Andy Sullivan backed by his smiley faced family and friends were magnificent and they pushed Rory McIlroy all the way to the 72nd hole where he narrowly missed a birdie putt to tie or force a playoff, leaving Rory with 2 putts, which he used to win the DP World Tour Championship and the Race to Dubai.
There were many turning points in what turned out to be match play between the two, but I thought the 17th was it for me. Standing on the par 3 tee with a 2 shot lead, Rory made one of a very few bad swings of the day, 40 yards off line into the water, and after taking his penalty and drop, he had a twenty five footer for bogey which he promptly holed, taking a one shot lead up the last.
For the record he really got going when he made four birdies in five holes from the 11th and ended up with a 66 that left him at -21 and one shot clear of Sullivan who on any other day would have been the champion. To give you an example of what he was up against, on the 16th he drove the ball 320 yards, and found himself 45 yards behind Rory who was back to driving at his best. He did have one honour on the day as he was the last player announced by long-time European Tour starter Ivor Robson, who is retiring after 40 years in the role this week.
Danny Willett bogeyed two of his last three holes to drop to -13 T4, while Branden Grace closed with a 67 securing third at -15.
Rookies Byeong-hun An 71,and Matthew Fitzpatrick 70, were both at -13 under with Emiliano Grillo 71, Francesco Molinari 68, and Charl Schwartzel 69.
Rory moves to 4,727,253 points in The Race to Dubai and is officially European Tour Number One for a third time after 2012, 2014 and now 2015, and he remains #3 in the world behind Jason Day and Jordan Spieth who is down in Australia to defend his Aussie Open championship.
By the way my old colleague and sometimes boss from TSN and Sportsnet, Keith Pelley was almost giddy in the midst of it all today, saying all the right things as the newly appointed CEO of the European Tour. His main man Rory won it all, and will fly home to Florida proudly waving the European Tour flag if there is such a thing.
Now our attention in the men's game shifts next week to the Australian Open with Jordan Spieth defending while the European Tour's 2016 season begins in South Africa with the Alfred Dunhill.
By the way my old colleague and sometimes boss from TSN and Sportsnet, Keith Pelley was almost giddy in the midst of it all today, saying all the right things as the newly appointed CEO of the European Tour. His main man Rory won it all, and will fly home to Florida proudly waving the European Tour flag if there is such a thing.
Now our attention in the men's game shifts next week to the Australian Open with Jordan Spieth defending while the European Tour's 2016 season begins in South Africa with the Alfred Dunhill.
Bryan Angus
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