Quiros again victorious in the desert
11. Diciembre 2011 por Golf Under Sun.
Alvaro Quiros completed his own Dubai double as he added the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World to his Omega Dubai Desert Classic title. The Cadiz native holed a monster eagle putt on the final green to finish two shots clear of Scotland’s Paul Lawrie. Starting the day two strokes ahead, The European Tour’s biggest hitter wasted little time extending his advantage with birdies at the three holes. However, three bogeys and two further gains meant Quiros turned in 34 – and when Lawrie completed a front nine 31 the former Open Champion was one ahead.
But Lawrie bogeyed the 12th, and Quiros used his length advantage to first birdie the par five 14th and then eagle the last in spectacular fashion with a closing 67. Lawrie matched that score for solo second, one ahead of Luke Donald – whose 66 secured The Race to Dubai title.
Quiros still commands in Dubai
10. Diciembre 2011 por Golf Under Sun.
Alvaro Quiros leads Paul Lawrie by two shots going into the final round of the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World, as Luke Donald moved ahead of Rory McIlroy to take charge of The Race to Dubai.
Donald is poised to complete the best year of his golfing life in real style after a third round 66 left the World Number One is within touching distance of an unprecedented double.
“It’s over - definitely,” McIlroy said after a 71 dropped him from third to eighth in an event he has to win just to have a chance.
“And Luke deserves it.”
Nobody has ever topped the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic in the same season, but after taking the US PGA Tour title in October by winning their final event there is even a chance for him to do the same on The European Tour.
Needing a top nine finish to clinch The Race to Dubai, Donald burst from joint 12th place at halfway to fourth spot on ten under par.
If McIlroy, who has been battling possible Dengue fever, fails to win tomorrow the race is all over regardless of where Donald finishes.
Quiros takes control in Dubai
9. Diciembre 2011 por Golf Under Sun.
Alvaro Quiros, with one win in Dubai already this year, emerged as the biggest threat to Rory McIlroy’s hopes of ending The European Tour season with back-to-back wins - and maybe taking The Race to Dubai title as well. The Cadíz man finished a course record-equalling 64 by sinking a 20 foot eagle putt and will go into the third round of the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World four clear of the star-studded field on 12 under par.
McIlroy twice shared the lead on the back nine, but left a chip short of the green on the 17th and then bogeyed the last as well after driving into water.
Those errors dropped him into joint third with England’s Robert Rock.
Northern Ireland’s US Open Champion, who came from behind Quiros to win the UBS Hong Kong Open last Sunday, has to triumph again to have a chance of denying Luke Donald The Race to Dubai crown.
Even then Donald would complete his double of European and US PGA Tour money list titles if he finishes in the top nine this weekend and thanks to three closing birdies he is in a tie for 12th at halfway.
McIlroy knows all about Quiros - not just from last week, but also from the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in February. The 22 year old was joint leader with a round to go, but fell back to tenth as golf’s biggest-hitter came charging through.
Miguel Angel Jiménez had a disappointing five over 77 to lie at four over par.
McIlroy overhauls Quiros to take Hong Kong title
4. Diciembre 2011 por Golf Under Sun.
Rory McIlroy set up a thrilling conclusion to The Race to Dubai with victory at the UBS Hong Kong Open. The European Tour season will reach a dramatic climax at the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World, where World Number One Luke Donald and World Number Two McIlroy will battle to become European Number One.
The 22 year old Northern Irishman put Donald’s dream of becoming the first player to top the money list on both sides of the Atlantic firmly on hold with a remarkable display at Fanling, chipping in from a greenside bunker at the last to finish 12 under par. There were five birdies and no bogeys in the US Open Championship winner’s closing 65 as he held off a string of challengers.
McIlroy finished two clear of France’s Grégory Havret, who was also round in 65, and now heads to the Earth Course needing a second consecutive victory and Donald to finish outside the top nine.
Having battled his way to a 70 on Saturday, a revitalised McIlroy quickly set about overhauling overnight leader Alvaro Quiros – who might have sensed it was not to be his day when his drive at the first leaked right and settled behind a tree. The Spaniard bogeyed the first after chipping out sideways with his second and although he recovered the shot at the third, two more bogeys and a double at the seventh - where he overshot the green, came up short with his first chip then ran 15 feet past with his second - saw him reach the turn in 39. Two more birdies and one dropped shot on the back nine meant he ended tied for seventh on seven under par following a 73.
Miguel Angel Jiménez finished in a tie for 11th after a final round 68.
Quiros in lead in Hong Kong
3. Diciembre 2011 por Golf Under Sun.
A third round 67 gave Alvaro Quiros a one shot lead over Peter Hanson at the UBS Hong Kong Open.
Quiros, who on both previous days had shared the lead with Rory McIlroy, carded three birdies in a bogey-free effort which took him to ten under par.
World Number Two McIlroy, however, had to fight back from consecutive bogeys on the front nine to sign for a level par 70, leaving the 22 year old in fifth place and in danger of missing out on the top-two finish he needs to stand a chance of catching Luke Donald in The Race to Dubai.
