By Matt Smith
While Xander Schauffele was wrapping up his third title on the trot at the Scottish Open in North Berwick, there was another tussle going on which was a little under the radar.

The final four spots for the 150^th Open Championship were still to be decided — on both sides of the Atlantic.

The three top players not otherwise qualified or exempt at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick booked their ticket for the Old Course this week, and they were Scottish Open runner-up Kurt Kitayama, his fellow American Brandon Wu (-3) and Welshman Jamie Donaldson (-3).

Over in the US, the final Open place went toTrey Mullinax at the DP World Tour/PGA Tour-sanctioned Barbasol Championship. The American won the event on 25-under in Kentucky.

The 150^th Open Championship begins on Thursday.

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The post Kitayama, Donaldson, Wu and Mullinax tie up final Open Championship spots — on both sides of the Atlantic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Huggan
VIRGINIA WATER, England — It was wild. It was wonderful. And it was ultimately ironic. As the endless intricacies of the European Ryder Cup qualification played out in the background, the BMW PGA Championship was claimed by an American, Billy Horschel. He won it well, too. The wedge Horschel hit to Wentworth’s par-5 18th green finished so close he didn’t need to take a proper stance before tapping-in. It was the Floridian’s 24th birdie of the week, closing out a seven-under 65 and took him to 19-under 269, just good enough to beat a trio of runners-up, Laurie Canter, Jamie Donaldson and Kiradech Aphibarnrat.

Horschel is the first American to win the European Tour’s most prestigious title since Arnold Palmer in 1975. His winning smile was matched only by those on the faces of Bernd Wiesberger and Lee Westwood. The Austrian and the Englishman clinched the last two automatic qualifying spots on the Old World side that will defend the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in two weeks.

But that is for the future. This was a day belonging to Horschel, whose distant devotion to London soccer team West Ham United guaranteed him plenty of encouragement from the sizeable galleries roaming the Burma Road course.

“The crowds are absolutely unbelievable here, and they supported me when I came over in 2019 and they supported me this year,” he said. “This is a huge event. In my mind, it’s equivalent to the Players Championship. I would love to win that one. But I have this one under my belt. I’m very happy.”

Still, that Horschel should play so well over the iconic West course at Wentworth—and move up to second place on the European Tour’s season-long Race to Dubai standings—is no real surprise. Two years ago, Horschel made the trip across the Atlantic to the European Tour’s flagship event and was rewarded with a T-4 finish. Two rounds of 65 were the highlights of a 15-under-par 273 that left him alongside compatriot Patrick Reed, five shots behind the winner, former Masters champion Danny Willett.

The approach shot that sealed Horschel’s win ?#BMWPGA | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/1TwjbBIiRz

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 12, 2021

There was one discordant note. On the back of a mediocre run of form after winning the WGC-Dell Match Play title earlier in March, Horschel wasn’t expecting a call from U.S. Ryder Cup skipper Steve Stricker to tell him he had made the team. But he didn’t get a call to tell him he wasn’t in either. Which was disappointing.

“It sucks not making the team,” Horschel said. “I didn’t play consistent enough and well enough after I won the Match Play to warrant a pick or to get enough points to be an automatic selection. But I was a little gutted I didn’t get a call this week. I didn’t think the call was going to say I made the team, but I was a little gutted that I didn’t get a call to say, ‘You didn’t make the team.’ I thought I would at least get that. There was a little more added motivation this week after that.”

As for the men in second place, all three will leave much encouraged by their performances. Aphibarnrat, once a mainstay in the world’s top-50, arrived in England on the back of a horrendous run of form. In 12 PGA Tour starts this year, the 32-year-old missed the cut in nine and had a high finish of T-37. His play in Europe wasn’t much better. In five events before this week his best effort was T-39. So a week bookended by eight-under-par 64s was a glimpse of how things used to be.

Donaldson was just as upbeat. The 45-year-old Welshman, who clinched the winning point for Europe in the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, has endured some tough times since the clear highlight of his career. But recent signs have been promising—he was third in last month’s Cazoo Classic, a trend he more than continued with his best finish since the 2020 South African Open.

“Am I disappointed?” Donaldson asked. “No. I played really well for four days. There’s not many shots, really, that I would want to play again. I’ve had a great week. I really fancied my chances today. I really felt great going out. But I’ve shot six-under. I can’t do much more, so quite happy.”

