Triumphant Rory keeps Erica by his side
McIlroy’s delight as he secures Tour title
IF SOMEONE had said to Rory McIlroy at the start of the season that the biggest prizes he would win all year would be arguably the DP World Tour Championship and the Race to Dubai, he would undoubtedly have turned up his nose.
But context is everything in life and, by picking up these substantial titles at the end of an epic duel in the sun against Andy Sullivan yesterday, there was no disguising his delight.
It brought an emphatic end to a frustrating few months that began with the now infamous ankle ligament injury he picked up playing football with his mates in July, and allows him to go into an eight-week winter break with everything hunky dory in his golfing world once more.
It’s the third time he has won the Race to Dubai in the last four years and meant a payday of €3million, which should cover the cost of a few Christmas gifts.
As for his opponent, who played more like a rival in the making than a game underdog, the finest compliment that could be paid to Sully, as he is known to all and sundry, came from McIlroy himself. ‘Rarely have I ever had to dig deeper,’ said the four-time major champion, following a stirring head to head that ebbed and flowed in classic fashion, with McIlroy eventually prevailing by one stroke after following his 65 on Saturday with a 66.
Some players are just born with the priceless gift of revelling in the heat of playing for titles in front of 20,000 enraptured fans and Sullivan is clearly one of those. ‘I don’t think it gets any better than that,’ said the 29-year-old Englishman, before coming up with a delicious rider. ‘Well, maybe one stroke better.’
Nobody gave him much hope playing alongside the man who has already built a Dubai dynasty, given the plethora of titles he has collected in this part of the world. But Sullivan took dead aim at the pin at the first and never backed off for a moment. Two birdies for starters, and a McIlroy three putt at the fourth, and suddenly his one stroke overnight advantage had become three.
How would McIlroy respond? Well, how does three straight birdies sound? When Sullivan bogeyed the 8th they were all level again, with the Englishman looking likely to drop another stroke at the ninth before rescuing an unlikely par with a wonderful chip-in.
It’s far too early to make a direct comparison but there are definite shades of Ian Woosnam in the way Sullivan goes about his business and his obvious empathy with the crowds. If he keeps playing like this, he’s just going to love the Ryder Cup. In the meantime, this runnerup finish will lift him into the world’s top 40 and secure a cherished Masters debut next April.
McIlroy ratcheted up the pressure coming home, birdieing the 12th and then establishing a two stroke lead with more birdies at the 14th and 15th.. Game over?
At the par three 17th he hit comfortably his worst shot of the week. ‘It was horrendous,’ he said, about a long iron that splashed into the water to wipe out his advantage.
This was the moment he showed once more he has the grit and guts to go with the talent. After playing from the drop zone, he holed from 30ft for ‘the finest bogey of my career.’
It proved the difference, with both men making pars at the last. What a magnificent scene this was, with spectators crammed many people deep wherever you looked.
It said everything about the spectacle witnessed that the rising talent was afforded a reception every bit as loud as the resident superstar, who lives for two months each year in Dubai.