Hovland snatches Dubai Desert Classic after McIlroy’s late capitulation

The only lingering question as Viktor Hovland celebrated a sixth tournament win in under two years was how Rory McIlroy was simultaneously taking out his frustration.

McIlroy needed a birdie at the 72nd hole of the Dubai Desert Classic to claim the title for a record-equalling third time. Par would have been sufficient for the Northern Irishman to join Hovland and Richard Bland in a play-off. Instead, disaster and drama struck; McIlroy found water with his approach to the par five. After a bogey six consigned McIlroy to third, the four-times major winner was a picture of agony and anger as he made a speedy exit from the Emirates Club. It did not look a wise idea for anybody to get too close. McIlroy’s denouement will sting long beyond departure from the UAE.

Onlookers will speculate over whether McIlroy was correct to take on the last green from 260 yards. He had miraculously saved par from a bush on the previous hole, perhaps rendering a further dice with danger unwise. The counterpoints relate to McIlroy’s regular – and regularly successful – policy of being aggressive and that he was hardly planning to mis-hit a fairway wood. McIlroy did not become essential viewing by playing percentages.

McIlroy knew as soon as his shot was airborne that it would find the pond that protects the 18th green. As a putt for par slid past, McIlroy knew his fate. Dubai has been good to McIlroy but it has also been the scene of the occasionally painful blow.

Hovland had finished eagle-birdie to reach 12 under par. Bland, enjoying a career resurgence at 48, converted from 22ft at the 18th for the same aggregate. Yet McIlroy, playing further back in the field, had holes to spare and the trophy within his grasp. For the second time in the