As for Canter, this was confirmation that a first victory on the European Tour can only be a matter of time. Many are the 31-year-old’s admirers.

“There is no questioning his talent,” says fellow pro Richard Bland. “He is just a really good player.”

“Laurie is awfully good,” agrees Eddie Pepperell. “For years he has looked like a quality player. It has taken him a bit longer to break through because he lacked a little bit of belief. He doubted he is as good as other people think he is. He just needed to get some evidence of that, which he has now.”

Still, for all those encouraging words, there was obvious disappointment in Canter after coming up one-shot short. The chip he thinned through the putting surface at the 71st hole will clearly live with him for a while.

“It was a good day,” he said. “I’ve been working so hard on my chipping. But it let me down. I was trying to play the right shot, hopefully stiff it and win the tournament. But I executed poorly. At the moment, I am disappointed. Probably more disappointed than I imagined after coming second. I would love to have the opportunity to win a huge event.”

A common refrain. But this victory belonged to another: Billy Horschel.

The post Billy Horschel pulls off a stunning win at the BMW PGA, makes history in the process appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Huggan
The way things are going, the world of golf is going to have to get used to spelling Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Seven days on from winning last week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship, the 26-year-old South African added his national title to an already burgeoning resume with victory in the South African Open at Sun City. In what was the 110th playing of golf’s second-oldest championship, Bezuidenhout strolled home, his 18-under-par 270, a comfortable five shots clear of runner-up Jamie Donaldson. Another South African, the increasingly impressive Dylan Frittelli, was third, two shots further away from the new champion.

There were few moments of real anxiety for Bezuidenhout, but his closing 69 wasn’t quite devoid of stress. The 18-foot putt he holed for bogey on the par-4 eighth on the Gary Player County Club, after his approach had found the water fronting the putting surface, was clearly a vital thrust. Having started five shots ahead of Donaldson, Bezuidenhout had already seen his lead shrink by one before what he later acknowledged was the turning point of his day.

The same could be said of the trio of birdies with which he welcomed the back nine, a run that restored his original edge and afforded him the luxury of a wobble on the penultimate hole. A fortunate ricochet off a cart path saved his errant drive from almost certain oblivion in the African bush. But there were shots to spare as pars on the closing two holes clinched the victory for the now three-time winner on the European Tour.

“It’s unbelievable to stand here with an Open win,” said Bezuidenhout, who earned €160,889 and moved to fifth on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai points list, the year-long competition wrapping up at next week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. “It’s any South African golfer’s dream to win a national tournament. It’s unreal. I fought hard today. The front nine, things didn’t really go my way and I just dug deep to come out with a win today. The birdies at 10, 11 and 12 were massive. I have to say, the second putt on 11 was huge and obviously the putt on 12 was a bonus, I just tried to get it close inside a couple of feet and made it. I knew I had to make pars coming in, and I did it. I’m really, really chuffed to stand here as a winner.”

Warren Little
After a comeback win a week ago, Christian Bezuidenhout claimed his second straight European Tour title in a runaway on Sunday at the South African Open.

There was pleasure, too, for Donaldson. Plagued by injury over the last couple of years, this was the 45-year-old’s highest finish on the European Tour since he won the 2014 Czech Masters. But this return to something approaching former glories wasn’t a complete surprise. A tie for third at the recent Cyprus Open hinted at better things to come for the Welshman, whose 4-and-3 victory over former PGA champion Keegan Bradley at the 2014 Ryder Cup clinched victory for the European side.

The post Back-to-back wins are changing the career path of this Euro Tour pro with the unusual last name appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

I came in with high hopes, and I wasn’t disappointed. One of the first things Blixt told me was that the girls at his primary school used to call him “the tomato” because he blushed so easily. They’d run up to him and hug him just for the pleasure of watching him turn tomato-red, and he’d never gotten over his fear of women.

“I’m still scared of them,” he said, and went on to tell the story of the only two times he’d gathered his courage to approach a woman at a bar. The first time, he’d barely started speaking when his hope was crushed by an expression of pure ridicule, making it crystal clear that his overtures weren’t welcome. The second potential conquest was even less subtle—she reached out and pushed him away by the forehead.

