McIlroy’s closes gap on Kaymer after first hole-in-one

Joy Chakravarty 11:55 17/01/2015
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  • Long way to go: Rory McIlroy kept his celebrations relatively subdued after his hole-in-one on the 15th.

    World No1 Rory McIlroy wasn’t exactly jumping over the moon with his first career hole-in-one as a professional golfer, instead taking pleasure from the fact that he managed to reduce the gap between himself and runaway tournament leader Martin Kaymer to two shots.

    At the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championships yesterday, McIlroy seemed to be having issues with his putter. He had missed two straight easy birdie putts on the 13th and 14th holes when he arrived on the par-3 15th of the National course, still five shots adrift of Kaymer, who had set the clubhouse mark at 13-under par earlier in the morning with a bogey-free 67.

    McIlroy, who made his first hole-in-one aged nine at the sixth hole of his home club in Holywood, hit a nine-iron from 177 yards and the ball disappeared straight into the hole after just one hop. Another birdie on the 18th saw him finish the round on six-under par 66, and at the halfway stage of the tournament, he was on 11-under par.

    When asked why he did not celebrate the hole-in-one much, McIlroy said: “I guess it’s the same as making a three on a par-5. An eagle is an eagle at the end of the day.

    But, yeah, it got me a couple closer to Martin and that’s what I wanted.

    “It’s nice to make hole‑in‑ones and stuff, but I wanted to make sure I was concentrating on the final three holes and not let that sort of overshadow what I was actually trying to do out there, which was get as close to the lead as possible.”

    For the second straight day, McIlroy needed something magical to turn around his round. On Thursday, it was a brilliant Seve Ballesteros-like bunker shot on the third that helped him finish with five birdies on the back nine. Yesterday, he was one-under for his front nine, before another storming finish.

    McIlroy is relishing another battle with Kaymer, who has won the tournament three times, and once beat McIlroy by as many as eight shots in scoring 24-under par in 2011. On the other hand, the Northern Irishman has three runner-up finishes in Abu Dhabi.

    “It’s always tough giving Martin a two‑shot advantage over 36 holes around this place, but I’ll try my best. I feel like I’m playing good, as well. So, lets see if I can put some pressure on him,” McIlroy added.

    “I couldn’t think of a better way to start the season than to test yourself against one of the best players in the world, a two‑time major champion, and someone who plays this course really, really well.”

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