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Super Stenson defends in Dubai

By: Golf Shake | Mon 24 Nov 2014


Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements


HE LEFT it late but if you are only going to win one tournament in a season then what better way to crown the year than by beating a world-class field to claim the Dubai World Championship?

Henrik Stenson has contended week after week throughout 2014 without being able to finish the job, but a birdie, birdie finish at the Earth Course was good enough to give him a dramatic victory. He finished two ahead of Rory McIlroy, Victor Dubuisson and Justin Rose, but that doesn't tell any of the story.

With three holes to go, Rafa Cabrera Bello was one ahead at 15 under par. Then he bunkered his tee shot at the 16th, hit the face of the trap with his second, finished in a hazard and then cleared the green - he had to hole a six-foot putt to limit the damage to a double-bogey.

Stenson in Dubai

The Spaniard then watched Stenson hit his tee-shot at the par-three 17th to six inches. He hit a good looking shot himself but it was a fraction too far left and finished in the water again. It cost him another double-bogey. Suddenly, he was 11 under par. And when Stenson tapped in his tiddler, he was four behind and utterly crestfallen.

McIlroy came to the 18th needing an eagle to move to 16 under par. His drive landed in the stream that splits the fairway but hit a rock and finished in the middle of the fairway. From there, he hit a four iron to the right of the green and had to settle for a par after missing a 12-foot birdie putt.

Moments later, Rose came to the final hole. He faced a birdie putt identical to the one McIlroy had just missed, and he couldn't make it either.

So it was that Stenson arrived on the final tee, knowing that he required a par five to win by a single shot. He pulled his drive horribly but found a decent lie. The Swede was 280 yards from the green and decided to lay up. His third shot was magnificent, a wedge that finished no more than six feet from the hole.

Knowing he could take two more, he rolled the ball into the hole to finish with a 16-under total of 272. Game, set and match.

It hadn't all been plain sailing for Stenson, however. Hit it the ball out of bounds at the 11th and the subsequent double-bogey looked to have finished his challenge. It is a measure of the steel of the man that he refused to buckle. Before that amazing finish he had to produce a series of wonderful recovery shots and kept leaving himself three- and four-foot putts, but every single one  of them found the centre of the hole.

He was delighted afterwards, but said that he was ready for a break. When he played in the Ryder Cup in September, he admitted that he was "running on fumes", but he managed to produce some of the best golf of his life at Gleneagles.

"The shot I hit at the 17th today was a five iron and was the best of the week for me, especially coming it when it did," he said. "Now I am going to go into hiding! I am going to spend some time with my family in Florida. I am delighted to end my season by defending this title. It is the icing on the cake for me. I won this tournament last year and I just love coming back to this course."

McIlroy was also crowned Race to Dubai winner and struggled to lift the magnificent trophy. What a season he has had - winner of the BMW PGA championship, winner of The Open, winner of the US PGA championship and winner of a WGC championship, as well as finishing on top of the money list on the PGA Tour.

"I got it going on the back nine today but Henrik deserves his victory. He obviously loves this course. I hadn't played for six weeks and didn't have my best game with me this week, but I am delighted with how close I came.

"My highlights of 2014 are winning The Open at Hoylake, which was something I have dreamt about since I was a little boy, and being part of that magnificent Ryder Cup team. My goal for next year is to win the Green Jacket at Augusta to complete my set of all four majors."

Who is to say he will not achieve the goal? And who is to say that Stenson will not finally win his first major in 2015. If you keep knocking on the door, it will eventually open for you, as he proved in Dubai.

If next season on the European Tour comes anywhere close to matching the one we have just witnessed then it will be something special.

Image credit - European Tour Facebook Page


Derek Clements is a sports journalist with a particular passion for golf with over 12 years of experience covering golf and other sports including Chief Sub-Editor on the sports desk of The Sunday Times. To contact Derek email direct via [email protected]


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Tags: Henrik Stenson european tour



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