Closing with an eight-under-par 64 that included five birdies in his last six holes, the Dane made off with the DP World Tour Championship and the $US3 million first prize, easily the biggest of the 22-year-old’s career.
An overnight storm led to preferred lies being in place, so the 33-year-old Englishman’s effort will not count in the former European Tour’s record books.
Chief executive Keith Pelley was firmly circumspect and almost entirely non-specific in his responses to queries about where the DP World Tour is likely to sit within golf’s eco-system when the current discussions eventually come to an end.
The banter, indeed, was fierce at times. And all off-the-record. Anything else would be an invasion of privacy and unethical. But it was fun to listen to.
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.
Australian Golf Digest
