QUIROS WINS AS THE BIG NAMES MESS UP OVER CLOSING HOLES
FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By Telegraph staff and agencies
That is the second-worst finish the former world No 1 has ever had in a regular European Tour event since he turned professional - and his 75 is his worst score on the circuit outside the majors and world championships since he left the amateur ranks.
"There were quite a few positives this week but a couple of glaring examples of what I need to work on," Woods said later.
He entered the round one stroke off the lead, but for the second straight day he started with two bogeys in his first three holes. He managed to claw a shot back when his approach on the sixth ended up a few feet from the pin. However, Woods offset two birdies with two bogeys on the back nine and then double bogeyed the 18th.
"All my old feels (for the clubs) are out the window when the winds blow," he said. "That's the thing when you are making changes. It's fine when the wind is not blowing. But when you have to hit a shot when the wind blows ... the new swing patterns get exposed."
Woods had trouble for much of the day with errant drives, and his putting - which he credited with helping him shoot a 66 Friday - also was shaky, leading to several missed birdie chances. He also showed flashes of anger, at one point yelling at photographers for disturbing his shot.
Woods, who won in Dubai in 2006 and 2008, is now in the longest victory drought of his career. His last title came at the Australian Masters in November 2009.Lee Westwood stays as world No 1 because Martin Kaymer, needing a top-two finish, was down at 31st, but the Englishman's own 15th place was a big disappointment after being only one behind with four holes remaining.
The Worksop golfer did the same as Quiros by hitting a ball into a tree on the 17th, double-bogeyed and then was in the water on the last like Woods, albeit in an attempt to find the green in two. That led to another 6.
As for long-time leader Rory McIlroy, whose only European Tour title came on the same course two years ago, he followed his opening rounds of 65 and 68 with 75-74 to end up only joint 10th - 133 shots for the first 36 holes but 149 for the last 36. If these totals had been reversed, he would not have survived the halfway cut.
And then there was Sergio Garcia. Playing with Woods he had real hopes of his first win since November 2008 when he moved into a share of the lead with a 35ft putt on the first.
But the ex-world No 2 showed why he is now down at 79th after running up a triple-bogey 7 on the ninth and never getting back in the hunt.
A 75 left him alongside Woods and Garcia has now failed to be among the 64 qualifiers for this month's Accenture Match Play, the world championship event in which he reached the semi-finals last year.
The spotlight turned onto another Spaniard instead and Quiros, whose power enabled him to get an eagle 2 at the 351yd second, did not disappoint.
His two closest pursuers both had long birdie chances on the last to force a play-off, but Kingston lipped out from 30 feet and Hansen missed from 40.
His two closest pursuers both had long birdie chances on the last to force a play-off, but Kingston lipped out from 30 feet and Hansen missed from 40.
"I am very proud of myself. I think I managed very well with difficult situations, said title-winner Quiros later.
"I have to recognise that the 11th might be one of the more exciting moments in my career. It was like the last piece of a happy birthday cake. It gave me the chance to win the tournament."
Quiros now leads The Race to Dubai and is on the verge of making it into the world's top 20.
CHECK OUT ALL THE SCORECARDS ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR'S WEBSITE
CLICK HERE
FINAL TOTALS, PRIZE MONEY (in Euros)
Par 288 (4x72)
1 QUIROS Alvaro ESP 73 68 68 68 277 (301,353).
T2 HANSEN Anders DEN 69 68 71 70 278 (157,045).
T2 KINGSTON James RSA 72 72 67 67 278 (157,045).
T4 GONNET Jean-Baptiste FRA 68 69 72 70 279 (76,786)
T4 STRANGE Scott AUS 72 72 67 68 279 (76,786).
T4 VELASCO Alvaro ESP 74 70 65 70 279 (76,786).
T7 AIKEN Thomas RSA 67 67 74 72 280 (49,724).
T7 ANDERSSON HED Fredrik SWE 69 71 69 71 280 (49,724).
