Abu Dhabi: Despite finishing second for the third time here in the UAE, Justin Rose said he will keep ‘chipping away’ in a bid to succeed in the Emirates and expressed satisfaction over his form and start to the new season.
Rose, who finished second to Rory McIlroy in the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic, again saw his bid for victory thwarted by the Northern Irishman despite a course record 62 in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai to end last season. And on Sunday his debut here in Abu Dhabi fell agonisingly short in the final stretch.
“I’ve had three seconds now in the UAE but will keep chipping away at trying to win here,” the world No 5 said.
He went on to explain the narrow miss on the final hole which would have pushed the fight for the Falcon Trophy to a playoff with eventual winner Jamie Donaldson.
“It reminded me exactly of the putt at 18 against Phil [Mickelson] at Medinah, just outside the right edge and that’s exactly where I hit it, and unfortunately this time the putt didn’t go in for me. Would I swap it? No, I wouldn’t. Obviously it didn’t go in this time, but I think the execution was just where it needed to be.”
He continued: “When I birdied 14, I didn’t realise Jamie had had a hot round, I had actually expected to be one ahead at that point and I was one behind, so every credit to Jamie.
“You want to close out with a chance to win when you have it and I didn’t do that today, but I didn’t do a lot wrong, either. It’s hard to beat yourself up about it. Jamie played a good round of golf today and Thorbjorn [Olesen] did as well.”
The Dane Olesen, who was tied for second with Rose, also had a 15-feet putt that narrowly missed and left Donaldson’s one-shot lead unscathed. “It was quite a long putt actually. But I just misread it and I thought it was left to right, but it was almost dead straight. So that’s what happens. But Justin [Rose] could have made that, also. So unfortunately we didn’t do it.
“Obviously second place is always good, especially when you have all the stars here, so it’s a great week and I enjoyed playing with Justin. Fantastic player. It’s been a great week and I love the place. Unfortunately a few shots too many, but it’s been a great week for me.”
