Global Golf Post - January 30, 2012

Rory McIlroy’s two-stroke penalty for violating Rule 13-2 proved
costly, as he finished second to Robert Rock by a single stroke.

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES |
Rory McIlroy blamed his sketchy knowl-
edge of Rule 13-2 and the fact that his
concentration was not at full stretch af-
ter the winter break. Whatever, it came
as something of a shock when he found
himself walking from the ninth green in
his second round with a two-shot pen-
alty and a double-bogey six.
Before putting from six feet off the
green, the 2010 U.S. Open champion
had brushed sand from his line. “There
was a lot of sand in between my ball
and the hole and, as I brushed it away,
Luke (Donald) was like, ‘I don’t think
you can do that.’ And I replied, ‘Oh yeah,
you’re right.’ ” (The sand can only be
moved from the line once a player is on
the green.)
McIlroy, who had also had a bunkered
double-bogey at the third, reacted by giv-
ing his drive at the 10th a bit of an angry
thump. The ball went for miles – and he
proceeded to make the first of three bird-
ies which had him tacking nothing worse
than a 72 to his opening 67.
“I wasn’t really angry with myself,”
said McIlroy. “You’ve just got to laugh
about it and try and get the shots back.”
And no, he wasn’t thinking back to
the incident when he had a last-round
69 to finish at 12 under, just one behind
the dashing Robert Rock.
“That was just one of those things,”
he said, when the subject had another
mention. “I feel I’ve made a great start
to the year.”
After defeating Tiger Woods and
the rest on Sunday, he is now up to
12th on the relevant list – and second
on the Race to Dubai.

Sergio Garcia had his first ace on
the European Tour when he holed out
with his 7-iron at the 186 yards 12th on
Thursday. Garcia won a lifetime prize of
an annual three-day stay at the five-
star Emirates Palace Hotel.
Not too long afterwards, another
Spaniard, Jose Manuel Lara, did pre-
cisely the same with a 6-iron. “I hope
there’s something left for me,” he said.
At the time, there was not, but the
Emirates Palace soon had a change of
heart. Lara was given the same award,
as was Graeme McDowell, when he
came up with a third ace at the hole in a
back-nine 31 on Sunday which saw him
finishing in a share of third place.
At the Volvo Champions, when the
question was put to Rock about his
chances of making this year’s Ryder
Cup, he shook his head and said he still
had a long way to go. (At that point, he
was 30th on the European points’ list.)
“I look at everyone here,” he said of
the 35-strong field at Fancourt, “and
I respect them a lot. Most of them are
better than I am. I know I won in Italy
last year, but I’ve got to learn to finish
At Fancourt two weeks ago, when
Darren Clarke announced that he was
in the throes of becoming “a lean, mean,
fighting machine,” there were no outward
signs of progress. Last week, in contrast,
the plans were beginning to take shape,
noticeably in the stomach area.

helicopter and Kaymer, in particular,
found it all somewhat nerve-wracking.
“My hands were moist, it was terrifying,”
admitted the defending champion.
“I would give it a miss next time
because this is a very important
tournament for me.” (As it turned
out, he missed the cut.)
Yet, the desert experience was
not all bad. Once he had been safely
decanted in the wilderness, Kaymer had
an experience to remember. Armed with
a 9-iron, he took off his shoes and found
himself walking through a quality of
sand which he had never known before.
“Heavenly,” he said. “A lovely red
tinge to it and so fine that it didn’t stick
to your feet as any other sand would; it
just slipped from your skin.”
He could have pulled out and still col-
lected the last-place prize money, only
in those circumstances the money would
not have counted as “official.”
Levet’s point was that he had to keep
going just in case the odd pound made
the difference, say, between making the
Ryder Cup side and not.

There was a buffeting wind in the
desert last Tuesday, the day when Mar-
tin Kaymer and Donald agreed to do a
photo shoot in the desert and play from
what had been labelled the world’s
largest bunker.

Thomas Levet, who fell down a step
during the Volvo Champions, had bro-
ken ribs diagnosed in Abu Dhabi and
had to pull out of the tournament. At
least he could console himself with the
thought that this accident, unlike the
broken leg he sustained after jumping
in the water following his French Open
win, was not of his own making.
Levet spoke to officials after the Volvo
Champions about how wrong it seemed
to him that he had had to play his last
rounds – he had an 82 and a 76 – when
he was badly bruised and aching all over.
Early in the Abu Dhabi week, a young
local reporter came late to the players’
press conferences. Golf was maybe not
her specialist subject but, robes flying
and in a fluster, the new arrival finally
caught up with one of the players.
She asked if he could tell her a
little about himself and, that done, she
asked if he would be kind enough to
furnish his name.
“Tiger Woods,” he replied, politely.
Donald raised no objections when
Dave Alred, the rugby coach who has
helped him to the world No. 1 spot, A

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