GOLF DUBAI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:THE ENTRANCE to the Jumeirah estate seems to go on for an eternity. The road, equipped with speed ramps, cuts a swathe through the desert and skirts construction sites with half-built villas until it reaches The Earth course.
And it is here, a contrived piece of paradise amid otherwise barren terrain, the Dubai World Championship – the season’s finale to the European Tour – will determine just whose name will be etched on to the Harry Vardon trophy.
Rory McIlroy? Lee Westwood? Martin Kaymer? Ross Fisher? For this quartet of players, there is a dual mandate. Not alone are they playing in a €5 million tournament in its own right, one of the biggest events anywhere in the world, but the four are the only players in this 58-man field capable of finishing the week atop the Order of Merit.
“Obviously it comes down to the four of us,” said McIlroy, “and whoever can play the best this week will have a great chance.”
These are heady days for McIlroy, who constantly belies the fact he is only 20 and has been a professional for a little more than two years. “You know, when I turned pro in September of 2007, I never thought that I would be able to get to this point so quickly. It just shows you that if you’re willing to put the work in and you practise the right things, then this is possible,” he said.
What is certain is McIlroy has his destiny in his own hands. Put simply, if he finishes ahead of Westwood and Kaymer and Fisher, he wins the Order of Merit.
And, if he doesn’t, he also has a safety cushion to some extent in that he carries a lead of €128,173 over his nearest rival, Westwood, into this final counting event of a season that has traversed timelines all around the globe.
Now, though, the end is in sight and McIlroy – one of six Irishmen in the field here along with Pádraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell, Peter Lawrie, Gareth Maybin and Damien McGrane – knows he has nothing to fear of the questions he faces over the next four days on a course which stretches to 7,675 yards, with a treacherous last four holes, that promises to ask serious questions coming down the stretch.
Yesterday, as ever, McIlroy exuded confidence. It’s his way, and his results – 13 top-10 finishes on tour this season, six of them in his last seven events since a third place finish in the US PGA – back up the reason for such a mindset as he seeks to become the second-youngest winner of the money title after Seve Ballesteros, who achieved it as a 19-year-old in 1979.
In fact, McIlroy would love nothing better than to follow in the footsteps of the Spanish legend. In a recent BBC radio blog, McIlroy – “I think I was trying to stir it up a bit” – reacted to another blogger who said Nick Faldo was his favourite golfer.
McIlroy wondered how he could put Faldo ahead of Ballesteros. In developing that opinion yesterday, McIlroy remarked, “It’s nothing against Nick but I think Seve had a lot more fans than Nick did. Seve, he was the catalyst for European golf. He was the man!”
Increasingly these days, McIlroy is very much the new kid on the block; and, just like Ballesteros, he appeals to a global market.
Even McDowell, who next week teams up with McIlroy for Ireland in the World Cup in China, has benefited from his fellow-Ulsterman’s ring of confidence.
“As close as I am to Rory, it’s great to have him leading from the front. Nothing he does amazes me anymore, he’s so unbelievably talented.
“Being around him and feeding off his positivity and confidence has been good for me,” claimed McDowell.
McDowell, like Harrington, is aiming to finish the season with the win that has proved so evasive all year. “My game feels quite good at the minute, so I think I’ve got every chance . . . the golf course is long but, at the same time, I don’t think it’s necessarily for the bombers.
“It’s iron play and in and around the greens that’s going to make the difference,” opined McDowell, who also has an eye on improving his world ranking. He currently lies in 50th position.
In the case of McIlroy, his mind is focused on finishing off the job of becoming Europe’s number one. He also sees a course that fits his eye.
“I think it sets up great for me. It’s long. It’s wide off the fairway, so I can take the driver out and give it a rip . . . I think the course sets up well for me, and I’ll hopefully give it a good run.”
Television details
Today:Sky Sports 1 (8am)
Friday:Sky Sports 1 (8am)
Saturday:(Sky Sports 2 (8am)
Sunday: (Sky Sports 3 (8am)
