IRISH REACTION:RORY McILROY, highlighted-locks curling out from under the brim of his cap, exhaled a deep and wistful breath. More than anyone, he knew what might have been: a case of so near, and yet so far.
In delivering a weekend charge that bettered everyone, with rounds of 66 and 67 to complete his season’s work, the 21-year-old Ulsterman finished two strokes outside of a play-off place and alone in fifth in the European Tour’s finale.
The man dubbed “Wee Mac” by fans at the Ryder Cup, a moniker which has stuck, may have finished his season with a flourish – eagling the 18th, rolling in a three-foot eagle putt for a 67 to finish on 12-under-par 276 – but with a deep-down sense it wasn’t all that it could have been.
“Looking back on the year, I’ll probably be a little disappointed. But that’s natural, that’s golf. You’ve got to try to keep improving and getting better. I think I’m definitely on the right track.”
Nobody played The Earth course better over the weekend than McIlroy, which probably only served to add to his overall disappointment. For the first two days, he’d found the grainy greens to be cantankerous with a will of their own. And, if it weren’t for a missed short birdie putt on the ninth and then another missed putt for a bogey on the 10th yesterday, McIlroy would – and probably should – have been right in the business end of affairs.
Still, a fifth-placed cheque for €218,483 – which brought his season’s winnings on the European Tour to over €1.6 million – provided further solace that things are going in the right direction.
Indeed, McIlroy has finished fifth-sixth-fifth in his last outings taking in the HSBC in Shanghai, the Hong Kong Open and here.
Of yesterday’s round, which started with a wayward tee-shot he still converted into a birdie on the first, McIlroy said: “The first six holes were great, the middle six weren’t so good. I started getting mad at myself a little bit, and then just freed up at the end and played some really good golf.
“It was a good day. I set myself a target to go 10-under for the weekend and I went one better than that . . . . but it was disappointing not to take advantage of that great start.”
He added: “The swing feels good. I’m getting more comfortable shaping it both ways again which is a good thing.
“The season overall has been okay, I’d give it a six or a seven out of 10, it wasn’t what I really wanted.”
Peter Lawrie’s 71 for 282 left him in tied-13th alongside Graeme McDowell. All in all, it marked Lawrie’s best season on tour financially in eight years – his prize money here of €84,662 moving his season’s earnings to €845,717 for a career best 36th on the Order of Merit – and left him keen to kick-on next year in his quest to move up the world rankings and to get into bigger tournaments.
Darren Clarke lived dangerously in his quest to secure an exemption into next year’s British Open.
Clarke’s 71 for 286 left him in tied-28th, with the €49,432 in prize money moving him up one place – to the critical 30th position, leapfrogging Italy’s Matteo Manassero – on the moneylist with season’s earnings of €892,388.