9 HANSON Peter SWE 69 69 73 70 281 (40,503).
T10 DREDGE BradleyWAL 70 72 71 69 282 (31,462).
T10 FISHER Ross ENG 73 69 70 70 282 (31,462).
T10 GALLACHER Stephen SCO 70 69 71 72 282 (31,462).
T10 MCILROY Rory NIR 65 68 75 74 282 (31,462).
T10 WOOD Chris ENG 71 72 70 69 282 (31,462).
T15 CURTIS Ben USA 71 71 72 69 283 (24,4461).
T15 HAVRET Grégory FRA 72 71 69 71 283 (24,446).
T15 HOEY Michael NIR 70 67 73 73 283 (24,446).
T15 OLAZÁBAL José Maria ESP 73 69 72 69 283 (24,446).
T15 WESTWOOD Lee ENG 69 70 72 72 283 (24,446).
T20 CABRERA-BELLO Rafael ESP 71 68 74 71 284 (19,641).
T20 GARCIA Sergio ESP 67 67 75 75 284 (19,641).
T20 GONZALEZ Ricardo ARG 71 71 78 64 284 (19,641).
T20 JACQUELIN Raphaël FRA 72 70 69 73 284 (19,641).
T20 ROCK Robert ENG 73 71 71 69 284 (19,641).
T20 RUMFORD Brett AUS 69 68 72 75 284 (19,641).
T20 WARREN Marc SCO 72 67 74 71 284 (19,641).
T20 WOODS Tiger USA 71 66 72 75 284 (19,641).
T28 COLSAERTS Nicolas BEL 73 71 69 72 285 (16,635).
T28 DYSON Simon ENG 72 72 70 71 285 (16,635).
T28 GOYA Tano ARG 73 70 72 70 285 (16,635).
T31 DE VRIES Floris NED 71 70 71 74 286 (13,682).
T31 DUBUISSON Victor FRA 68 71 77 70 286 (13,682).
T31 EDFORS Johan SWE 70 69 78 69 286 (13,682).
T31 KAYMER Martin GER 69 71 76 70 286 (13,682).
T31 LAFEBER Maarten NED 71 72 68 75 286 (13,682).
T31 LYNN David ENG 74 69 71 72 286 (13,682).
T31 OTTO Hennie RSA 72 70 69 75 286 (13,682).
T31 RAMSAY Richie SCO 71 69 73 73 286 (13,682).
T31 WALL Anthony ENG 69 70 74 73 286 (13,682).
T40 JIMÉNEZ Miguel Angel ESP 72 70 74 71 287 (11,572).
T40 MARTIN Pablo ESP 68 72 71 76 287 (11,572)
T42 KRUGER Jbe RSA 71 72 71 74 288 (10,126).
T42 LEE Danny NZ 74 69 78 67 288 (10,126).
T42 LEVET Thomas FRA 72 68 77 71 288 (10,126).
T42 McGRANE Damien IRL 72 71 75 70 288 (10,126).
T42 SIEM Marcel GER 71 70 74 73 288 (10,126).
T42 SINGH Jeev Milkha IND 70 70 73 75 288 (10,126).
T48 BAIN Ross SCO 75 69 72 73 289 (7,775).
T48 BOURDY Grégory FRA 71 72 72 74 289 (7,775).
T48 CLARKE Darren NIR 70 72 72 75 289 (7,775).
T48 DONALDSON Jamie WAL 71 71 76 71 289 (7,775).
T48 WARING Paul ENG 73 68 71 77 289 (7,775).
T48 WEBSTER Steve ENG 68 68 81 72 289 (7,775).
T48 WILLETT Danny ENG 68 71 73 77 289 (7,775).
T55 BROWN Mark NZ 69 70 79 72 290 (5,831).
T55 DERKSEN Robert-Jan NED 73 70 76 71 290 (5,831).
