RORY McILROY FINISHES WITH FIVE BIRDIES IN A ROW TO WIN IN DUBAI

Rory McIlroy with Mohammed Sharaf, Group CEO DP World, and George O'Grady, European Tour CEO.
NEWS RELEASE
By ALAN EWENS

Dubai (UAE): World No 1 Rory McIlroy reminded everyone just why he is the greatest player on Earth by winning the $8 million DP World Tour Championship on the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai today.

The 23-year old from Northern Ireland produced a sensational finish of five consecutive birdies for a round of 66 to finish on 23-under par and win by two shots from England’s Justin Rose (-21). 

World Number Two Luke Donald and former Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen tied for third place on eighteen under par.

It was a blistering finish by McIlroy – already The Race to Dubai Champion - who found himself two shots behind with five holes remaining after Rose’s new course record of 62 (-10) saw the 32 year-old Englishman emerge as the clubhouse leader.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling – I said I wanted to win both trophies this week and that is exactly what I’ve managed to do even though I didn’t get off to the best of starts with a bogey on the first,” said McIlroy after receiving the glittering DP World Tour Championship trophy from Mohammed Sharaf, Group CEO of DP World. 
“I saw that Justin was making a charge and knew I needed to do something special over the closing few holes - I really couldn’t have wished for a better ending.”

For McIlroy, victory in the final event of The European Tour season means he is the first player since Lee Westwood in 2009 to win both The Race to Dubai and the DP World Tour Championship in the same year. 

It was also the fifth win of a remarkable season that includes a Major triumph, Ryder Cup success with Europe and top spot on both the US and European money lists.

“I made all the targets that I set for this year and I’m already looking forward to 2013,” added McIlroy. “Today I went out with a target of 22 under par, which I thought would be enough to win, so making it to 23 (under par) gave me a bit of a cushion.”

Rose shot the best round of his European Tour career to take second place and while he hoped to at least make a play-off with his 62 he was ultimately left behind by McIlroy’s brilliance over the last five holes.

The 32 year-old Englishman ran in seven birdies and an eagle, including a sensational birdie 4 on the last that saw an outrageous putt from 100ft amble its way lazily across the green and down a slope to stop just two inches from the hole to deny what would have been a round of 61.

“I knew it was hero or zero there,” said Rose, who finishes the season ranked second on The Race to Dubai. 

“I was just trying to putt to a point on the hill and let gravity take its course.  As it got to the top of the hill and it was clear it was going to topple over, I knew it was perfect and I actually got goose bumps – for a second, I thought it was going to go in.  It was a really nice way to finish.”

Billed as the “Greatest Weekend on Earth”, the DP World Tour Championship was meant to be a final day showdown between McIlroy and Donald who went into the final day tied on seventeen under par. Unfortunately for Donald – whose bogey on the third in round four was his first in 103 holes on Earth –a closing 71 (-1) was his poorest round of the week and left him tied with Schwartzel in third. 

“Obviously Rory has been the best player all year and that was some finish by him,” said Donald.  “You have to give him a lot of credit for digging deep.  I think both of us weren't feeling 100 per cent physically, but he found the strength to finish like that - hats off to him, what a way to finish off a great year for him.”

McIlroy’s coronation as the king of the European Tour rounded off a day that also saw the announcement of the European Tour International Schedule for 2013 and the confirmation that the DP Tour World Championship will once again be final event of The Race to Dubai staged over the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates from 14-17 November 2013.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
265 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) 66 67 66 66
267 Justin Rose (England) 68 68 69 62
270 Luke Donald (England) 65 68 66 71, Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 68 67 67 68.
272 Branden Grace (South Africa) 69 65 70 68
273 Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 68 69 68 68, Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 68 68 69 68
274 Hed Andersson (Sweden) 67 69 72 66, Jamie Donaldson (Wales) 68 68 69 69, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) 66 72 68 68, Sergio Garcia (Spain) 73 64 73 64, Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 67 71 68 68   

SCOTS' SCORES
(prizemoney in Euros)
275 Scott Jamieson 68 69 72 66 (T14) (109,353)
276 Stephen Gallacher 68 70 72 66 (T16) (87,482)
278 Marc Warren 66 67 72 73, Richie Ramsay 67 68 73 70 (T26) (56,551)
284 David Drysdale 71 74 70 69, Paul Lawrie 71 72 70 71 (T48) (29,369)

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