Ryder Cup star Hanson signed for joint-best-of-the-day 65 to charge firmly into contention, while his score was matched by former US PGA Championship winner Y E Yang, who shares third place with Thailand’s Pariya Junhasavasdikul (67).
“I hit the ball great from the tee and to the green,” said five time European Tour winner Quiros. “But the putting was very, very poor.
“Obviously my length is always an advantage. If I’m able to hit the fairway on the second hole, I have great chances to make a good birdie, an easy birdie, when the others probably are struggling a little bit with the tee shot and then with the second shot.”
Miguel Angel Jiménez shot a two-over 72 to drop back to three under.
Quiros and McIlroy share Hong Kong lead
2. Diciembre 2011 por Golf Under Sun.
Alvaro Quiros and Rory McIlroy remain locked together at the top of the Hong Kong Open leaderboard after both players moved to seven under par, one clear of the field. Quiros set the early target but McIlroy, a late starter, matched the Spaniard’s score of 69.
McIlroy was on course to claim the outright lead but two bogeys in the last three holes saw him fall back alongside Quiros. Starting the day level at the top of the leaderboard alongside Quiros and David Horsey on six-under, McIlroy picked up his first birdie of the day at the third but immediately relinquished the shot at the next.
However, further birdies at the eighth, 10th and 12th saw the 22-year-old move to nine under par before he ran into trouble on the 16th when his drive ended up behind a tree and he was forced to pitch out onto the fairway for an eventual bogey.
A wayward tee shot at the 17th landed in the rough down the left but he recovered for par before another poor tee shot at the last found the trees and he was forced to lay-up before pushing his putt right of the hole to finish with a 69 and level with Quiros.
The Spaniard had earlier also shot a 69 that featured four birdies and three bogeys including a disappointing five at the ninth, his final hole.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t play as well as yesterday,” said Quiros. “I managed the round well until the first hole, my 10th. I three-putted there, I three-putted the second and after that, I didn’t hole any good putts. Finishing with a bogey at the ninth was a bit frustrating but this is how it is.
“It’s a shame of a round because without the these two three-putts, it was a proper number, nine-under would be great.”
Málaga’s Miguel Angel Jiménez is two shots back on five-under after a level par second round.
McIlroy shares lead with Quiros in Hong Kong, Jiménez is one back
1. Diciembre 2011 por Golf Under Sun.
Rory McIlroy kept his hopes of catching Luke Donald in The Race to Dubai alive as the Northern Irishman ended the first round of the UBS Hong Kong Open in a three-way tie for the lead on six under par with Cadiz-man Alvaro Quiros and David Horsey.
The 22 year old was among the first groups out at Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling and collected six birdies without dropping a shot to set the early clubhouse mark with a 64 in windy morning conditions.
But Horsey responded with a similar effort in the afternoon, while Quiros chipped in at the 18th to also end the day six under par. The trio head former two-time winner Miguel Angel Jiménez of Málaga by a stroke, with Northern Ireland’s Gareth Maybin and Australian Darren Beck two back on four under.
Sergio Garcia captures the Andalucía Masters
30. Octubre 2011 por Golf Under Sun.
Sergio Garcia’s resurgence continued as he became the first Spaniard to win a strokeplay event at Club de Golf Valderrama with a battling triumph at the Andalucía Masters.
Garcia, also a winner on home soil in last week’s Castelló Masters and three times a runner-up at this venue in 2004, 2005 and 2006, carded a level par 71 to finish on six under in Sotogrande.
That put him one clear of Málaga’s Miguel Ángel Jiménez, who led for much of the front nine and then birdied 16 and 17 to re-ignite his challenge, with Scotland’s Richie Ramsay a shot further back in third and Ireland’s Shane Lowry fourth on three under.
Garcia will climb back into the top 20 of the Official Golf World Ranking with this win, his fifth European Tour victory on Spanish soil.
Juan Quirós captures second Spanish Seniors
30. Octubre 2011 por Golf Under Sun.
Congratulations to Juan Quirós who has won his second Spanish Seniors Championship at the La Torre club in Murcia. The Cádiz native had 11 shots to spare over the runners-up, José Dávila and Domingo Hospital. Quirós finished 12-under par for the three rounds.
Garcia leads the Andalucía Masters at Valderrama
30. Octubre 2011 por Golf Under Sun.
Spain’s Sergio Garcia will head into the final round of the Andalucía Masters in pole position to record victory on home soil for the second week in succession.
Garcia, who triumphed by a staggering 11 shots at last week’s Castelló Masters in Valencia and needs to win again to qualify for next week’s World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, carded a 67 at Club de Golf Valderrama on Saturday for an aggregate score of six under.
That put him two ahead of Málaga’s Miguel Ángel Jiménez and Sweden’s Christian Nilsson, who equalled the best round of the week with a sparkling 65 containing eight birdies.
Overnight leader Richie Ramsay - third last week - was five under with two to play, but bogeyed the 17th and 18th for a 73 that leaves him three adrift.
