Donald’s plan for world domination is
complete. Relax, it’s Luke, not Trump.
The Englishman finished third in the
Dubai World Championship on Sunday
to beat Rory McIlroy to the tape in the
Race to Dubai, top the European Tour’s
money list, and make history. The world
No. 1 is the first player to top the money
list in both Europe and the U.S.
“It may never be done again,”
McIlroy said. “Amazing effort.”
Spaniard Alvaro Quiros won the tour-
nament by holing a 40-foot eagle putt at
the last to finish 19-under par and stay
ahead of Paul Lawrie ( 17 under) and
Donald ( 16 under). It completed a Dubai
Double for Quiros, who also won the
Dubai Desert Classic in February.
But it is Donald who has had the
most remarkable year. Quiros was
quick to praise him.
“I looked at the leaderboard and saw
he was making a charge and thought,
‘You can never leave this guy behind. He
always comes back at you.’ He must feel
so good under pressure,” Quiros said.
Yet, Donald admitted to feeling
nervous before he teed off, saying it felt
similar to a major. He knew he needed
a fast start and got to 3 under after
seven holes. “The perfect start. Just
what I needed,” he said.
Luke Donald held off a Rory McIlroy challenge to win the Race To Dubai.
Alvaro Quiros’ win
at the Dubai World
Championship
is his second
this year.
ting it far. Like the finest short game on
Tour and a putting stroke stolen from
Tiger Woods circa 2000.
“I think people are taking notice of
what I’ve done and how I’ve done it,” he
said. “And they will maybe change the
way they practice.”
Amateurs and professionals, take
note.
“From within the golfing fam-
ily, Luke will receive
all the plaudits, but,
unfortunately, outside
the golfing world,
people will ques-
tion whether
he should be
No. 1 because
he hasn’t won a
major,” McIlroy said
before heading off for a
holiday in Dubai with his
tennis No. 1 girlfriend Caro-
line Wozniacki. “I really hope he
does get the credit for the golf he
has played. Luke deserves every-
thing he’s got.”
McIlroy confirmed that he would not
be playing in Thailand next week. So the
next time he will tee it up in competitive
golf will be at the Abu Dhabi Champion-
ship at the end of January when Tiger
Woods will test his swing and new-found
confidence against Donald, McIlroy and
the cream of Europe’s golfers.
