McIlroy & Stenson fluff their lines during bid for Desert Classic glory

Joy Chakravarty 10:24 03/02/2014
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  • Putter stutter: McIlroy had trouble reading the greens on the Majlis course.

    World No6 Rory McIlroy and No3 Henrik Stenson were left flabbergasted by their inability to read the Majlis greens better as they struggled to match their own and everyone else’s expectations.

    McIlroy, who led briefly during the day following a scratchy start by overnight leader Stephen Gallacher, just could not get any momentum on the back nine as he closed with a two-over par 74 and in tied ninth place, four shots behind the champion.

    Stenson, another star hoping to win his second Desert Classic title, was left ruing a disastrous third day’s play, when he three-putted three times and made two double bogeys which effectively took him out of contention.

    The European No1 closed with a 68 for a tied 29th place at eight-under par 280. McIlroy was having so much trouble reading his lines on Sunday, he actually asked his caddie to do it for him on the back nine.

    Obviously, it did not help much either. The 24-year-old Ulsterman, who needed as many as 30 putts despite hitting only 11 greens in regulation, said: “Today the greens were a lot firmer. I actually played the front nine pretty solid. But the two bogeys on the par 5s on the back nine (10th and 13th) were obviously not what I was looking for.

    “It was tougher, because the greens were firmer, to get the ball close and then the rare times I did get the ball close, I didn’t make any putts. It was just one of those days.

    “I think anything that sort of could go wrong, did. I hit a couple of loose drives, but I didn’t really get away with them. I didn’t get a couple of putts to go in and I was struggling to read them today for some reason.

    “I got JP (Fitzgerald, his caddie) to start reading them for me on the back nine and started to hole a bit more.

    “The greens just changed color a little bit and it was very hard to see. I felt like every putt I saw, like everything I read was straight, even though it wasn’t. I just couldn’t see any sort of movement on them.”

    Stenson, who finished 38th in the Putts Per Round stats category, said: “It was a bit frustrating. I started well, but then took the wrong stick and came in short in the bunker on the sixth, which was not the place to be, and three-putted for a double and three-putted the ninth and 14th.

    “I have been struggling to find the right lines on these greens these last couple of days. I find that when I hit straighter putts, they are breaking a bit. Then I made some bad putts, and they were never going to go in.”

    Stenson added he was happy with the work he put in during the three weeks of the Desert Swing, although he would have liked to have gone into the events better prepared.

    “I got a bit of a decent practice, which was one of the main objectives from these three weeks.

    “I have been very busy off the golf course, which obviously affected the way I prepared for these weeks,” said the Swede.

    “To be honest, I would have liked to spend about two hours on the putting green this week, but given how busy we were on Tuesday and Wednesday (Champions Challenge, followed by the pro-am), I must have spent only half an hour.

    “I feel my game is not in a bad place, and all I need to do is put in some good practice.

    “I am now taking a couple of weeks off and will next play the WGC-Match Play.

    “So, I am not going to touch the clubs for one week and spend the time with my wife and kids and then work really hard the second week and be in good shape for the Match Play.”

    SCORES

    272 – Stephen Gallacher (SCO) 66-71-63-72
    273 – Emiliano Grillo (ARG) 71-67-69-66
    274 – Romain Wattel (FRA) 68-73-67-66, Brooks Koepka (USA) 69-75-70-70
    275 – Mikko Illonen (FIN) 69-72-70-64, Robert Rock (ENG) 69-70-68-70, Steve Webster (ENG) 71-70-64-70, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 71-68-65-71
    276 – Paul Casey (ENG) 70-72-67-67, Bernd Wiesberger (GER) 70-70-68-68, Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 65-72-68-71, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 63-70-69-74
    277 – Brett Rumford (AU S) 69-70-71-67, Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 72-70-68-67, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 69-69-71-68, Danny Willett (ENG) 71-65-73-68, Soren Hansen (DEN) 67- 71-71-68, Paul Waring (ENG) 70-70-68-69, Darren Fichardt (RSA) 69-72-66-70 278 – Simon Dyson (ENG) 69-69-73-67, Damien McGrane (IRL) 66-70-71-71, Jamie Donaldson (WAL) 69-68-70-71

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