EARLY REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
iT WAS advantage Rory McIlroy with nine holes to play in The European Tour's season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
The
World Number One resumed tied for the lead with Luke Donald and it was
the World Number Two who started the better, grabbing a birdie on the
long second after McIlroy had pushed his opening drive and bogeyed.
But
then came Donald's first bogey not only of the tournament, but in 103
holes on the Earth Course, when he three-putted the third.
McIlroy
birdied the fifth and seventh, had another bogey at the next, but
closed the outward half with a brilliant approach to two feet.
Already
with The Race to Dubai title in the bag, the 23 year old started for
home 18 under par, with Donald one behind and England's Justin Rose and
South African Louis Oosthuizen two back.
Earlier Spain's Sergio
Garcia equalled the course record of 64 for the second time in the week -
he eagled the par five 18th again to do it - while Scot Stephen
Gallacher and Dutchman Joost Luiten had holes-in-one at the fourth and
sixth respectively.
It was suddenly all change at the top when
Rose, six behind at the start of the day, followed his sixth birdie on
the short 13th with an approach to the 626 yard 14th that curled round
to within five feet of the hole.
In it went for eagle and he was
19 under, one ahead of McIlroy and two in front of Donald, who both
missed birdie chances on the tenth.
McIlroy was back on terms
after hitting in close on the 401 yard 11th, but Rose nosed ahead again
with an eight footer on the 15th.
He needed only three closing
pars for a new course record of 63, but that was probably not going to
bring him the title and so he was looking to pick up more shots.
Donald missed the green on the 12th and by bogeying fell four behind and into a tie for third with Oosthuizen.
Rose parred the 16th and 17th and his lead went to two when McIlroy three-putted the 13th.
By
chipping close for birdie on the next, however, the gap was back to one
as Rose came to the par five last requiring a par for a course record
63.
Donald and Oosthuizen were three back after birdies on the 14th.
Rose
sent his second shot to the back of the green around 100 feet from the
flag and his eagle attempt looked as if it might die on a ridge, but
then trickled down to the side of the hole.
He gave a fist pump
before tapping in for birdie and a 62, a course record by two and his
lowest-ever European Tour round by two.
McIlroy, though, pitched to three feet on the 15th and by holing was only one behind again.
EARLIER REPORT
Scotland's Stephen Gallacher followed three opening birdies with a
hole-in-one on the final day of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai this morning (local time).
Gallacher
aced the 214 yard fourth with a five iron to be five under par for his
first four holes and after another birdie at the long seventh turned in a
brilliant 30.
It moved him up from 31st to joint fifth on 12
under par, still five adrift of overnight leaders Rory McIlroy and Luke
Donald, and made him the latest player to threaten the course record of
64.
Five players had achieved that mark prior to this week and
Sergio Garcia and Jeev Milkha Singh added their names to the list in the
second and third rounds respectively.
LIVE SCORING FROM FINAL ROUND IN DUBAI
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Luke Donald birdied the 2nd, bogeyed the third to be -17
Louise Oosthuizen birdied the first and second to be -16
Rory McIlroy bogeyed the first to be -16
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