Dubai: Rory McIlroy was left kicking himself after blowing a two-stroke lead to miss out on winning a record-equalling third Omega Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday.
The Northern Irishman was two strokes clear at 22-under par through 10, but then he bogeyed 11, three putted to par 13, and watched Haotong Li pull level, before bogeying 16.
He recovered to birdie his remaining two holes but so did Li, who became the tournament’s first Asian winner with a new record winning-score of 23 under.
“I thought I was in the driver’s seat,” said McIlroy, who was chasing Ernie Els’ Dubai record most wins tally of three. “But then I got a bogey out of nowhere on 11, it was just a bad nine iron there.
“And then the three put on 13, those were the two key holes of the tournament, really, even though there was a bad tee shot on 16.
“From being two ahead, standing on the 11th tee, to being, you know, level going into 16, I just, yeah, I just, I don’t know, it was a couple of bad shots, a couple of poor decisions, a couple of mental errors, a few tentative putts out there, as well.
“I kept leaving myself in places where I couldn’t really give it a run at the hole because they were downhill, downgrain, downwind. So I didn’t really leave it in the best spots to be aggressive with my putts.
“But I tried until the very end. I made two good birdies (on 17 and 18). I made him win it in the end, which was, you know, all I could do, and he played very well on the way in, birdieing three of the last four. I just wish I could get a couple of those holes back.”
Given that this was only McIlroy’s second tournament back after last year’s long-term injury layoff, he said following up last week’s tied for third in Abu Dhabi with a second-place finish here in Dubai was still positive.
“If someone had told me at the start of the year you would finish third and second in your first two events, I’d say, yeah, I’d take that.
“But being in the positions I’ve been in and having two close calls the first couple of weeks of the year, it’s a little difficult. The competitor in me is very disappointed right now. I wanted to win, I always want to win, and I just didn’t do enough when I needed to.”
In 11 appearances at this event, McIlroy has now won twice and recorded eight top 10 finishes. All of those top 10s have occurred in his last eight appearances since his first win here, which was also the first of his career, back in 2009.
