by Rory McIlroy three-footed and then drove his ball into the water in a dramatic finale here at the Dubai Invitational.
The graciousness of the world No 2 was personified by the congratulation of Tommy Fleetwood. McIlroy hugged his Ryder Cup partner on the 18th green, before pointing out that the Englishman was long overdue for this title – but, believe him, this is going to get worse.
McIlroy showed such character to recover from that shock on the 14th green. On that par of three, after a disastrous run of three birdies in a row from the 11th, he had conjured his tee shot with what everyone believed was kick-in range and, if he was playing a game, Fleetwood almost certainly conceded the. putt.
In fact, the putt was about the same length as the one Rickie Fowler gave Fleetwood for the Ryder Cup-winning point four months ago.
Except McIlroy didn’t even hit the hole. Then to make his error worse, he bent back four feet. In one moment of madness, the formality of a birdie turned into a disaster of a bogey (see the video below). McIlroy put his head in his hands.
“I thought I hit a good putt for the birdie attempt but when I looked up it had gone right off the cup,” he explained. “I guessed I must have pushed it so I was wary of doing the same to the patent, so it inevitably went left. Let’s just say it was an unfortunate turn of events. I was happy with the way I bounced back over the next few holes.”
McIlroy reached 15 under on the 15th and then birdied the 17th from seven feet to move one clear heading into the last. It was in his grasp but the hook of the tee hit the path and flew into the lake. There was still hope.
With South African Triston Lawrence (64) in the clubhouse on 18 under, the same mark as Fleetwood, McIlroy must have believed that a bogey would see him in a play-off. He duly made five for 67. But after converting from 15 feet to keep himself in contention on the 17th, Fleetwood – so often the bridesmaid – made another on the 18th to raise his hand and collect first win in 14 months, walk away with a check for £330,000.
“Obviously, it’s a great feeling to hole a putt like that to beat a player as good as Rory,” said Fleetwood, after his 67 for a 19-under total. “It’s funny, I played Rory at the Scottish Open [last July] when he made that birdie on the 18th to win and there was an element of it today where I felt it was my turn.”
Fleetwood admitted he was “surprised” by the strange sight on the 14th. “Yeah, I was hoping Rory would do it and move on,” he said. “But what didn’t surprise me was how Rory stopped him and played the next three holes.”
Fleetwood has taken seven of the top five finishes since Sun City in November 2022 – including three seconds – and critics have undoubtedly questioned his ability to close it. However, the 32-year-old remained patient and returns to the predicted world top 10 with his seventh Tour success.
“I think it’s a habit to win, but naturally, when you come so close so many times, it’s disappointing,” he said. “But at the same time, there are too many positive things to think about and I was determined to remember that I have been doing the right things for a long time. Win or lose today, I got up tomorrow and I’d keep doing the same things.”
McIlroy feels the same and it will help his mind that his next challenge is the Desert Classic – which starts on Thursday – 18 miles down the road at the Emirates, a course he has won three times, including 12 months ago.
No doubt the numbskull detractors who gang up on him stupidly on social media will insist that this return supports their theory of suspected competitive will, but all the 34-year-old has to do is look at the statistics and look at that. his C game was almost good enough.
In the four days, McIlroy found the water five times – quite a feat in the desert – made bogey four times on Friday and three putts from two legs – and still came up just one short.
“I made a lot of silly mistakes and when you start back after two months off you expect that,” he said. “So if I can clean that up from next week, I feel like the rest of the game is right. But look, I’m very happy for Tommy. He has played incredible golf over the past year without going over the line. So for him to win here, it’s great for him and it will do him a world of good for his confidence. Hopefully it will start from there.”
At the other end of the leaderboard, American Ken Weyand shot an 86 to finish 53, which statisticians believe to be the highest four-round total in a regular event in the Tour’s 53-year history.
The 54-year-old, who was a sponsored invite despite never having played in any top-flight competition, finished 72 shots behind Fleetwood. Because there were 72 holes, that means that every hole was six shots worse.
Club members may have some fun with Weyand when he returns to his day job as general manager of the exclusive Grove XXIII course owned by basketball legend Michael Jordan in South Florida.
But Weyand had the last laugh as he still walked away with £6,500, the prize that finished last (by 39 shots to his ‘nearest’ competitor).
