Danny Willett secured the biggest win of his career, and went a long way to securing his debut in the Ryder Cup, with a victory brimming with confidence at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
Danny’s Delight: Willet sinks the winning putt at the Dubai Desert Classic
The 28-year-old Yorkshireman had to sink a 10-foot birdie putt on the final green to avoid a play-off with compatriot Andy Sullivan and Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello, who were already in the clubhouse with scores of 18-under par, and he did so with a calmness of a player operating at the very top of his game, rolling it to seal a one-shot win.
Willett, who started the final round with a one-shot lead, dropped shots three over the opening 11 holes to give his rivals hope, but birdies on the 12th and 13th helped set up a thrilling finish, and he closed out the tournament in the same ruthless style that won him two titles last season en route to second place in the Race to Dubai.
“I’m just ecstatic. You can’t buy that feeling, coming down the back nine, the last three holes, in contention of a golf tournament,” said the winner, who moved to 13th in the world rankings with the win. “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, it’s very nice to know that I can dig deep and produce what I can when it is needed the most. I’d love to win by five or six every time, but when you win in that fashion, it feels that little bit extra special. It means when the pressure is on I can produce the goods.”
Further down the leaderboard, Korea’s Byeong Hun An and Spain’s Alvaro Quiros both had final rounds of 65 to leap into a tie for fourth, while Rory McIlroy matched that score for a share of sixth, although it is no exaggeration to say that he briefly threatened to reel in Willett, before falling short over the closing holes.
McIlroy said: “It’s a week of what could have been. There was a lot of really good golf in there. I played a lot of great shots and made a lot of birdies, but just made a few too many mistakes as well. “I’ll rue the two front nines that I played on Friday and Saturday. I played the combined front nine five over par there, and if I had not done that, things could have been different. But I’m encouraged with the good golf that I’ve played. It’s been good because I know what I need to work on over the next few weeks. I’m taking the positives from it, but obviously it could have been better.”
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