DUBAI — Rory McIlroy retained the Dubai golf Classic title with a final round of 70 to finish on 14-under-par overall, one stroke ahead of Poland’s Adrian Meronk, for a record fourth win in the tournament.
McIlroy of Northern Ireland won his first professional career title in the competition in 2009 and his two-under-par final round was enough to hold off a battling Meronk and overtake Ernie Els for the most wins at the event.
“It’s really cool,” McIlroy said according to Reuters. “I didn’t really think about that during the course of the round, it was a really tricky day.”
McIlroy began the day alongside Meronk, two shots off American Cameron Young, and the world number two completed his comeback after Friday’s third round saw him come from 10 shots behind to within striking distance of the leader.
Young hit two bogeys on the front nine and McIlroy took full advantage to take a three-shot lead at the turn, while Meronk looked out of the running with a double-bogey on the seventh and a bogey on the ninth leaving him five shots behind.
Meronk recovered and got to within one shot of the leader by the 14th with three birdies in the first five holes of the back nine as McIlroy hit his first bogey of the round at the 13th, but Meronk’s bogey on the 16th restored the gap.
The Pole hit a birdie at the last to take him back to one-shot behind and put some pressure on McIlroy, but the Northern Irishman showed his experience to par the final hole for the win.
“It’s a great start to the season, last year I started well with a win here … it’s a great platform to build from,” McIlroy said.
Young, who had taken the lead after the second round, had to settle for third place, finishing on 12-under-par overall.
Chile’s LIV Golf star Joaquin Niemann made the most of his limited starts on the European tour, finishing tied fourth at 10-under alongside Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal and Canada’s Aaron Cockerill.
The 34-year-old Northern Irishman said the win will set him up perfectly for the Masters in April, the one major championship that has eluded him so far.
“I think so. Look, Augusta is still a long way away in golfing terms. A lot can change in the two-and-a-half months,” said McIlroy, who missed the cut at Augusta National in 2023.
“It’s always nice to get a win. It’s always nice to feel like you’re playing well going into it. I’ve always said that I’ll take execution over preparation every single time because you just have to execute the golf shots, especially there,” McIlroy added according to AFP.
“Last year at Augusta, I learnt a lot about myself. I’ve told this story before about the first green on Friday, and Brooks (Koepka) was on the eighth green and I saw the big leaderboard, and I was already 10 behind at that point.
“I was 10 behind after two days this week and ended up winning the golf tournament. I feel like I’ve taken that learning already and put it into practise a little bit already.” The DP World Tour moves next to the northern emirates of the UAE for the Ras Al Khaimah Classic.
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