Dubai: Rory McIlroy was cruising on a course he knows so well and looking tidy at the top of the leaderboard before a major blip on the notorious 18th at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
The final hole on the Earth Course is one of the toughest on tour — a fairway split into three by rivers — and McIlroy was one of the latest to become a cropper on a platform that leaves no room for error.
The Northern Irishman goes ino the weekend one off the lead, held by England’s Sam Horsfield, Ireland’s Shane Lowry and American John Catlin on 11-under. But the picture should have been much prettier for McIlroy but for a series of unfortunate incidents. A bad drive whacked him into a bunker before a trip to the river before and up and down.
Regardless of the mishap — a seven on the 18th saw him find a trip to the sand and then the a drop off the water — McIlroy remained in a confident mood.
“I always hit a driver off this tee,” he said. “I hit into the wind and I did not expect to land in the face of the bunker. That was unfortunate. My third shot was also fine but it came off into the wind. I do not think it deserved to do into the water but it did and we go again tomorrow.
Playing nicely
“It wasn’t the greatest way to finish and I was holding it together, but we did OK and we shall see how we get on.
“It would have been nice to finish better but we are where we are.
“I am playing nicely as I’m with Collin Morikawa tomorrow. The good stuff is in there, let’s just pull it out.”
McIlroy is one off the lead due to his mishap on the last, but his confidence is there and you can be sure he will be in the mix over the weekend.
““I think 70 is the worst I could have shot today so I really feel good going into the weekend. Hopefully that it the bad one out of the way and we are all happy going in from here.”
