Danny Triumphs In Dubai As Rickie Loses To Hideki In Phoenix

DANNY WILLETT holed a 15ft, snaking downhill putt on the final green to win the Dubai Desert Classic by a single shot and confirm his status as one of the best golfers in Europe.

The Englishman did not have his best game with him and seemed certain to surrender his 54-hole lead but he showed what he is made of by holing a series of crucial putts to land one of the European Tour's most prestigious titles.

Omega Dubai Desert Classic

He came to the 18th hole knowing that Andy Sullivan, his fellow Englishman, had already holed a crucial birdie putt to take him to 18 under par, level with Willett. His playing partner, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, of Spain, found the final fairway, while Willett's ball finished in a poor lie in the rough, having missed the fairway by inches. Willett had no option but to lay up on the par-five closing hole.

Cabrera-Bello, one behind Willett and Sullivan, hit a glorious shot to the green and was unlucky to watch the ball roll 30 feet beyond the flag - but it left him with a putt for an eagle three and a chance to snatch the title. Willett hit a decent approach to the green but was disappointed that his ball didn't roll closer to the hole. He looked on as Cabrera-Bello's putt for a three rolled inches beyond the cup. It meant he was level with Sullivan on 18 under.

If Willett missed, all three would be heading back out to the 18th for a playoff. But, under intense pressure, the Englishman won his third title in just over a year when he holed the putt for a 69 that gave him his biggest win to date. With it, he surely secured his place in the European Ryder Cup team to face the USA at Hazeltine in September.

Having started the day with a one-shot lead, Willett brilliantly withstood the challenge of 28-year-old Sullivan and Cabrera-Bello, who won here at the Emirates Golf Club in 2012 and tied for second at the Qatar Masters last week.

Willett dropped three shots to give his rivals hope, but birdies on the 12th and 13th helped set up a thrilling finish, and he closed out in the same ruthless style that won him two titles last season en route to second place in the Race to Dubai.

Korea’s Byeong Hun An and Spain’s Alvaro Quiros had rounds of 65 to tie for fourth. Rory McIlroy, the defending champion and hot favourite to win again, ended a disappointing week with a round of 65 that gave him a share of sixth place with Henrik Stenson. McIlroy arrived in Dubai with high hopes, but he drove and putted poorly and will now head straight to the practice ground to iron out the kinks. He will know that, despite his struggles, he could still have won this tournament had he not played the front nine so erratically during the first three rounds.

Unsurprisingly, Willett was delighted to return to the winners' circle. “I’m just ecstatic," he said. "You can’t buy that feeling, coming down the back nine, the last three holes, in contention of a golf tournament. You can't pay for that experience: you've got to earn it.

"With all the permutations that were going on as we were coming down the last, with Sully making birdie ahead of us and then Rafa on the green in two, it’s very nice to know that I can dig deep and produce what I can when it is needed the most. You'd love to win by five or six every time you win, but when you win in that fashion, it does feel that little bit extra special. It means when the pressure is on I can produce the goods, I guess. It’s always great to come out early in the season and win. Everything I’ve done has been really good this week, and mentally I’ve been as good as I have been for a long, long time. I stayed patient and let things happen.”

That ability to dig deep will serve Willett well as the season unfolds. He has now set his sights on winning a major and is also looking forward to representing his country at the Olympic Games. Sullivan could be with him in Rio.

“Fair play to Danny, holing that putt – that was a tough putt," said Sullivan, who also struggled with his driver. "I didn’t feel like I put him under enough pressure through the midpoint of the round. I had a lot of chances and didn’t take them. The putts towards the end kept me in it, par saves, and when you hole that putt on the last, you feel you’ve given yourself a sneaky chance. But Dan is a quality player and you expect him to step up, and he did."

McIlroy insisted that things are heading in the right direction. “I got it going today a little bit better and played the front nine better. All in all, it was a decent weekend and a decent way to play the last 27 holes. My game feels in good shape. There are still a few things to work on – I’m struggling with my driver and I need to go away and work on that."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89i8issrx34

Waste Management Phoenix Open

If McIlroy looks in his rearview mirror he will see the shadow of Rickie Fowler looming ever larger. The 27-year-old American came within a whisker of winning his fifth title in nine months, losing the Waste Management Phoenix Open to Japan's Hideki Matsuyama on the fourth playoff hole in front of golf's largest and noisiest gallery - well over 550,000 spectators attended the event.

All of a sudden, Fowler has started hitting the ball huge distances from the tee. It worked for him at the par-five 15th when he struck his drive 335 yards, hit the green with a five iron and two-putted for a birdie. With his grandparents among the 25,000 fans circling the par-three 16th, Fowler struck a nine iron to eight feet but missed the putt.

He strode to the 17th tee leading Matsuyama and Harris English by two shots. It measures 317 yards, with water to the left and at the back of the green. Fowler reached for the driver and struck the ball so well that it ran through the green and into the water. He dropped under penalty, was unable to get up and down in two and so dropped a shot - his first bogey in 22 holes. Matsuyama hit a three wood short of the green and walked off with a birdie to tie Fowler at 13 under.

And so they went to the 18th, the most difficult driving hole on the course. Both found the middle of the fairway, with Fowler hitting another monster - 334 yards. Both hit superb approaches, with Fowler the closer to the flag. Matsuyama took an age to read his 16-footer and in it went for a round of 67 and a 14-under-par total. Fowler had to follow him in from 10 feet to force a playoff. In it went.

Off they went to play the 18th again. Matsuyama found the green in two again, while Fowler's approach finished short of the hole and spun back 30 feet short of the green. Advantage Matsuyama , except that Fowler chipped to six inches. The Japanese player two putted, so back they went to the 18th tee.

Again they both hit cracking drives. This time both men hit excellent approach shots, with Fowler slightly further away. Both holed the putts for birdies and then moved to the 10th, which they parred.  They then went to the 17th and, unbelievably, Fowler put it in the water again. And it cost him the title.

English finished third on 12 under, with Danny Lee a further shot behind.

Highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wope4UPl_k8