It was one of my favorite interviews of the year, and one of the few times I’d seen a golfer display even a trace amount of self-deprecation. Later, reading through his transcripts, I saw that he was giving out gold even in his press conferences. There were stories of how he ended up accidentally living in a retirement community in Jacksonville because of bad advice from a swing coach, how he asked a mechanic neighbour to look after his car for a few weeks while he was on tour, and came back to find 2,700 extra miles on the odometer, and how his immediate emotion after winning his first PGA Tour event was terror at the prospect of having to make a speech.

Blixt was funny in an easy, self-aware way that made me like him instantly. I was forced to cut him out of the book I was writing (at gunpoint) since he didn’t win anything that year, but my time with him stood out in stark contrast to the dozens of other golfers I got to know in 2014. Many of them were interesting, some were not, but almost none were truly funny.

There’s nothing worse than explaining a joke, and analysing humour is almost as bad, so rather than try to rank the players or score them on their comedic abilities, I’ve decided to simply present a list of the golfers who seem to have demonstrated actual senses of humour in a sport that can be too dry. If you hear any of these guys being asked a question, stick around to listen for the answer. It will probably make you laugh, sometimes really hard.

Henrik Stenson
When I asked Patrick Reed if he had any friends on tour, he flailed around for a second before coming up with Henrik Stenson. Here’s what Stenson had to say about that, tongue firmly in cheek:

“I wouldn’t say that we go way back. I played one practice round with him at Wells Fargo a couple years ago. And … well, it’s nice if he thinks that everyone he knows a little bit is one of his friends. That’s obviously a way to look at it.”

Scott Halleran/Getty Images

Someone who can sting with that kind of vicious understatement (it’s practically British in its lethal restraint!), but who will also play golf in his underwear has clearly mastered every part of the comedy spectrum. Someday, I will write a 9,000-word essay on every funny thing Stenson has said or done, but for now I’ll have to settle for assuring you that his press conferences are unmissable.

• • •

Jamie Donaldson and Thomas Bjorn
After the 2014 Ryder Cup win in Gleneagles, Donaldson came into the team press conference riding Bjorn piggy-back style and slapping his butt while Bjorn neighed like a horse. That’s all you need to know for this one, right?

Harry Engels/Getty Images

• • •

Eddie Pepperell
I only had to go like 10 tweets down in his timeline to find the tweet below. Pepperell is probably the most philosophical golfer around, but he can also drop the comedy when necessary:

I’m not saying I deserve to win this, but I deserve to win this. The struggle I’ve gone through to reach this point is incomprehensible to many, myself included. I’ve been fat shamed, trolled, even sexually abused by my dog. I’ll also donate nothing if I win. Vote for Eddie. https://t.co/Jp2vXn0kZd

— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) March 5, 2018

• • •

Billy Hurley III
I think his caddie wrote most of this, but I’m still giving Hurley props for going with it. It shows, at the very least, a familiarity with humour:

• • •

Chesson Hadley
Confession: I had no idea Hadley was funny until GD’s own Joel Beall cued me in. Skeptical, I watched this video, and I am SHOCKED at how good he is. That’s some bona fide talent. Also, he earns eternal comedy legend status for this:

Disappointed in how much we are playing for this week @THEPLAYERSChamp. Had to make some cash on the side. @PGATOUR pic.twitter.com/ebmPKchtQg

— Chesson Hadley (@chessonhadley) May 6, 2015

• • •

Phil Mickelson
The wonderful, hilarious thing about Phil is that he can simultaneously present himself as an unrepentant know-it-all, a flamboyant risk-taker and a grinning avatar of his own relentless self-belief, yet also wink at you—without breaking character, even a little!—to let you know that yes, this is all pretty funny. It’s one hell of an act.

5⃣0⃣ TOUR wins for Phil?

“Oh I will, yeah I’ll get there.” ? pic.twitter.com/3uVLn00s21

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 5, 2018

• • •

Bubba Watson
I hate doing this, believe me, but you need one “dumb funny” guy. Bubba sometimes captures that “defensive southern boy cracking an accidental joke that makes you laugh in spite of yourself” vibe, like Will Ferrell doing a George W. Bush impression. Here he is in that same Ryder Cup, after getting beat two days in a row by Stenson:

Q. I know you’re here to talk mainly about your own performance, but can you throw any light at all on Henrik Stenson’s injury?

BUBBA WATSON: On his what?

Q. He has a back injury apparently.

BUBBA WATSON: I didn’t see it. He beat me pretty good two days in a row (laughter). I don’t know anything about it, so I wouldn’t know. Obviously he beat me. Maybe I’ve got an injury.

