Rory McIlroy holed a clutch birdie putt at the final hole at Emirates Golf Club to win the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and his first Rolex Series title, while also topping European Ryder Cup qualification.
The 15ft birdie putt on the 18th hole, saw the six-time Ryder Cup Europe player finish one stroke ahead of U.S. counterpart Patrick Reed and climb two places on the European Points List and one place on the World Points List to lead the way on both qualification routes.
As it stands, McIlroy will qualify via the European Points List in top spot with 1,856.50 points.
It was a battle throughout the day with Reed, and when the American’s birdie at 18 matched McIlroy’s birdie at 17, the Northern Irishman knew he’d need a birdie to win the event for a third time
And when the World Number One’s drive down the last finished inches from a water hazard, it looked like the title could go either way.
However, an impressive up and down from 92 yards was enough to win by one and solidify McIlroy’s standing on the European and World Points Lists as he aims for a seventh straight Ryder Cup appearance.
"It means a lot," said McIlroy. "It's actually funny, (caddie) Harry said to me, 'finally we get a gold bib'. Obviously I haven't won one of these big ones before.
That was a pretty good way to start the week 💪 pic.twitter.com/K3w5ZxzTyA
— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) January 30, 2023
"It was a battle all day. Honestly it's been a battle all week. I really feel like I haven't had my best all week but I just managed my game so well and played really smart.
"I feel like I showed a lot of mental strength out there today, something to really build on for the rest of the year.
"There's been a ton of positives this week but also been some things that I need to learn from and I need to try to improve on.
"I'm going to enjoy this. This is probably sweeter than it should be or needs to be but I feel like I've still got some stuff to work on. It's a great start to the year and a really good foundation to work from."
As it stands McIlroy (1,856.00 points) Jon Rahm (1,850.00 points), and Victor Perez (1,216. points) would claim the three automatic qualifying spots on the European Points List, with Viktor Hovland (56.33 points), Alex Noren (47.53 points) and Shane Lowry (45.18 points) currently sitting in the top three positions on the World Points List.
The 2023 Ryder Cup will take place between Sept. 25 – Oct. 1 at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, Rome, Italy.
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