Quiros’ Dubai victory

A magnificent eagle three on the last hole clinched a two-shot victory for Spain’s Alvaro Quiros in the Dubai World Championship on Sunday.

And it could all have been all so different after a season-starting round of calamities at the Royal Golf Club in Bahrain.

The luck of the green was certainly on his side when he played alongside GulfWeekly Editor Stan Szecowka, businessman David Axtell and Bahrain City Centre’s Lori Cunningham in the Pro-Am on the day before January’s Volvo Golf Champions event.

After a torrential downpour Quiros slipped on a path and held out his hand to break his fall. He landed with an audible crack to the floor. Ashen-faced he examined his wrist, worried about the extent of the damage.

Fortunately, after a few holes the pain disappeared and he was able to play on in comfort … only to almost come a cropper shortly afterwards.

As Cunningham teed off, her club slipped from her grasp in the soaking conditions, flew skywards and fortunately missed the star’s head on its journey back down to earth.

Undeterred Quiros smiled knowingly … nothing was going to stop him from reaching the higher echelons of the golfing world.

 And while Quiros was making it a Dubai double – the Spaniard won the Dubai Desert Classic 10 months earlier – world number one Luke Donald carved his own remarkable slice of golfing history by becoming the first man to win the Money Lists on both the US and European tours in the same year after finishing third overall to win The Race to Dubai.

Quiros’s four round total of nineteen under par (269) saw off a gutsy challenge by Scotland’s Paul Lawrie who finished two shots back in second after matching Quiros’s five under par 67. Donald finished in third one shot further back on sixteen under (272) with Swede Peter Hanson in fourth on fourteen under (274).

“I got off to a great start with three birdies in the first three holes but Paul was holing everything too, so even that wasn’t enough,” said Quiros after receiving the trophy from Mohammed Sharaf, CEO of presenting sponsor DP World.

“I had to keep fighting to the end and when I sunk that big putt for eagle on the last it was just perfect.”

With Donald already in the clubhouse and assured of The Race to Dubai crown after another blemish-free round of 66 (-6), the spotlight was on Lawrie and Quiros as they came up the par five eighteenth at the Earth course, Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Quiros enjoyed a one shot lead over 1999 Open champion Lawrie and found the green in two mighty shots to put the pressure all on the Scot. And when the big- hitting Spanish star rolled in a monster putt of around 40ft, he was guaranteed the sixth European Tour crown of his career and a cheque for $1.25 million.

For Donald, it was a dream finish to what has been a stunning year for the 34 year-old Englishman – who now adds the European number one title to his current world number one billing.

“This is something I’ve wanted for the last few months – to try and win both Money Lists,” said Donald, who was afforded a standing ovation from the packed galleries after rolling in a birdie putt on the 18th.
 
Donald’s only rival for The Race to Dubai title, world number two Rory McIlroy finished with a one under par 71 to finish on 279, seven shots behind Donald in a tie for eleventh place.

Watched by crowds of over 50,000 spectators, the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World – staged under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council – was an overwhelming success and event officials have announced that The Race to Dubai will continue for another three years culminating in the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai again hosted by Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Unfortunately the Volvo Golf Champions event, originally scheduled to kick-off next season’s European Tour, has been moved from Bahrain to South Africa to a later date by the organisers following unrest in the kingdom.