That’s an annoyingly decent line. Let’s move on.

• • •

Max Homa
This deserved more than 113 likes:

Really hoping everyone knows that it’s never good to stare at the sun. Didn’t realize it needed to team up with the moon to make this point

— max homa (@maxhoma23) August 21, 2017

• • •

Sergio Garcia
This is one of my favorite examples of golfer self-deprecation ever, and I’m still convinced it’s why the karma gods let him win at Augusta:

McIlroy and Garcia on American fans after the last Ryder Cup. https://t.co/YCOfcD9am0 via @YouTube

— Golf Digest ME (@GolfDigestME) March 11, 2018

• • •

Pat Perez
Perez is like John Daly, but without the uncomfortable sense of witnessing human decay. This interview takes an excellent turn at 1:55.

• • •

All four of these guys
I had to include an Irishman in Paddy Harrington, but I’m particularly impressed with Kaymer’s perfect delivery. Germany is the new Sweden:

The post The humour roll: Who are the funniest golfers on tour? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
He began three behind, quickly surged two clear and eventually finished a stroke adrift.  At the end of it all – and there was a lot to take in elsewhere – Rory McIlroy was right back to where he started as the player to beat in this utterly absorbing Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

After a sizzling 64 to get to -20, Haotong Li will start Sunday entirely capable of closing out the €3 million European Tour event. You only have to rewind to last summer’s Open Championship and the 63 that propelled him to solo third at Royal Birkdale for proof of the Chinese star’s closing qualities, or the 64 that landed the Volvo China Open in 2016.

But Li’s one stroke cushion over McIlroy is far from a comfy one even if the Northern Irishman couldn’t quite keep up his early heroics on a breathless moving day that had spilled over from Friday’s fog delay.

Five birdies in his seven second round makeup holes early Saturday saw McIlroy sign for a 64 and overtake Jamie Donaldson atop the leaderboard. There weren’t the same fireworks in a third round 68 although a homeward nine negotiated in 32 strokes, sparked by an eagle at 10 and closed out with two birdies in his final three holes, ensures the world No.11 takes ample momentum into the final round.

“Hopefully that’s the bad one out of the way,” McIlroy said afterwards.

“I didn’t get off to too bad a start, just a couple of loose ones. Missed a short one on 4 and made bogey on 8. That wasn’t too good. But to come back with a five-under back nine was good. It was good to knock that birdie in at the last and stay within one of Li.

“I’ll probably need to play a bit better tomorrow to win, but you know, it’s two weeks into the season and I’ve given myself a second chance to win a tournament. Looking forward to tomorrow.”

Rory scrambles from a bunker.

The post A Love Li jubbly Sunday shootout with Rory poised appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Not long after Pat Perez had waltzed around the Majlis’ back nine in a scarcely believable 29 strokes to haul himself back into the €3 million European Tour event, Frenchman Alexander Levy went and did this:

Hole-in-One! ?@alexlevygolf at the fourth hole ? pic.twitter.com/KZb7IcQhA3

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 27, 2018

It was the second ace in as many days on the Majlis after Englishman Matthew Southgate binned his tee shot on the par-3 7th.

Related: Southgate’s perfect timing

Did we also mention Rory McIlroy’s five birdies in seven holes to set the halfway lead at -15?

Perez started the third round at -6 but got it to -14 with eagles on the 13th and 18th in a outward nine also sprinkled with four further birdies. It was breathless stuff that had the Desert Classic on 59 watch for the second time in three days after Jamie Donaldson’s opening gambit which eventually ended with a 62.

8 under par through 9 holes! Wow.

Pat Perez is on fire out there ??? pic.twitter.com/kuQcGEOLyS

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 27, 2018

A bogey at the first, Perez’s 10th, and a par at the short par-4 second slowed the PGA Tour drawcard’s momentum but Ernie Els’ 1994 Majlis course record 61, -11 under,  is still under threat.

Indeed, strap yourselves in sports fans. Moving day is off to a cracking start, especially with Rory only easing into his third round. The way things have started Saturday, anything could happen.

The post Watch Alex Levy ace the 171 yard par-3 4th at Emirates Golf Club appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Five birdies in his seven second round makeup holes early Saturday – before many folk had even contemplated their first leisurely morning cuppa – saw the Northern Irishman steam into the lead at the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic.