T55 FOSTER Mark ENG 75 67 73 75 290 (5,831).
T55 HAMILTON Todd USA 69 73 74 74 290 (5,831).
T59 CAÑIZARES Alejandro ESP 75 69 71 76 291 (4,882).
T59 DRYSDALE David SCO 73 71 70 77 291 (4,882).
T59 FINCH Richard ENG 72 72 76 71 291 (4,882).
T59 HORSEY David ENG 73 70 75 73 291 (4,882).
T59 LEWIS Tom ENG (amateur) 73 70 74 74 291.
T59 STERNE Richard RSA 68 72 77 74 291 (4,882).
T65 BENSON Seve ENG 73 69 78 72 292 (4,159).
T65 DAVIES Rhys WAL 73 70 74 75 292 (4,159).
T65 KARLBERG Rikard SWE 70 74 74 74 292 (4,159).
T68 HAASTRUP Mark F DEN 76 68 74 75 293 (3,616).
T68 JONZON Michael SWE 71 70 76 76 293 (3,616).
T68 LAWRIE Peter IRL 74 70 73 76 293 (3,616)
71 KHAN Simon ENG 73 71 73 81 298 (3,305).
By Telegraph staff and agenciesAlvaro Quiros has claimed the biggest scalps of his career, Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood included, to win the Dubai Desert Classic - and a hole-in-one helped him do it.
The big-hitting Spaniard, pictured, aced the 161-yard 11th with a "threequarter wedge", but still had it all to do when he trailed Dane Anders Hansen by a stroke entering the closing stretch. Then he holed a 12ft birdie putt at the 16th before two pars gave Quiros his fifth European Tour title after Hansen was unable to repair the damage of a bogey on the short 15th.
"It was the perfect shot," said the 28 year-old of his hole-in-one. "Once a year it happens."
Quiros, runner-up to Thomas Bjorn in Qatar last week, overcame a triple bogey on the eighth - his ball was stuck up a tree - and a right-arm strain to fire a four-under-par 68 and win by one at 11-under 277 from Hansen and South African James Kingston.
As Alvaro went to celebrate, he left the tournament's biggest stars to reflect on where it all went horribly wrong.
Tiger Woods, without a victory for almost 15 months, was only two shots back with seven holes to play, but by the time he dumped his pitch to the last into the lake and took a double-bogey 7 he was down in 20th spot. "It was the perfect shot," said the 28 year-old of his hole-in-one. "Once a year it happens."
Quiros, runner-up to Thomas Bjorn in Qatar last week, overcame a triple bogey on the eighth - his ball was stuck up a tree - and a right-arm strain to fire a four-under-par 68 and win by one at 11-under 277 from Hansen and South African James Kingston.
As Alvaro went to celebrate, he left the tournament's biggest stars to reflect on where it all went horribly wrong.
That is the second-worst finish the former world No 1 has ever had in a regular European Tour event since he turned professional - and his 75 is his worst score on the circuit outside the majors and world championships since he left the amateur ranks.
"There were quite a few positives this week but a couple of glaring examples of what I need to work on," Woods said later.
He entered the round one stroke off the lead, but for the second straight day he started with two bogeys in his first three holes. He managed to claw a shot back when his approach on the sixth ended up a few feet from the pin. However, Woods offset two birdies with two bogeys on the back nine and then double bogeyed the 18th.
"All my old feels (for the clubs) are out the window when the winds blow," he said. "That's the thing when you are making changes. It's fine when the wind is not blowing. But when you have to hit a shot when the wind blows ... the new swing patterns get exposed."
Woods had trouble for much of the day with errant drives, and his putting - which he credited with helping him shoot a 66 Friday - also was shaky, leading to several missed birdie chances. He also showed flashes of anger, at one point yelling at photographers for disturbing his shot.
