The duel of “friends” brought drama until the end. McIlroy made a world-class putt at the end!

The extra-long Hero Dubai Desert Classic has come to an extraordinary climax. Although world number one Rory McIlroy went into the final round with a three-shot lead, he had to bite his nails on the eighteenth hole at the end of the tournament. He was unexpectedly stymied on his way to victory by Patrick Reed, perhaps his greatest rival in Dubai.

We might have expected a Hollywood blockbuster. The climax of the TP World Tour tournament in Dubai has written an extraordinary story. A story that began to be written around a year ago, when a rival venture called LIV Golf burst onto the golf world stage.

Although the sport is seen as a symbol that brings people together, it has instead divided former friends Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed. Reed, like many other players, decided to give a nod to the generous offer of a venture funded by Saudi public funds, which pissed off McIlroy and co.

We have already written about the incident between the two golfing aces that took place before the tournament began. At that time, no one had any idea what was in store for us in a few days when the bread would be broken on the Emirates Golf Club course.

The tournament was marred by unusually rainy weather for the beginning. Due to the fact that not much could be played on Thursday on account of the heavy rains in Dubai, the tournament was extended by a whole day. Unusually, the final round was not played until Monday morning.

Tournament progress

McIlroy went into it as the leader of the table with a score of -15 and a three-stroke lead over Dan Bradbury. Patrick Reed was on a score of -11 at the time.

It was a question of whether the Irish world number one could put the collapse that had cost him the title at this venue exactly a year ago behind him. McIlroy started the final round somewhat conservatively, without much risk.

He played the round cleanly under par until the eighth hole, which opened the door for his competitors in the lead for a while. Reed, his biggest competitor in Dubai, took the most advantage of this.

After an eagle on the tenth hole, he was on a daily score of -5. Twice during the final round he even took the lead. With a few holes to go, it was clear that McIlroy and Reed would battle it out for the Hero Classic title.

The former had the most trouble on the 15th, where he made bogey. But Reed was able to emulate him for a change on hole number 16. In the end, it was drama until the very end. Reed put McIlroy under a lot of pressure on 17 when he made birdie. But Rory withstood the weight of the moment, although he was not too far away from another collapse.

McIlroy’s second shot on the final par five was so long that it stopped just short of the water hazard on the edge of the bank. The world number one and all involved were left reeling as McIlroy was indeed inches away from the same story with a disastrous ending as last year.

Often in the past we have seen the Irish golfer fail at a crucial moment. But that was not the story here.

From a difficult position, he was able to send the ball onto the green, about six feet from the hole, with an exemplary shot. With an ultra-confident and exhibition putt, he eventually snatched victory by one shot for himself. Rory McIlroy dominated the last tournament of last season on the PGA Tour. He’s taken the same style into the current one.

Source: DP World Tour