From Left: Tiger Woods of the US, Rory Mcllroy of Northern Ireland and defending champion Stephen Gallacher of Scotland speak during a news conference of the Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai yesterday.
DUBAI: Fractions count in golf according to Tiger Woods, and it was fractions that led to his downfall at Torrey Pines last week when he shot a 79 to match his second worst score as a professional.
That Saturday slump in his season opener meant that he missed the secondary cut for Sunday play on one of his favourite courses where he has multiple wins and raised question marks over his form going into what is looming as a key year in his career.
Marooned on 14 major titles since winning the US Open at Torrey Pines in 2008, time is running out on the 38-year-old American in his lifelong quest to match and then better the all-time record of 18 major victories set down in 1986 by Jack Nicklaus.
“There’s no doubt about it — my game certainly was not as sharp as I would have liked it last week,” he said ahead of today’s start to the European Tour’s Dubai desert Classic.
“I was just a fraction off though and a fraction off on a golf course set up that hard. It bit a lot of us and unfortunately it bit me pretty hard. I think the average score was just over 73 on Saturday and I shot 79.”
Since, then Woods said that he had used the unscheduled day off on Sunday to work on “a few slight adjustments”.
“I then came out here (Dubai) and just wanted to improve every day. Tuesday was better than Monday and Wednesday was better than Tuesday. Hopefully tomorrow (Thursday) will be even better than today. The Majlis course in the heart of one of Dubai’s spectacular skyscraper skyline developments, like Torrey Pines, is a favoured stomping ground for the American world number one. Since making his first visit to the brash Emirate in 2001, Woods has won the Desert Classic twice (2006, 2008) and finished no worse than tied for 20th. He is a whopping 86-under-par for the 24 rounds that he has played during his six previous appearances in the European Tour event. All the portents are there for a much improved showing from Woods compared to his last tournament in the Gulf when he missed the cut in nearby Abu Dhabi a little over a year ago.
The year looks ideally set up for Woods to finally add to his haul of major title wins.
He has prior major wins at three of this year’s major courses — Augusta National for the Masters, Valhalla for the PGA Championship and Royal Liverpool for the British Open — and a second and third at Pinehurst, site of the US Open in June. A good showing at Dubai this week would set him off on the right track en route to Augusta National at the start of April.
“These four venues are four venues that I’ve played well at. Three I’ve won at, one I’m trending in the right way. I’m looking forard to these major championships and this season in general.
Rory McIlroy will happily chance his arm to bag a $2.5m prize pot with one swing of his club at tthe Dubai Desert Classic, as the twice major winner aims to continue his encouraging form in the Middle East.
Organisers in the Arab city-state, which has a penchant for extravagance such as breaking the world record for the largest fireworks display to mark the start of 2014, are offering the sum for a hole-in-one at the Emirates Golf Club’s 17th. Given hole-in-one opportunities are normally reserved for par-3s, trying to land one on a par-4 is not without risks. But, with such a tempting prize on offer, the Northern Irishman is unlikely to be the only one willing to take a chance.
“There are not many chances you have to win $2.5 million in one shot, so I’ll give it a go,” McIlroy told a news conference yesterday.
Asked if he would risk such an attempt if he was three shots clear in the final round, McIlroy replied: “I mean, if you’re confident enough with your driver, yeah, why not. “It mightn’t even be a driver, that’s the thing. If they move the tee up, it’s only going to play 295 or 300 yards. It’s a 3-wood. Yeah, why not?” Whether the 24-year-old would actually take such a gamble remains open to debate but McIlroy’s confidence will have been boosted by his recent showings.
Having endured a pretty torrid 2013, the former world number one has begun to find his form in recent weeks, securing the Australian Open title in December before finishing joint-second at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship earlier this month.
McIlroy has also achieved plenty of success in the past in Dubai — his first ever pro tournament win was the 2009 Desert Classic, while his last victory on the European Tour came in November 2012 at the DP World Tour Championships in the emirate.
“Yeah, I’m playing well. I played well in Abu Dhabi and feel like my game has came on a little bit since then as well,” he said when asked about his chances this weekend.
“It’s always good to get a win early on in the season, and it would be nice to be up there at least and challenging for the trophy on Sunday.”Agencies
