Splashing a roughly 20-yard bunker shot to a makable birdie for a tour pro under ordinary circumstances wouldn’t be too taxing, but with so much on the line, this was no gimmie.
With 272 yards to the front of the par-5 18th green on the Jumeirah Estate’s Earth course and another 19 yards to the pin, McIlroy “nutted” a “perfect” 3-wood through the slightly left-to-right headwind.
At the start of the year, McIlroy followed his usual practice of writing down various goals. In just about all of them he has, statistically at least, surpassed his original targets.
Scrivener’s jump of 24 spots to 35th in the Race to Dubai standings elevated him into the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai for the first time in his career.
Fleetwood’s final round included three eagles and three back-nine bogeys, a lucky kick off a sprinkler head and a deft chip on the first playoff hole to set up a winning par putt.
The win is only the Spaniard’s third (the Singapore Masters on the Asian Tour is the other) since he donned the green jacket at Augusta National 18 months ago.
Victorian Lucas Herbert will join the ranks of the top 100 players in the world for the first time in his career after another stellar showing on the European Tour.
Australian Golf Digest
