Quiros Wins in Dubai as Tiger Fades Again

by Jeff Skinner

This was supposed to be the week that the top three golfers in The World Rankings fought it out for the top spot.  Lee Westwood (1), Martin Kaymer (2) and Tiger Woods (3) were paired together for the first two days with the hope that they would put on a magnificent display of golf.  Their play was more disappointing than magnificent but not everyone was disappointed.

Alvaro Quiros took advantage of the missed opportunities of the big three and eagled his way to a win at The Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Quiros got it going early with an eagle at the second hole and birdies at the third and fifth had him three shots clear of the field.  But he gave much of it back on the eighth.  His tee ball plugged in a bunker then ended up in a tree on his way to a potential round killing triple bogey seven.  Quiros regained his composure on the next when he birdied nine and then made his charge at the eleventh.  Using a wedge from 161 yards on the par three, he holed it for an ace, his second eagle of the day and the race was back on.

He still had a bit of trouble with a bogey on fourteen and lost his lead to Anders Hansen.  But when  Hansen bogeyed the sixteenth and Quiros made birdie he had the lead by one and parred his way home to victory.  It is the fifth European Tour win for the long hitting, likable Spaniard.

As for the big three, the best any of them could manage was a  tie for fifteenth by Lee Westwood who keeps his tenuous number one ranking as number two, Martin Kaymer finished tied for thirty-first.

Tiger Woods started the day tied for second place and paired with a resurgent Sergio Garcia.  Both of them displayed the most prevalent factor in both their games of late: inconsistency.  They combined for five birdies, six bogeys, one double bogey and one triple bogey, including Woods’ finishing double on eighteen that left him frustrated and annoyed. Their matching 75’s left them tied for twentieth.  Tiger is not only in search of his swing, but his confidence also.  His journey back to relevancy continues.