Rory self-destructs yet again as Hovland shows way to the winner’s circle

Self-recrimination is not necessary when losing out to the brilliant Norwegian Viktor Hovland, at least not the way Richard Bland lost valiantly in a play-off for the Dubai Desert Classic yesterday.

The way Rory McIlroy lost, however, is an entirely different matter. Even flying home to Florida in your private jet must be no comfort following a collapse as debilitating as this one.

Talk about deja-vu in Dubai. Barely nine weeks after imploding over the closing holes to lose to Collin Morikawa in the DP World Tour Championship, McIlroy’s misadventures were on an even more epic scale as he carelessly tossed away a victory that would have meant so much.

Was it merely 10 days ago in Abu Dhabi that McIlroy talked about taking a leaf out of Tiger Woods’ book and playing within himself?

Here he took recklessness to another level, failing to heed one danger sign after another, culminating in a shot at the 18th that broke every rule of course management and was, quite honestly, embarrassing from an elite professional.

This was the last of four glorious risk-reward holes on the back nine at the Emirates course and McIlroy played two of them atrociously. Only a top-notch short game allowed him to escape with just one dropped shot. 

Now he had 263 yards to clear the water hazard, with the ball sitting down on the fairway, a speck of mud clearly visible. All he needed was a par five to make the play-off.

Get the picture? The situation cried out for humility, a lay-up shot that would leave a wedge approach, thereby giving him a birdie putt for a win and, at the very worst, a spot in the play-off.

McIlroy took it on. Never mind that his three wood was plainly misfiring and had led to one penalty shot already at the 10th. Never mind that his drive at the 17th had been so off-line, he had to play a provisional from the tee before his ball was found.

What followed was sadly predictable. The shot never came close to clearing the hazard, splashing down a full 20 yards from safety.

He ended up with an entirely unnecessary six to lose by one and an enormous crowd, filled full of families with young children who had nearly all come to watch him, were left with a massive sense of deflation.

This cannot go on. As McIlroy marched across the practice putting green holding the back of his head, let’s hope some sort of realisation was sinking in that he badly needs to listen to someone when it comes to strategy at the business end of tournaments. McIlroy freely confesses that he is a control freak, but that only works if you are actually demonstrating some control.

Instead of the victory that would have provided him with momentum at the start of the most important season of his career, what we were left with was yet more evidence that talent counts for nothing against players as ruthless as Hovland and Morikawa if it is not accompanied by savvy.

Hovland, six shots off the lead at the start of play, had never featured all week until posting a challenging 12 under par total with a fabulous birdie, eagle, birdie finish. Bland matched his 72-hole total with birdies at the 17th and 18th, using his head and getting down in a chip and a putt every time.

McIlroy’s driving was so off-beam you wondered if he might also play safe at the precarious 17th. No chance. He drove miles off line and was lucky both to find his ball and escape with a scruffy par.

Would he learn his lesson down the 18th? No chance there either, alas, and it was Hovland who deservedly moved into the world’s top three at the age of just 24, beating English renaissance man Bland with another birdie at the 18th, the first play-off hole.