McIlroy backs himself to hunt down Gallacher in Dubai final round

Kenny Laurie 10:42 02/02/2014
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  • Focused on glory: McIlroy chips onto a green during his round in Dubai.

    Former world No1 Rory McIlroy has his task cut out in today’s final round of the Dubai Desert Classic as he looks to dethrone the in-form defending champion and Majlis expert Stephen Gallacher.

    The Northern Irishman went round in a tidy 69, but that wasn’t enough to protect his lead against Gallacher, who shot an incredible 10-under on the final 10 holes to post a total score of 16-under, leaving McIlroy two shots behind.

    McIlroy, who narrowly lost out in Abu Dhabi by one shot to Pablo Larrazabal after incurring a two-stroke penalty for a rules infringement, felt as if he left some shots on the course, narrowly missing several putts that would have put him closer to Gallacher’s total.

    The 2009 champion started badly with a bogey, but then made up for it in brilliant fashion with a birdie on the second, followed by an eagle on the third, where he dropped a 25-feet putt.

    But just when it was looking as if McIlroy was running away with the tournament, the putts refused to go down, and after dropping a shot on the sixth, he could make only two birdies on the back nine.

    “I got off to a shaky start with a bogey at the first but then steadied the ship with a nice birdie at the second and a lovely eagle at the third,” said McIlroy. “The conditions were tricky out there. It was a little breezy and there were some tougher pin positions and firmer greens, it was tough to get close to some of these pins.

    “A three-under par 69 wasn’t a bad score but I definitely felt like I left a few out there and hopefully the putts will start dropping for me tomorrow and I’ll shoot a little lower.”

    After recovering from an upset stomach that affected his game on Friday, McIlroy claims he is feeling nearly 100 per cent and should be at full strength to challenge today in what should be a thrilling end to the tournament.

    “I feel I can catch Gallacher up tomorrow,” said McIlroy. “I don’t really want to focus on what he’s doing; I have got to try to focus on my own thing.

    “If I can focus on just trying to hit fairways and feel like my iron play is good enough, try to hole a few more putts and see where it leaves me at the end of the day.”

    McIlroy hit just four fairways off the tee, but recovered well enough to find 12 greens in regulation.

    When asked after the round if there was one aspect of his game that he needed to improve before the final round, he said: “I think I just need to hit a few more fairways. That’s the key for me.

    “I drove it beautifully in round one, not so much the last couple of days, so going to go and work on a couple of things on the range, try and iron it out.”

    American Brooks Koepka (70) is tied for third place at 12-under alongside Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen (65), while England’s Steve Webster returned a rollercoaster 64 with nine birdies, an eagle and three bogeys to lie a shot behind on 11-under, alongside compatriot Robert Rock and Italy’s Edoardo Molinari.

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