The 29-year-old wrapped up a sizzling eight-under 64 with three successive birdies from the 16th to back up his opening 65 in a display of low scoring that almost defies belief.

He’ll take a two stroke cushion over former Ryder Cup pal Jamie Donaldson into moving day proper and the way his comeback is going from a prolonged winter break to reboot his game, you’ve got to think a third Dallah trophy is his to lose, maybe even the tournament scoring record jointly held by Thomas Bjorn (2001), Stephen Gallacher (2013) and McIlroy himself (2015).

McIlroy is already further in the red through 36 holes than eight previous champions achieved with 72 holes. Today’s pros really are playing a different game from their predecessors, much less us mere weekend warriors.

“I didn’t really have a score in mind or anything. I just wanted to go out there and play a good seven holes and hopefully get myself into contention for the last couple of rounds. Sort of did that and maybe a little bit more and it’s nice to go into the weekend in the lead,” said McIlroy (-15) who will tee it up in the third round at 12.50pm with Donaldson (-13) and China’s Haotong Li (-12) as the European Tour send the cut survivors out in threeballs from two tees to make up for Friday’s lost time.

6⃣5⃣-6⃣4⃣ for @McIlroyRory ??

He leads by two as things stand. pic.twitter.com/vfyaPbfSof

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 27, 2018

“I knew with the condition this morning, there was chances out there, obviously with the two par 5s and 17. But obviously to take care of those and birdie a couple others, yeah, to finish 5-under for my last seven was a nice way to finish this morning.”

Low Second Round Scores:

64 – @henrikstenson, @McIlroyRory
65 – @BrandenGrace
66 – @BeefGolf, @haotong_li, @WangJeunghun, @tomdetry, @mattsjwallace, @TrevorImmelman, @David_Lipsky, @hendygolf #ODDC18 pic.twitter.com/zSzodynw6Q

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 27, 2018

The early morning conditions, thankfully with no hint of the forecast fog that had delayed the start of play Friday by 2h 50m and forced the second round to spill over into Saturday, were certainly condusive to scoring.

“Especially with the greens being in the morning, they are just a bit better. So if anything, it was nice to stop yesterday and get back again this morning. The greens were pure and just gave myself chances. Was able to convert a few,” McIlroy continued.

To emphasise the ridiculously low scoring, the cut was made at a record -5, two shots lower than in 2001, 2007 and 2013. It clearly wasn’t lost on recent BMW SA Open winner Chris Paisley who is safe at -10 but impressed nonetheless.

-5 cut here in Dubai ?#TheseGuysAreGood pic.twitter.com/rhelWrk6em

— Chris Paisley (@ChrisPaisley86) January 27, 2018

A total of 70 players survived to fight the weekend with MENA Tour amateur Todd Clements, Ryder Cupper Thomas Pieters and two-time champion Gallacher among those to squeeze in on the bubble. Many names weren’t so fortunate: Matthew Fitzpatrick, Ryder Cup hopeful Paul Dunne, Lee Westwood and former major champions Louis Oosthuizen, Graeme McDowell, Ernie Els and Paul Lawrie all missed by a shot.

Bjorn and Colin Montgomerie (both -3) are also gone along with Clement’s MENA Tour buddies Jamie Elson and Luke Joy (-2) and Dubai amateur Rayhan Thomas who struggled to a 77 on Saturday morning after his opening 73 but will take much from the experience, including a practice hit with McIlroy on Tuesday.

Thomas was a combined +6 to finish second to last in 131st place, one spot above 2011 Open champion and MENA Tour patron Darren Clarke (75-77 for +8) who’s struggles obviously continue.

Lowest cuts in the history of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic:

5 under par – 2018
3 under par – 2013, 2007, 2001#ODDC18 pic.twitter.com/O1RcoeYqd5

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 27, 2018

The post McIlroy roars into the halfway lead as sizzling Majlis scoring continues appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Jamie Donaldson went to bed with the lead in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic but Rory McIlroy will wake early poised to relieve the Welshman of pole position.

A near three-hour delay for fog Friday means moving day at the $3 million European Tour event has become make up day. McIlroy, -10 when play was suspended due to darkness, will be into work early Saturday for the 7.30am resumption to round two (along with half the field – 66 players) and has seven holes, including two par 5s, with which to haul in Donaldson’s -13 mark.

