache and persistent vomiting, Lowry was taken to hospital when symptoms continued yesterday. Badly dehydrated, he was placed on a saline drip as doctors performed tests. 

He was discharged three hours later.


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