England’s Tommy Fleetwood pounced to win the inaugural Dubai Invitational on Sunday at Dubai Creek Resort after a misfiring Rory McIlroy contrived to waste three clear opportunities to lift the trophy.
Fleetwood had carded a bogey-free 63 in the third round to head into Sunday one shot ahead of McIlroy, and three birdies in the first 10 holes of Fleetwood’s final lap extended the advantage to three.
McIlroy, who had been 11-under and four strokes clear of the field through the week’s first 25 holes before making an ugly quadruple bogey-7 at the eighth hole Friday, changed the entire complexion of the tournament again with a hat trick of birdies from the 11th to tie Fleetwood in the final pairing.
“Old Ken Weyand gets an invite and then does this. I don’t care if he’s Ken from Barbie, it shouldn’t happen.”
EDDIE PEPPERELL
When McIlroy’s imperious tee shot at the par-3 14th settled 2 feet from the pin, Fleetwood was the one who looked becalmed. Whereupon McIlroy inexplicably three-putted, not only to fail to take the lead but fall one shot in arrears.
McIlroy responded with birdies at 15 and 17 to hit the 18th tee alone at the top of the leaderboard, but he then promptly hooked his tee shot into the creek.
Fleetwood didn’t waste this last chance. He found the fairway McIlroy had so horribly missed, hit his approach to 16 feet and drained the putt for a winning birdie and the €387,213 top prize (about $423,980). His total of 19-under 265 was one clear of McIlroy and South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence, who closed with a 64. England’s Jordan Smith took fourth at 16-under while Italy’s Francesco Molinari fifth at 15-under. American Sean Crocker tied for sixth, five strokes off the winning score.
“Very happy with the way I played today,” Fleetwood, who will turn 33 on Friday, said after his seventh DP World Tour victory – and third in the United Arab Emirates. “I felt in control of my game, and it was a case of staying patient. Like all of us, I don’t win nearly as much as I would like to, so it’s nice to get another here in Dubai where I live.”
McIlroy performed on-trend with his Dubai visits in that it was a 22nd finish of 11th or better from just 24 starts since the start of 2009. Admirable consistency, but a more ruthless golfer would have won more than five of those tournaments.
He was, typically, sanguine in defeat. “There were a couple of little mental errors in there which I hope I will clean up,” said McIlroy, a Northern Irishman who was last year’s Race to Dubai champion on the DP World Tour and will be the defending champion at this week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic. “It was back and forth, a great day with Tommy. I’m really happy for him. He’s played some incredible golf the last year without getting the win.”
McIlroy was not alone in making a quadruple bogey during the week. So, too, did Ken Weyand, the invited director of golf at Michael Jordan’s The Grove XXIII in Florida.
Whereas McIlroy played his other 71 holes in 14-under, Weyand completed the tournament in 53-over 337, and his presence in the field was queried by onlookers, caddies and players.
Eddie Pepperell’s bagman Jamie Herbert, wrote on X: “So, I know how important sponsors are, and it’s their prerogative who they invite, but a limited 60-man field, $2.5 million, no cut. This is a waste of an entry and I feel for the playing partners.”
Pepperell himself added: “Old Ken Weyand gets an invite and then does this. I don’t care if he’s Ken from Barbie, it shouldn’t happen.”
Matt Cooper