“Yeah, two par 5s and obviously 17 is drivable so I’ve got some chances coming in but I just have to stay patient,” said the 28-year-old Northern Irishman.

“There’s some tough holes, as well, coming in. The first hole of the day tomorrow will be 12, which will be playing quite long. Hopefully I’ll take advantage of the par 5s and get myself in one of the last couple of groups tomorrow afternoon.”

The way he’s played the first 29 holes, it will be no surprise. McIlroy is three under for his second round after opening with a bogey-free 65.

“I’m in a good position. It was hard waiting all day to go out there. Got off to a really good start, three-under through five, and then made my first bogey of the week on the 8th, which was a bad tee shot. I nearly got away with a par but dropped a shot.

McIlroy escapes the sand on 8 en-route to his only bogey thus far. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

“But it was nice to get a shot back there on 10 at the end of the day. Hopefully I can come out in the morning and make a few more birdies and get closer to the lead.”

Would you rather be in this scenario or have your second round signed off?

“I don’t mind. It will probably be a good test for me to play 26 holes tomorrow. See how the body sort of responds to it.”

The third round will begin no earlier than 10.45am after the cut, projected at -4, is made. But with more fog forecast, the race could be on to find a winner come Sunday evening.

Donaldson will resume happy regardless of what McIlroy or any of the other front-runners still to finish do; Swede Alexander Bjork is at -11 with six to play while David Horsey (11 holes to play), Chris Paisley and Lasse Jensen (both five holes left) are all at -9.

Donaldson hits his tee shot on the 8th hole during round two. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

The Gleneagles Ryder Cup hero couldn’t keep up his scintillating first round form on Friday but a three-under 69 to back up the 62 has him well placed to kick on to a fourth European Tour title and his first since capturing the D+D Real Czech Masters in 2014.

“I don’t know where it [-13] will be at the end of the day, but I’m just concentrating on me and concentrating on putting that ball in those small fairways and taking my chances from there,” said the 42-year-old.

“It’s a tricky golf course that you’ve got to manage your way around well. I did that well today again, as I did yesterday.”

Donaldson slept on a one stroke lead over Haotong Li after the Chinese star repeated his opening 66 on Friday while Branden Grace is in the clubhouse a shot further back at -11 after a best of the day 65. It was a happy 32nd birthday for Australian Andrew Dodt who signed for a 69 to but the gifts belonged to another player on -8, Matthew Southgate, who was presented with a timepiece from the title sponsor after acing the par 3 7th en-route to a 68.

English amateur Todd Clements (69-70) looks set to play the weekend at -5 and while fellow MENA Tour players Luke Joy (71-71) and Jamie Elson (68-74) will have the weekend off after finishing at -2, there was no disgrace in their performances. Dubai-based Indian teen Rayhan Thomas resumes his second round at -1 and has 11 holes to produce something magical to make his second successive Desert Classic cut.

The post Rory the (fog permitting) morning story appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Jamie Donaldson flirted with 59, frittered away his chance at the course record, finished with a 62 and at the end of it all felt, well, just fine.

The magical 10-under loop has the Welshman atop an Omega Dubai Desert Classic leaderboard plastered in deep red numbers after a breathless day of scoring reminded amateurs everywhere that the pros really do play a different game.

Donaldson would normally enjoy a bit of breathing space on the first page but this was no ordinary day as benign conditions made golf seem like darts as players fired arrows at accessible pins and cashed in on the Majlis’ impossibly pure greens. Englishmen David Horsey and Anthony Wall trail by a mere shot, Tyrrell Hatton is just two back, while Rory McIlroy headlines a swag of five lurking ominously after 65s.

Donaldson hasn’t featured so prominently since securing the winning Ryder Cup point for Europe at Gleneagles in 2014 and gave little hint of what was to come Thursday after missing the cut in Abu Dhabi last week.

But as Wall later tweeted: “Not lost it JD. Like riding a bike.” Perhaps driving a Ferrari was a better analogy after the 41-year-old’s fast start from the 10th tee, two birdies and an eagle at 13 getting him to four under in a whirr. Further gains followed at 17 and 18 in an outward 31 and when Donaldson, down to a lowly 292 in the world rankings, birdied the 3rd and added four more in successive holes from the 4th, the 59 siren was blaring.