Woods, who won in Dubai in 2006 and 2008, is now in the longest victory drought of his career. His last title came at the Australian Masters in November 2009.Lee Westwood stays as world No 1 because Martin Kaymer, needing a top-two finish, was down at 31st, but the Englishman's own 15th place was a big disappointment after being only one behind with four holes remaining.
The Worksop golfer did the same as Quiros by hitting a ball into a tree on the 17th, double-bogeyed and then was in the water on the last like Woods, albeit in an attempt to find the green in two. That led to another 6.
As for long-time leader Rory McIlroy, whose only European Tour title came on the same course two years ago, he followed his opening rounds of 65 and 68 with 75-74 to end up only joint 10th - 133 shots for the first 36 holes but 149 for the last 36. If these totals had been reversed, he would not have survived the halfway cut.
And then there was Sergio Garcia. Playing with Woods he had real hopes of his first win since November 2008 when he moved into a share of the lead with a 35ft putt on the first.
But the ex-world No 2 showed why he is now down at 79th after running up a triple-bogey 7 on the ninth and never getting back in the hunt.
A 75 left him alongside Woods and Garcia has now failed to be among the 64 qualifiers for this month's Accenture Match Play, the world championship event in which he reached the semi-finals last year.
The spotlight turned onto another Spaniard instead and Quiros, whose power enabled him to get an eagle 2 at the 351yd second, did not disappoint.
His two closest pursuers both had long birdie chances on the last to force a play-off, but Kingston lipped out from 30 feet and Hansen missed from 40.
His two closest pursuers both had long birdie chances on the last to force a play-off, but Kingston lipped out from 30 feet and Hansen missed from 40.
"I am very proud of myself. I think I managed very well with difficult situations, said title-winner Quiros later.
"I have to recognise that the 11th might be one of the more exciting moments in my career. It was like the last piece of a happy birthday cake. It gave me the chance to win the tournament."
Quiros now leads The Race to Dubai and is on the verge of making it into the world's top 20.
CHECK OUT ALL THE SCORECARDS ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR'S WEBSITE
CLICK HERE
FINAL TOTALS, PRIZE MONEY (in Euros)
Par 288 (4x72)
1 QUIROS Alvaro ESP 73 68 68 68 277 (301,353).
T2 HANSEN Anders DEN 69 68 71 70 278 (157,045).
T2 KINGSTON James RSA 72 72 67 67 278 (157,045).
T4 GONNET Jean-Baptiste FRA 68 69 72 70 279 (76,786)
T4 STRANGE Scott AUS 72 72 67 68 279 (76,786).
T4 VELASCO Alvaro ESP 74 70 65 70 279 (76,786).
T7 AIKEN Thomas RSA 67 67 74 72 280 (49,724).
T7 ANDERSSON HED Fredrik SWE 69 71 69 71 280 (49,724).
9 HANSON Peter SWE 69 69 73 70 281 (40,503).
T10 DREDGE BradleyWAL 70 72 71 69 282 (31,462).
T10 FISHER Ross ENG 73 69 70 70 282 (31,462).
T10 GALLACHER Stephen SCO 70 69 71 72 282 (31,462).
T10 MCILROY Rory NIR 65 68 75 74 282 (31,462).
T10 WOOD Chris ENG 71 72 70 69 282 (31,462).
T15 CURTIS Ben USA 71 71 72 69 283 (24,4461).
T15 HAVRET Grégory FRA 72 71 69 71 283 (24,446).
T15 HOEY Michael NIR 70 67 73 73 283 (24,446).
T15 OLAZÁBAL José Maria ESP 73 69 72 69 283 (24,446).
T15 WESTWOOD Lee ENG 69 70 72 72 283 (24,446).
T20 CABRERA-BELLO Rafael ESP 71 68 74 71 284 (19,641).
T20 GARCIA Sergio ESP 67 67 75 75 284 (19,641).
T20 GONZALEZ Ricardo ARG 71 71 78 64 284 (19,641).
T20 JACQUELIN Raphaël FRA 72 70 69 73 284 (19,641).
