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Dubai Desert Classic Leaderboard

February 12, 2011 by · Comments Off on Dubai Desert Classic Leaderboard 

Dubai Desert Classic Leaderboard, (CP) – Tiger Woods survived a poor start and winds of 72 to post, the normal, leaving him only one shot behind leader Rory McIlroy and two entering the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic. The day when winds reached 45 km / h and dusty conditions played havoc with the rankings, Woods has shown an uncanny ability to come back repeatedly.

The former No. 1-ranked Americans ended the third round with a grand total of 7-under 209, second behind round leader McIlroy (75), Denmark’s Anders Hansen (71) and Africa South Thomas Aiken (74) who are all at 8-under 208. He sits in a tie in five directions for the fourth. Woods should not even be in contention going into Sunday. But the difficult conditions took their toll on most of the top players, finishing with 3-plus McIlroy and Sergio Garcia – who was eight strokes ahead of Woods after nine holes – finishing at 3-over and tied with Woods and five other players. About two-thirds of the field did not break through.

“The fact that I was able to battle of 4-above normal and put me with a chance of going into tomorrow, I’m proud of that,” said Woods, who had an eagle and four birdies but also four bogeys and a double bogey. “I hope I can build on that.”

Woods started poorly with bogeys on the first two holes, mainly due to errant drives that went far to the left of the fairway. He fired a shot back with a birdie on the third. But he bogeyed the eighth and ended up with a double bogey on the ninth after his approach shot was taken in the wind, fell just short of the green and rolled into the water.

But at the start, Woods showed some of his trademark magic. He responded with an eagle on the 10th, chipping in from 35 feet. He followed with a birdie that seemed to settle. But after running several pars, put his troubles returned with a bogey on No. 16 – “. Come on Tiger Woods incentive to pay before finishing with

The former top-ranked player on all stops pulled out of 17, driving the rear edge green 359-yard hole. But then his chip past the hole and had he missed easy birdie. That left him on 18 when he played with caution, choosing to put in place rather than driving the green. It paid off when he managed to loop over a putt from 30 feet, prompting him to pump his fist as the crowd cheered wildly.

Woods, who won in Dubai in 2006 and 2008, seeks his first victory in over a year.

McIlroy, who won his only European Tour event here in 2009, also had a terrible start. He had three bogeys directly hand the head of Garcia, including a drive on the second that landed in the sand and scrub each other on the third, which ended in the bunker.

Like Woods, McIlroy has managed to turn his game around on the back nine with a birdie and a string of pars.

“There were some tricks that I leave out of me … and I did not let that happen today, which is a positive sign,” said McIlroy. “And I’m still, you know in the lead, tied for the lead … I’m always there with a great opportunity. It’s just very clustered at the minute and now a lot of guys have a chance to win.”

Of all the contenders, Garcia had the most dramatic change of fortunes. After opening with a bogey, 31-year-old Spaniard made a race with two birdies on his next four holes to take exclusive possession of the head.

But Garcia collapsed on the back nine, carding two bogeys and a double bogey on the 17th after his drive hit a tree and had to drop a ball. This gave him back to McIlroy and several others for the good entering Sunday’s final.

Garcia said his inability to keep his head was “regrettable” but insisted he played as well as it could under these conditions.

“I have not played the back nine that bad. I hit some bad shots, but I had him well,” said Garcia.

Top-ranked Lee Westwood is tied for 13th at 5-under while No. 2-ranked Martin Kaymer is eight shots adrift of the leader after carding a 4-over 76.

There is still a small chance that the results of the tournament could see a changing of the guard at the top.

Westwood could lose top spot if Kaymer wins and he finishes lower than second, and if Kaymer finished second and Westwood is outside the top 10.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Dubai Golf

February 12, 2011 by · Comments Off on Dubai Golf 

Dubai Golf, (AP) – Tiger Woods (FSY) overcame a poor start in windy conditions to shoot a par 72, one shot behind leader Rory McIlroy (FSY) and two entering the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic. The days of dust in the desert, Woods has shown an incredible ability to rally repeatedly. He finished with a total of 7-under 209, behind second-round leader McIlroy (75), Denmark’s Anders Hansen (FSY) (71) and South Africa’s Thomas Aiken (FSY) (74).

Woods should not even be in contention going into Sunday. But the difficult conditions took their toll on most of the top players, with McIlroy finished at 3 over and Sergio Garcia (FSY) – who was eight strokes ahead of Woods after nine holes – ending through 3 and tied with Woods and five other players.

In a series uneven, Woods had an eagle, four birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey.

“The fact I was able to battle of 4-over par and put me with a chance of going into tomorrow, I’m proud of that,” Woods said. “I hope I can ‘t press it. ”

Woods started poorly with bogeys on the first two holes, mostly from readers who would stray much left of the fairway. He fired a shot back with a birdie on the third. But he bogeyed the eighth and ended up with a double bogey on the ninth after his approach shot was taken in the wind, fell just short of the green and rolled into the water.

At first, Woods has shown some resilience of its brand. He responded with an eagle on the 10th, chipping in from 35 feet. He continued with a birdie that seemed to settle. But after running several pars, put his troubles returned with a bogey on No. 16 – “. Come on Tiger Woods incentive to pay before finishing with

The former top-ranked player on all stops pulled out of 17, riding on the back edge of the green on the 359-yard hole. But his chip past the hole and had he missed easy birdie.

He played cautiously on the 18th, by choosing to put in place rather than drive the green. It paid off when he managed to loop over a putt from 30 feet, causing a hand pump in the gallery applauded.

Woods is seeking his first victory in over a year. He won in Dubai in 2006 and 2008.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Dubai Desert Classic

February 11, 2011 by · Comments Off on Dubai Desert Classic 

Dubai Desert Classic, (UKPA) – Rory McIlroy still leads the Dubai Desert Classic after 68 seconds Omega Tower – but his lead over Sergio Garcia and Thomas Aiken is one, and Tiger Woods is also in the race.

Woods followed his “itch” opening 71 and 66 best-of-day to move to seven under and joint fifth place. Without a win for nearly 15 months it has even led for a few minutes after the beginning of the 27th day, but that was before McIlroy hit in UAE again.

The 21-year Northern Irish came back from a bogey on the second with five birdies, the last of them on the long 18th he beating the former world number two South African Garcia and Aiken.

They both had a 67 seconds time to time, the back-to-Spanish form keeping a bogey off his card for the second consecutive day.

Rory McIlroy to continue to set the pace after the second round of the Dubai Desert Classic, but Tiger Woods is at his heels after the world number one has produced his three best golf courses in 2011.

Woods carded a 66 bulbs of six under par, the best round of the day, to lie four shots off the pace set by the Northern Irish McIlory, which is on 11 under par after posting a 68 to Following his 65 on Sunday.

The Spaniard Sergio Garcia has maintained its recent improvement with a second successive five-under-67 behind McIlroy by one stroke, with Thomas Aiken of South Africa, who matched Garcia scores over the first two days.

But the talk was of Woods’ spectacular return to form and world number three could not hide his joy with his display.

Woods – Family is the most important thing  “I played myself back in the tournament. I felt like I hit the ball much better and the greens were absolutely perfect,” Woods said on the official website of the European Tour.

Englishman Steve Webster recorded 68 seconds from time to time and is on his own in fourth place, three strokes behind, while Woods is part of a group of five players on seven under par that includes Denmark Anders Hansen.

World number one Lee Westwood produced another consistent performance and his two-under-par 70 left him six strokes behind McIlroy, while world number two Martin Kaymer is another shot back.

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