DUBAI (AP) ― Luke Donald became the first golfer to win both the PGA Tour and European Tour money titles, finishing third in the Dubai World Championship on Sunday behind winner Alvaro Quiros.
Quiros made a 40-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole for a two-shot victory over 1999 British Open champion Paul Lawrie.
The top-ranked Donald, who won the PGA title earlier this year, had to finish better than ninth or hope Rory McIlroy didn’t win the tournament. McIlroy, weakened with a virus all week, tied for 11th at 9-under 279. That left McIlroy more than $1.34 million behind Donald in the money race.
“It’s funny to kind of sum up my feelings” said Donald, who has just come back from five weeks off in which he buried his father and was on hand for the birth of his second child.
“You know, this is something I’ve wanted for the past few months, to try and win both money lists,” Donald said. “It’s very strange because I looked at the leaderboard on 13 and couldn’t see Rory. I couldn’t see Rory’s name on there and the leaders were playing well, and at that point, I kind of knew I had made history and the last six holes were kind of surreal.”
Quiros had a final-round 5-under 67 on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates to finish at 269. Donald was three shots behind Quiros after he ran off three birdies in a row for a 6-under 66. Peter Hanson of Sweden was fourth, another two shots back, and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel was in fifth another shot behind.
The big-hitting Quiros came into the final day with a two-shot lead but squandered it after he had three bogeys on the front nine to go with five birdies. Lawrie, who led after the first day, took the lead after he notched five birdies in his first eight holes.
But Lawrie bogeyed the 12th after an approach shot missed the green and Quiros birdied the 14th to take the lead for good. Lawrie’s short game continued to haunt him when an errant chip on 16 cost him a birdie chance. Then, the 42-year-old Lawrie missed a 6-foot birdie putt at the 17th that would have tied it.
Quiros managed to reach the 18th green in two while Lawrie was there in three. Rather than play it safe, Quiros clinched the win with a long eagle putt. The Spaniard pumped his fist as the crowd cheered. The win was just Quiros’ second this year on the tour ― after the Dubai Desert Classic ― and sixth overall on the tour.
It was a much happier ending than a week ago, when Quiros had a 3-shot lead going into the final round of the Hong Kong Open. He let it slip after erratic drives and poor putting, finishing in a tie for seventh ― five shots behind McIlroy, who holed a greenside bunker shot to win.
Quiros praised the rivalry that developed over the final round with Lawrie, who ended a nine-year drought earlier this year with a victory in Spain.
“I was hitting good shots all day but, as I said, Paul was marvelous,” he said. “He was holing every single putt. He was in contention every single time. I think he was just one or two times in trouble and the second one was on 12. From this moment onwards, it changed the situation completely.”
Bradley, Steele win Franklin Shootout
NAPLES, Florida (AP) ― PGA Champion Keegan Bradley and Brendan Steele shot a 13-under 59 in scramble play Sunday to become the first PGA Tour rookies to win the Franklin Templeton Shootout.
Bradley and Steele took control with an eagle by Steele on No. 14 and a birdie on No. 15, finishing at 32-under 184 for a three-stroke victory over two teams.
“We played well,” Bradley said. “We got off to a slow start, kind of like we did all three days, but we played this last stretch of holes really well.”
Steele added: “We had so much fun that it made it a lot easier for us.”
Bradley and Steele had been talking about playing in Greg Norman’s event since the spring, and said they weren’t at the three-format event to “goof off.”