T20 ROCK Robert ENG 73 71 71 69 284 (19,641).
T20 RUMFORD Brett AUS 69 68 72 75 284 (19,641).
T20 WARREN Marc SCO 72 67 74 71 284 (19,641).
T20 WOODS Tiger USA 71 66 72 75 284 (19,641).
T28 COLSAERTS Nicolas BEL 73 71 69 72 285 (16,635).
T28 DYSON Simon ENG 72 72 70 71 285 (16,635).
T28 GOYA Tano ARG 73 70 72 70 285 (16,635).
T31 DE VRIES Floris NED 71 70 71 74 286 (13,682).
T31 DUBUISSON Victor FRA 68 71 77 70 286 (13,682).
T31 EDFORS Johan SWE 70 69 78 69 286 (13,682).
T31 KAYMER Martin GER 69 71 76 70 286 (13,682).
T31 LAFEBER Maarten NED 71 72 68 75 286 (13,682).
T31 LYNN David ENG 74 69 71 72 286 (13,682).
T31 OTTO Hennie RSA 72 70 69 75 286 (13,682).
T31 RAMSAY Richie SCO 71 69 73 73 286 (13,682).
T31 WALL Anthony ENG 69 70 74 73 286 (13,682).
T40 JIMÉNEZ Miguel Angel ESP 72 70 74 71 287 (11,572).
T40 MARTIN Pablo ESP 68 72 71 76 287 (11,572)
T42 KRUGER Jbe RSA 71 72 71 74 288 (10,126).
T42 LEE Danny NZ 74 69 78 67 288 (10,126).
T42 LEVET Thomas FRA 72 68 77 71 288 (10,126).
T42 McGRANE Damien IRL 72 71 75 70 288 (10,126).
T42 SIEM Marcel GER 71 70 74 73 288 (10,126).
T42 SINGH Jeev Milkha IND 70 70 73 75 288 (10,126).
T48 BAIN Ross SCO 75 69 72 73 289 (7,775).
T48 BOURDY Grégory FRA 71 72 72 74 289 (7,775).
T48 CLARKE Darren NIR 70 72 72 75 289 (7,775).
T48 DONALDSON Jamie WAL 71 71 76 71 289 (7,775).
T48 WARING Paul ENG 73 68 71 77 289 (7,775).
T48 WEBSTER Steve ENG 68 68 81 72 289 (7,775).
T48 WILLETT Danny ENG 68 71 73 77 289 (7,775).
T55 BROWN Mark NZ 69 70 79 72 290 (5,831).
T55 DERKSEN Robert-Jan NED 73 70 76 71 290 (5,831).
T55 FOSTER Mark ENG 75 67 73 75 290 (5,831).
T55 HAMILTON Todd USA 69 73 74 74 290 (5,831).
T59 CAÑIZARES Alejandro ESP 75 69 71 76 291 (4,882).
T59 DRYSDALE David SCO 73 71 70 77 291 (4,882).
T59 FINCH Richard ENG 72 72 76 71 291 (4,882).
T59 HORSEY David ENG 73 70 75 73 291 (4,882).
T59 LEWIS Tom ENG (amateur) 73 70 74 74 291.
T59 STERNE Richard RSA 68 72 77 74 291 (4,882).
T65 BENSON Seve ENG 73 69 78 72 292 (4,159).
T65 DAVIES Rhys WAL 73 70 74 75 292 (4,159).
T65 KARLBERG Rikard SWE 70 74 74 74 292 (4,159).
T68 HAASTRUP Mark F DEN 76 68 74 75 293 (3,616).
T68 JONZON Michael SWE 71 70 76 76 293 (3,616).
T68 LAWRIE Peter IRL 74 70 73 76 293 (3,616)
71 KHAN Simon ENG 73 71 73 81 298 (3,305).
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
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See story on its own page | Sunday, February 13, 2011
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