DUBAI — With what appears to be less than his best material, Rory McIlroy still leads in Dubai. Rinse, repeat; rinse, repeat. In this country it feels inevitable.
It’s no less impressive, but it’s much the same as what this tournament and this part of the world has seen from McIlroy, who called Dubai home early in his career. After winning the DP World Tour Championship last autumn – on his way to a third straight Race to Dubai title – McIlroy has a share of the lead through 54 holes. As a result, he is a dominant favorite to claim a fourth Race to Dubai in a row. Only Tyrrell Hatton (one shot back) could stand in his way, and a Hatton win might not even be enough.
McIlroy has shown moments of inadequacy (and frustration) this week – half as if he were going to push his putter into a green pile on a green Saturday afternoon – but the inevitability of his game now looks something like 67 or 68 strokes around the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. His last seven rounds here were:
68-69-66-69-69-69-67
He has admitted that he tries to ‘piece together’ parts of the course when he is not playing at his best, even using his ‘scoring skills’ to complete a sub-70 lap on Friday. When his putter wobbled Saturday — he missed several three-footers in the first few holes — he let that affect him a bit. But ultimately, his long game thrives on a course that accentuates it.
On Sunday he will play together with Rasmus Neergaard-Peterson, a young Dane with zero career victories at this level. They are followed by six others, namely Tommy Fleetwood and Hatton, both of whom appear to be playing the best golf of their lives. You could easily say the same about some of the others who were one shot back, like Laurie Canter and rookie Angel Ayora. The best wave of their livesso it seems. And against McIlroy it may not matter at this race.
Perhaps the best example came eventually: a par 5 up the hill, where it’s all about positioning. After driving it admirably for most of the day, McIlroy fired one out to the right, leaving him stranded on the imported maroon wood chips that line much of the grass on the Earth Course. From there he teed out, pitched to 8 feet and drilled the putt, ending an otherwise average day for him, and almost ending the Race to Dubai 24 hours early.
As for his nearest competitor at that price, McIlroy doesn’t think much of him.
“I’m focused on myself,” he said. “If I go out there and play golf that I know I’m capable of, especially on this golf course, I know I’m going to be fine.”
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