Rory McIlroy’s putting problems leave him way off first Falcon Trophy

Joy Chakravarty 20:22 17/01/2015
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  • Throwing in the towel: Rory McIlroy's performance was under par.

    Rory McIlroy has three runners-up finishes at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, but if you ask him, he’d say he came close to lifting the Falcon Trophy a couple of times before.

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    That’s because the world No1 does not count his second-place finish in 2011 as anything close to being in contention. McIlroy shot a creditable 16-under par, but that was still a massive eight shots behind Martin Kaymer’s record winning tally of 24-under par.

    By the looks of it, 2015 is shaping out to be another 2011 for McIlroy.

    Yesterday, at the end of the third round, McIlroy threw in the towel as far as catching Kaymer was concerned after a frustrating round of one-under par 71 left him eight shots behind the German going into the final round.

    The way McIlroy struck the ball yesterday, he should have meant a serious dent into Kaymer’s lead, but his putter remained ice-cold throughout the round. The Northern Irishman found 17 greens in regulation and missed just two fairways off the tee. But 34 putts on the greens left him miserable.

    “I feel like punching myself,” McIlroy said after making two birdies and a bogey.

    “I didn’t putt well at all. From tee to green I’ve never felt more comfortable. I’m driving the ball great. It’s just a matter of capitalising on the chances you give yourself and I didn’t do that today.

    “I tried to stay as patient as possible but it was very frustrating. I kept giving myself birdie chances and was not able to convert any of them.

    “I started the ball on line for the most part but struggled with the speed…and the grains.”

    As for his chances in the final round today, he added: “I’m going to have to do something better on the greens tomorrow to shoot a good number and finish the tournament off well. Obviously, I am playing for second place tomorrow.

    Rory McIlroy waves to the crowd.

    “I am now trying to win the other tournament. Martin’s playing in something a little different than everyone else. I think I’m two behind Thomas (Pieters) and I will try and catch him. It’s obviously very unrealistic that I’m going to catch Martin tomorrow.”

    Pieters (70), the impressive 22-year-old Belgian, was second behind Kaymer at 14-under par, and Bernd Wiesberger (66) and Alexander Levy (67), moved ahead of McIlroy.

    South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel (65) and Gary Stal (67) of France were tied for fifth place along side McIlroy at 12-under par.

    Among the other stars in the field, four-time major winner Ernie Els (69) and world No6 Justin Rose were tied at five-under par 211, while world No10 Rickie Fowler again fell foul of a par-5 – this time making a double-bogey seven on the 10th hole – and was tied 67th at one-under par 215.

    Former champion Jamie Donaldson (65) made an eagle on the last hole – thanks to a lucky ricochet from the hospitality stands – and French world No19 Victor Dubuisson shot a blistering 64 to improve to tied eighth place at 11-under par.

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