He needed to birdie the testing 8th and notoriously tricky 9th to create European Tour history, only to ditch his drive on the beach at the penultimate hole and then watch his birdie chip burn the cup. The 59 was as gone but Donaldson still had Ernie Els’s 1994 course record 61 in his crosshairs, at least until he found a fairway bunker and thereafter a tough lie in the rough guarding the right hand side of the water-guarded green. His chip slid by and so too did his par attempt and a share of history.

But Donaldson minded not.

“Yeah, I mean, you can never be disappointed with 10-under, can you?”

“I knew what was on the cards out there, and you know, I think I had five holes to go, started thinking about 59. I thought, well, okay, just birdie every hole coming in and you’ve done it.

“I started thinking about it coming down the fifth. Birdied 5, 6, 7. Great chip on 8 after a poor tee shot, and then obviously you knew your chance had gone then.

“I didn’t know the course record. I was only thinking of 59, really. Probably shouldn’t really be thinking that. Should be concentrating on, you know, hitting fairways and hitting greens, giving myself chances. I fancied it. Wasn’t to be. I knew I had to chip that one in on 8. It was close. Didn’t go in and that was it then.

“But yeah, I’m very happy with how I’ve played. 59 is only a bonus, isn’t it. It’s icing on the cake. Everybody wants to shoot 59, but it’s something that is only if you’re playing really good golf, and that’s gone now, so it’s just a case of more of the same moving on.”

The way the venerable Majlis was brought to her knees on Thursday, it looks like more of the same will be needed to merely contend in the $3 million Desert Swing event. Of the 132 starters, 104 broke par, 13 matched it and only 15 were in the black, 2016 champion Danny Willett miserably the worst of them with a 77. The players in red numbers signed for a collective 358 under par and with the 15 strugglers included, it was still -327. Combined the field averaged 69.52 on the 7300 yard layout, not that you needed an abacus to know the scoring was ridiculously and captivatingly low.

Thankfully recent work with putting guru Phil Kenyon has Donaldson confident of remaining in the mix, a new big stick too.

“Drove it as well as I’ve driven it in a long time. New driver in the bag today, TaylorMade driver, new one, so that was really good. Very happy with all my gear and everything. Just got to keep playing like that and keep concentrating on shooting low scores for the rest of the week.”

The post Donaldson dominates a red number day in Dubai appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It was simply that sort of day at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic as a seven under circuit of Emirates Golf Club left Rory McIlroy three shots adrift of former Ryder Cup pal Jamie Donaldson and superstar sidebar as a mere 28 of the field’s 132 starters failed to get into the red.

Still, it was some supporting act, a third bogey-free loop in the five rounds since his comeback from a prolonged winter break to reset body and mind after an injury-riddled and winless (the first of his career) year.

The Northern Irishman twice binned birdies with putts from off the green and center-cupped five more attempts with pure, dead-weight strokes. He drove like a dream and chipped it tight too to pick up where he left off in Abu Dhabi with a T-3 effort.

If there was a birdie that stood out above all it came on the Majlis’ 1st hole when McIlroy hooked his tee shot into trees guarding the inside of the right to left dogleg par 4.

The escape from the lush rough had TV commentator Ken Brown, one of the most historically astute – and reserved – analysts, purring. “Brilliant, brilliant…absolute Seve style… fantastic shot.“

The former world No.1 reaffirmed, with actions as much as his words, that he’s definitely ahead of schedule in his comeback.

“It’s a big difference,” said McIlroy when asked where he was on the “happiness scale” compared to October when he shut down his season.

“I was a little bit, not down in the dumps because I was excited about the process of trying to get better and trying to get my body better…but not being able to play to my best last year was something I was very frustrated with.

“I didn’t expect to play as well as I did last week and it’s been nice to continue that into this week. Yeah, I’m ahead of schedule right now, but I don’t mind that. That’s nice. Just have to reassess everything and go from there.”

After shooting 69-66 to start his week in Abu Dhabi, McIlroy was pleased to get off to an even faster start on the Majlis.

“Yeah, definitely, picking up [from where he left off in Abu Dhabi], especially on a benign day where you sort of needed to go quite low, it was nice to get off to a good start and put yourself right in contention straight away,” he said.

“That’s honestly one of my goals this year. I feel like started off last year a little bit sort of, 71,70, instead of getting right into the thick of things from the start. So it’s been nice to start the last couple of weeks like that.”

Indeed it has. Five rounds don’t make a season, but the way he’s trending, Rory could well be the story all year.

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