CRAIG LEE CRASHES IN ABU DHABI CHAMPIONSHIP LAST ROUND

Larrazabal birdies final hole to win by one 

stroke from McIlroy and Mickelson

FROM THE SKY SPORTS.COM WEBSITE

Pablo Larrazabal: Third and most important victory on the European Tour

Pablo Larrazabal of Spain claimed victory in the Abu Dhabi Championship as Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy were left to rue their misfortune. They finished only one shot behind the winner.

Overnight leader Craig Lee from Scotland faded out of contention over the final 18 holes. He ran up a 77 for joint 10th place.

Larrazabal bravely holed from four feet for a birdie at the final hole to hold off playing partner McIlroy, who had been penalised two shots after his third round for a minor rule infringement.
Mickelson was still to play the 18th but after a disastrous 7 at the 13th, when he picked up a penalty for a double hit when playing a shot right-handed, he needed an eagle at the par-five to force a play-off.

He found the putting surface with a hybrid club but his lengthy putt never threatened the hole, leaving Larrazabal to celebrate a third victory on the European Tour.
McIlroy began the day three shots behind overnight leader Craig Lee, having vowed to get the strokes back as soon as possible on Sunday, although a birdie on the second was cancelled out by a bogey on the fifth when a wild drive hit a cart path and bounded into trouble.
Birdies at the seventh and eighth took him to 11 under par and briefly into a share of the lead, but Mickelson had also birdied the second and recovered from a wayward drive on the eighth to make another.
At 12 under par, the Open champion led by one from McIlroy and Larrazabal, with Lee playing himself out of contention with bogeys at the fourth and fifth.
McIlroy looked to have squandered a birdie chance on the par-five 10th with a poor pitch that only just crept over a greenside bunker, but holed from 20ft to join Mickelson and South African George Coetzee in the lead.
Coetzee had gone to the turn in 33 and then rolled in a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th to wipe out his six-shot deficit at the start of the day.
Mickelson reclaimed the outright lead with a birdie on the 10th, but then imploded in spectacular fashion on the 13th.
After his drive finished underneath a bush, Mickelson declined to take a penalty drop and attempted to play the shot right-handed, but saw the ball hit a branch and rebound back onto his club.
That 'double hit' still left the ball in trouble and led to another right-handed escape shot, after which the 43-year-old found the green with his fifth shot and two-putted for a triple-bogey 7.
Back to 10 under par, Mickelson was now three shots off the lead held by Larrazabal, with clubhouse Coetzee and McIlroy a shot behind on 12 under.
In typical fashion Mickelson bounced straight back with a birdie on the 14th while Larrazabal narrowly missed a long birdie putt on the 16th to remain 13 under, but playing partner McIlroy (68) saved par from sand to remain just one shot behind.
Mickelson also birdied the 16th to get within a shot of Larrazabal, only for the Spaniard to hit a superb second shot on to the par-five 18th from almost 270 yards.
The eagle putt was left four feet short, but the 30-year-old held his nerve to make birdie and move to 14 under with a round of 67, leaving Mickelson needing to eagle the same hole to force a play-off.
It wasn't to be for the American, who nevertheless holed out for birdie and a share of second place after a 69.

CRAIG LEE COMES A CROPPER BUT
TIED 10th STILL A GOOD FINISH
 
FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
A DAY that promised so much ended in disappointment for Craig Lee. Two shots clear at the start, a closing 77 saw the Stirling man finish joint-tenth in the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship.

He’d have taken that at the start of the week heading into his first event of 2014. It was only natural, though, that his words were tinged with disappointment as he reflected on the final outcome.
“It was just one of those days,” admitted Lee, who lost his overnight advantage after four holes, fell behind at the next and knew his race had been run after running up a double-bogey 6 at the 11th.
“I didn’t hit the ball well off the tee and around a course like that you are always going to struggle, but I also got unlucky a couple of times.”
At the short fourth, for instance, his tee shot was a foot from being perfect but trickled back down a slope, from where he hit a woeful first putt then missed the next one.
“I was also plugged in a bunker at the seventh and found a divot at the tenth,” added the 36-year-old, who had trouble picking the right club at times in a gusty wind as he finished on seven under - seven shots behind winner Pablo Larrazabal.
Two behind playing partner Phil Mickelson heading into the back nine, Lee still felt he had a chance until getting unlucky again at the par-4 11th.
“I hit a great shot out of the semi rough that came up about three inches short, falling back into a bunker, from where I thinned it and then three-putted,” he said of that hole. “That was curtains for me.”
His day was just about summed up when a four-foot putt horse-shoed out at the last to deprive him of a first birdie on the card.
The one positive experience for the man pipped in a play-off for the European Masters in Switzerland last September was playing in the same group as Open champion Mickelson.
“I was nervous heading out but excited, too, so I was feeling unbeat,” he said of that pairing. “It was great playing with Phil and watching him and his demeanour. Even after he ran up his 7 he bounced back with a couple of birdies and that’s the sign of a good player.
“I’m starting to feel a lot more comfortable out there. It’s just a case of trying to keep putting myself in that position.
“Tenth equal isn’t bad in the first event of the season, especially when you are not quite sure how rusty you are going to be coming out after the winter. If I can keep putting myself in that position, then hopefully it won’t be too long before I can get across the winning line.”
Stephen Gallacher finished as the leading Scot, two places above Lee after he signed off with a three-under 69 for eight-under.
“It was good to break 70 today as the wind was gusting and changing,” said Gallacher after a four-birdie effort. “I’m getting better and more into it and I think going to Durban (for the Volvo Champions) and playing four rounds there helped because I’ve always struggled here in the past.
“It is a culture shock straight out the blue playing this place and is it’s both long and tough.
Along with Lee, he now heads to Qatar for the Middle East Swing event there but Gallacher already has one eye on his Dubai Desert Classic title defence after that.
“It’s hard not to,” he admitted. “It will be good fun playing with both Tiger Woods and Fred Couples in the ‘Champions Challenge’ before the main event.”
Picking up some decent world ranking points will have boosted Gallacher’s hopes of qualifying for the WGC Match Play in Arizona next month.
“My first target is always trying to win every week, or trying to prepare to win,” he said. “But, if you can’t do that, then you try to finish up as high as you can to get a few ranking points and I’m done that here.”
Marc Warren had a “bit of a struggle” as he closed with a 74 - his worst effort of the week - to finish joint-37th on three-under, one ahead of Colin Montgomerie (71) and five better than Peter Whiteford (73).

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72) Prizemoney in Euros
274 Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) 69 70 68 67 (328,779)
275 Rory McIlroy (N Ireland) 70 67 70 68, Phil Mickelson (USA) 73 70 63 69 (171,338 each)
276 Rafa Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 67 68 73 68, George Coetzee (S Africa) 68 70 72 66 (91,138 each)
278 Joost Luiten (Netherlands) 68 70 72 68 (69,044)

SCOTS TOTALS
280 Stephen Gallacher 70 73 68 69 (T8) (46,752)
281 Craig Lee 68 67 69 77 (T10) (31,168)
285 Marc Warren 68 73 70 74 (T37) (12,675)
286 Colin Montgomerie 73 68 71 74 (T45) (10,258)
290 Peter Whiteford 74 70 73 72 (T60) (5,326)

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE