Dubai Desert Classic’s very own league of extraordinary gentlemen – it’s entire Roll of Honour – put on a brilliant show to ring in the 25th edition of the tournament that was solely responsible for the green revolution in the desert.
Twenty of the past 21 champions who have won the trophy, and son Javier filling in for the late Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros, battled it out in an 18-hole strokeplay event, over a picture-perfect Majlis on Tuesday.
Some huff and puffed… like the 61-year-old Eamonn Darcy, the 1990 champion was often left 100 yards behind his playing partner Rory McIlroy. Some tried to fight off jet-lag… like world No1 Tiger Woods, who appeared visibly tired after his round.
Some just went about making birdies… like Henrik Stenson and Rafael Cabrera-Bello. And some even shed a tear… like young Javier, in representing the most irreplaceable figure in golf.
In the end, it was Stenson and Cabrera-Bello who finished as the joint winners at six-under par 66, and rightfully so.
The Majlis is like a home course for Stenson, who has played here so many times when he used to be a Dubai resident, he can navigate his way around the course blindfolded.
And Cabrera-Bello has suddenly hit an extremely rich vein of form. He was in contention in both Abu Dhabi and Qatar before finishing inside the top-five, and what happened onTuesday was just a continuation of that.
All eyes were on Woods though, especially after his previous round of 79 at Torrey Pines, which forced him out of the Farmers Insurance Open a day earlier than scheduled.
The recovery looked remarkable when he birdied three holes in a row from the second onwards, but the American was running out of gas following his long flight from California.
He got wet with his second shot on the ninth, and then again on the 18th where he closed with a double bogey for a one-under par 71.
Woods said he had done nothing different to what he did on Saturday, when he shot the 79 – matching his worst round as a professional in the United States.
“No, nothing. I didn’t change anything. I went home and had a nice day off, worked on my putting a little bit in the backyard, and that was it,” said Woods, who made five birdies in the round.
“I know I’m not that far off. Just had one day and that happens. I was swinging well until… even that shot I hit on 18 there on the third round was right at the flag.”
McIlroy turned a mediocre round into a satisfactory one through one magical shot on the 18th hole. After hitting his drive into the left bushes, he hit a brilliant second shot through a narrow opening between the trees and branches on to the green, and then poured in the 20-footer putt for an eagle.
SCORES
66 – Henrik Stenson (SWE), Rafael Cabrera- Bello (ESP)
68 – Rory McIlroy (NIR), Alvaro Quiros (ESP)
69 – Stephen Gallacher (SCO)
70 – Fred Couples (US), Robert-Jan Derksen (NED)
71 – Tiger Woods (US), Thomas Bjorn (DEN)
72 – Mark O’Meara (US), David Howell (ENG), Jose Coceres (AR G), Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP)
73 – Mark James (ENG)
74 – Javier Ballesteros (ESP)
75 – Ernie Els (RSA)
76 – Wayne Westner (RSA), Colin Montgomerie (SCO)
