Pablo Larrazábal beat a star-studded field in Abu Dhabi to record his third European Tour win and first since 2011. The 30-year-old Spaniard triumphed by one shot over Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson. "Only me and my team know how much we've worked during the last three years," Larrazábal said. He ranked third in the field in terms of putts per round (26.8). He has always been a player who seems to let his emotions get to him sometimes, for better or worse. He seemed to be slowing down yesterday, so as to conserve his energy and focus 100% on every shot. He is definitely a player who I would like to see on a Ryder Cup team because of the way he gets fired up. Currently, he lies 12th on the European Points List and 11th on the World Points List. Courtesy of the win, he moved up to 53rd in the Official World Golf Rankings and now will be looking to getting inside the top-50 so that he can qualify for the Masters. He will almost certainly qualify for the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and WGC-Cadillac Championship, two events with guaranteed money for all participants.
McIlroy recorded his fifth top-5 finish (seven appearances) in Abu Dhabi, and his third second-place finish in the event. He will rue the two-stroke penalty (incorrect drop in third round) that arguably cost him a victory. The Northern Irishman ranked first in driving distance (308.1 yards) and greens in regulation (81.9%) over the course of the four rounds. While he was disappointed to not come out with the win, the world number seven said, "I came in here telling everyone that I'm really happy with my game and done some good work and felt like it was coming together for me at the end of last year. I've continued that on, so I’m really excited for the rest of the season." This was his first event since winning the Emirates Australian Open (November 28-December 1, 2013). It was also his first event since becoming engaged to tennis star Caroline Wozniacki. McIlroy will not play this week at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters, but will tee it up in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, a tournament where he recorded his first professional victory in 2009 and has recorded three other top-10s in six other appearances (last appearance was 2012).
Mickelson was leading by two strokes as he stepped onto the 13th tee, but took a triple-bogey seven after being assessed a penalty stroke for double-hitting a chip-out from under a bush. To the American's credit, he fought back with three birdies to get back to -13, but it was one short. After not recording a birdie on the first day and making the cut by one shot after his second round, Mickelson made the biggest move on the weekend, shooting 63 (-9) on Saturday and 69 yesterday, which could have been three strokes better. All in all, it was a productive week for the five-time major champion, who ranked 5th in driving distance (296 yards) and 5th in putts per round (27). His new driver worked wonders and his putting is as good as it ever has been, so 2014 looks to be a memorable one for "Lefty."
Other notable performances included George Coetzee (tied-fourth), who is still looking for his first European Tour win, but seems to have rediscovered some form ahead of his appearance in Qatar, where he finished tied-second last year. The South African ranked first in putts per round (25.8). Joost Luiten (sixth) recorded yet another top-10 finish and is now up to 43rd in the world rankings. Robert Karlsson and Stephen Gallacher (both tied-eighth) will take confidence heading into the two remaining events of the Desert Swing, as they have been working very hard on their respective games. It was Karlsson's third top-10 finish in his last four worldwide starts, a culmination of both mental and technique improvement as he makes his way back to where he belongs. Gallacher's performance was noteworthy because he is in desperate need of world ranking points as he tries to qualify for WGCs and the Masters. This year's Ryder Cup is on his mind, but he needs to get a move on as he is 29th and 28th on the points lists.
Other notes:
Two-time Tour winner Robert-Jan Derksen will be retiring after this season, according to his website. Translated from Dutch, his website said, "Although I have pretty eas[ily] maintained my playing privileges every year, and have sometimes been close to win[ning] a tournament the last few years, it has been more difficult to keep myself motivated to perform on this level," said Derksen. He recently finished 4th in the Hong Kong Open in December, so I expect good things this season from the 40-year-old Dutchman. Hopefully he will be able to feed off of the performances of Luiten and Daan Huizing, who, along with Derksen, make up the three fully-exempt Dutch players on Tour.
