World No. 1 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) won the DP World Tour Hero Dubai Desert Classic (total prize money of 9 million dollars).
McIlroy hit a 4 under par 68 in the 4th round on the final day of the tournament held at the Emirates Golf Club (par 72, 7,428 yards) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the 30th.
McIlroy, who recorded a final total of 19 under par 269 strokes, beat Patrick Reed (USA) with 18 under par 270 strokes by one stroke to reach the top.
McIlroy, who won 15 DP World Tour wins, added a DP World Tour multiplier three years and two months after the World Golf Championship (WGC) HSBC Champions in November 2019.
In terms of American professional golf (PGA) tour events, he won the championship trophy again in three months after The CJ Cup in October last year.
McIlroy, who reached the top for the third time in this competition following 2009 and 2015, received 1,407,598 euros (approximately 1.88 billion won) in prize money.
McIlroy and Reed, who had an emotional battle ahead of the opening of the competition, took first and second place.
Reed greeted McIlroy first at the practice range before the opening, but McIlroy ignored it, and Reed threw the tee he was holding toward McIlroy, expressing his regret.
The uncomfortable relationship between the two is largely attributable to the LIV series launched last year.
While Reed, who was active on the PGA Tour, moved to the LIV series with the huge financial power of Saudi Arabian capital, McIlroy took the lead in criticizing the LIV series as a representative of the PGA Tour’s ‘remnants’.
The PGA Tour prohibits players who have moved to the LIV series from participating in the tournament, but the DP World Tour has opened its doors to LIV series players as well, and many LIV players, including Reed, participated in this tournament. 먹튀검증
McIlroy won by a thrilling first stroke with consecutive birdies on the 17th and 18th holes. In particular, on his last 18th hole (par 5), he made a birdie putt from a distance of about 4.5m and cheered.
Reed cut 7 strokes on the day and pursued McIlroy, who was leading until the third round, but McIlroy’s birdie on the last hole did not give him a chance to extend.
“It was the toughest mentally I’ve ever played,” McIlroy said. “I tried to focus on myself and not think about who was on the leaderboard.”
However, he was delighted to say, “It will be a sweeter victory than usual,” probably because he beat Reed, who was not anyone else, by one stroke.
On this day, McIlroy played in the last group, and Reed played four rounds in the previous group.
Wang Jeong-hun (28) finished the tournament in a tie for 28th with an 8 under par 280 strokes.