Rory McIlroy affected by Westwood duel

Published on Thursday 19 November 2009 23:02

RORY McIlroy freely admitted last night that he is glad he is not playing with Lee Westwood today.

The two stablemates have not fallen out, but the 20-year-old came off second best when they went head-to-head in Dubai yesterday in their European Tour Order of Merit decider. And that left McIlroy keen to get back to concentrating on his own game when battle resumes with them three groups apart in the second round.

Westwood, more than 114,000 behind entering the final lap, began the Dubai World Championship with a six under par 66 to be only a stroke behind Australian leader Robert Allenby. McIlroy matched his rival's back nine 32, but had made the slower start and with a 68 is in a tie for fifth. If they maintain their current positions it will be the Worksop golfer, champion in 2000, who just comes out on top on Sunday.

McIlroy, trying to become the youngest money list winner since Seve Ballesteros achieved the feat as a 19-year-old in 1976, could easily have said – as Westwood did – that their face-to-face had not bothered him. But he did not try to duck the issue. "I didn't think I would find it as difficult as I did to be honest," said McIlroy. "But that's the way I found it and I thought I dealt pretty well with it.

"Lee's been around a lot longer than me. You want to try and concentrate on the tournament, but at the same time you're seeing what he's doing.

"It will be nice not to play with him tomorrow, just to concentrate fully on my own score and on my own game. I think it will be good for both of us not to play together. We're both just trying to win the Dubai World Championship and whatever happens after that then so be it.

"Today almost felt like a last group final round sort of thing. We're the top two in the Race to Dubai and it's hard to get away from that. I think the intensity levels have been raised a little but just because there's so much to play for, especially to be the first person to become the champion of the Race to Dubai. I think it will be a great honour to put my name on that trophy."

Westwood, however, took a totally different stance when asked if it felt like a special Thursday. "No it didn't," said the 36-year-old, who has finished in the Order of Merit top three on no fewer than five occasions in his career.

"There's a long way to go and a lot of water to go under the bridge before we get to Sunday. You're going to have to play well to get into contention on Sunday, so to be bothered about anything on the first tee on a Thursday that concerns anything other than trying to hit it down the middle and get on the green in two to give yourself a birdie chance is irrelevant as far as I'm concerned.

"I looked at the leaderboard and saw Robert Allenby at seven (under). What Rory is doing didn't really have any effect on the way I was thinking."

Two other players are also in with a chance of finishing No1 but German Martin Kaymer has to be top four and following a 71 is joint 22nd, while Englishman Ross Fisher double-bogeyed the first after driving into a bush and with a 73 stands 40th in the 56-strong field. Given that he already trails McIlroy by over 388,000 and has to finish second at worst, the World Match Play champion is now even more the outsider of the quartet.

Westwood came to life after parring the first six holes. The next 11 produced seven birdies – plus a bogey six on the long 14th – and he very nearly picked up another shot in remarkable fashion on the 620-yard last. Pushing his second shot left his ball on the edge of wood chippings, but his recovery ran just past the hole. McIlroy turned in only level par, but he matched Westwood's birdies at the 11th and 15th and had two more in between.

Allenby, who rejoined the European Tour this season, did not drop a stroke as he moved one ahead of not only Westwood, but also Colombian Camilo Villegas – a new recruit to the circuit – and potential Rookie of the Year Chris Wood.

Fisher, now needing a near-miracle if he is to celebrate his 29th birthday in style on Sunday, said:

"I'm definitely not out of it. I've made it a little bit harder for myself."