“A year ago I had a tough spell on the greens but now I feel my touch is coming back and it has rekindled my love for putting”.
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“A thrill for everyone, the hole-in-one prize will certainly be a talking point among players and will help draw a big gallery to the hole”.
Given the level of comfort he has at the Majlis course and the state of his game, Rory McIlroy has fired a warning at his rivals in the Dubai Desert Classic – he will be extremely disappointed if he is not holding aloft the trophy on Sunday evening.
“The partnership with “golf in Dubai” provides us with a fantastic platform to develop our brand in the region’s booming market and show the world we are a leading player in this sport”, said Raynald Aeschlimann, Omega’s vice-president and International Sales Director. Another, at the par-5 12th, was set up by a 4-iron which required a 15-yard cut to get past a tree, while a majestic approach to the sixth ended up hanging on the lip of the hole.
In soccer the loss of an opening-minute goal has one upside; the remaining 89 to find a reply.
The new changes in the course, where the fairways have been made firmer and grass has been shaved off the fringe of the greens, troubled McIlroy, who has never finished outside the top 10 in his last six starts at the Emirates Golf Club.
I’d like to think by the end of my career I’d have hopefully won each major a couple of times.
The leaderboard The Northern Irishman recovered with three birdies by the turn and came home in 33 to leave himself well placed to defend this title.
Noren shot a six-under 66 in the first round of the Dubai golf.
At the 2011 U.S. Open, Woods didn’t play at Congressional, and, even if he had, McIlroy probably would have blown him out that week.
The game is not being dominated by an old guard, by the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson; Spieth, Day and McIlroy are kids, and it must make others think: “If they can do it, then so can I”. All in all it was a decent day, a decent score. “To be able to shoot in the 60s today was very pleasing”.
Back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14 were followed by another at the 18th, despite landing his tee shot in the water, to put him two under at the turn.
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Noren played the front nine in only 31.
