ABU DHABI // Rory McIlroy would have had to put his hand in his pocket for a couple of reasons at the culmination of Round 2 of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
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Primarily, he had to honour one of the sport’s best-observed traditions and help sate the thirst of all the patrons in the clubhouse.
Secondly, he might have chosen to make an amendment to his list of season’s goals, which he has written down on an old boarding pass he keeps in his wallet.
McIlroy revealed on the eve of this tournament that he scribbles his aims for the year on the stub from his first flight of the year, from Dublin to Dubai.
The 1A on there used to stand for his seat number. Now it could have another meaning: “One ace.”
The world No 1 had never made a hole-in-one in European Tour golf. Until now.
At the 177-yard par-3 15th on the National Course, he holed a 9-iron from the tee.
“You hear of guys never having hole-in-ones throughout their career,” McIlroy said of breaking his duck. “There’s obviously a bit of skill involved, but a bit of luck as well.
“I’ve come close and holed a few second shots. It was nice to get one out there finally.”
The Northern Irishman had a look of childish glee on his face when the ball rolled into the cup.
He got a high five from his playing partner, Rickie Fowler, and a low one from Matteo Manassero, the third member of their group.
The eagle contributed to a round of 66, which left him two strokes behind the leader, Martin Kaymer.
“It got me a couple closer to Martin and that is what I wanted,” McIlroy said before adding an ace had not figured on his original list of season goals but was a nice bonus.
“It is nice to make hole-in-ones, but I wanted to make sure I was concentrating on the final three holes and not let that overshadow what I was actually trying to do out there.
“It is always tough giving Martin Kaymer a two-shot advantage over 36 holes around this place, but I’ll try my best.”
Although Fowler was able to share in his good buddy’s moment of joy, pleasure of his own was in short supply.
The flamboyant American signed for a disappointing round of 75 to regress to 2-under for the tournament.
He scraped through to qualify to play the final two rounds but acknowledged he had been lucky, especially after having shot a triple-bogey eight at the eighth hole.
“I shouldn’t have been anywhere near the cut line,” Fowler said.
Stenson fails to shake off the rust
As two of the three highest-ranked players in the field, Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose expected to challenge this week for the Falcon Trophy.
Stenson, the world No 2, is something of a desert specialist whose expanding trophy cabinet already includes titles gleaned from the Dubai Desert Classic, the DP World Tour Championship and the Qatar Masters.
He needs only the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship to complete the set and has twice finished runner-up.
Rose, meanwhile, is the world No 6, whose inexperience counted for little on debut here in 2013 when he finished second.
What a surprise yesterday, then, that one missed the cut for the second successive year, while the other scraped through to the weekend.
“When you’re one of the highest-ranked players in the tournament, of course it’s never fun to miss the cut,” said Stenson, after a 68 left him on even par.
With the cut mark at 2-under, the Swede will instead spend the next few days on the range. An opening 76 did the damage, but there were signs of improvement in Round 2.
“This was more like golf,” Stenson said.
“When you’re coming off four or five weeks’ break, it sometimes takes a while to get going.
“Obviously I wasn’t going yesterday, not in the right direction anyway.
“But it’s not a sprint. I’ve got a long-term plan for the next six or seven weeks to get into good shape leading up to the Masters.
“I’m sure I’ll be back playing my best at some point. If that could happen in April, I’d be quite happy.”
Rose was content just to extend his stay in Abu Dhabi, although perhaps relieved was a more apt description.
The 2013 US Open champion followed Thursday’s 73 with a Friday 69 to land dead on the magic mark. A testing putt on the final hole ensured his participation this weekend.
“I didn’t play well,” Rose said. “In fact, I played awfully. To make a nice eight-footer, first pressure putt of the year – there are some positives. I ground it out really well.”
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- Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler are in good company at Abu Dhabi Golf Championship
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