Omega Dubai Desert Classic concludes with Rafael Cabrera-Bello on top- Highlights Part-2
Continued from: Omega Dubai Desert Classic concludes with Rafael Cabrera-Bello on top- Highlights Part-1
Pulling in a magical eagle on the second hole on the front, Westwood sent a strong signal notifying that he is not giving up the title this time around.
He fell for a bogey at par-four, 5th and made the turn with one-under. He was only able to card one birdie on the back nine to close his round for 17-under.
Bello, meanwhile, pulled in just one birdie on the front and made the turn to pull in another three on the back nine, without dropping a shot in the 18-hole stretch.
Bello said, "Just the fact that I was able today to be successful just proves to me that I'm working on the right line. It gives me a lot of confidence that I have proven to myself that I can perform at least one week as good as themselves".
He went on, "It's just a huge, huge confidence and huge morale boost. This will open a lot of doors and this was really the quality jump in my game I was looking for, and I had been practising hard for it".
The young Spaniard is now contemplating an appearance at the 64-man WGC Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona to carry on with his brilliant start of the season.
Westwood, who had been struggling with a neck and elbow injury since his second round bid in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, fell for a sloppy final round to let go of the title.
He played well in the Qatar Masters, finishing at a joint 12th and was hoping to close the Middle Eastern tour events with a victory on top.
He has been constantly challenged by the rampaging McIlroy, who snatched away the number two spot on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).
The 38-year-old Englishman has now regained his number two spot as the young Irishman fell for a lopsided closing in Dubai.
McIlroy, who managed stellar performances on both the opening rounds, with a six-under, 66 on the first and seven-under, 65 on the second day, was leading the event through the halfway mark, along with German Martin Kaymer.
His third round bid came as a surprise when he fell for an even-par, succumbing to no fewer than four bogeys in the day.
He started of the final day with a bogey on the opening hole and was never able to recover from the early shock for the rest of the stretch.
He fell for a disastrous double-bogey six on the ninth hole and completely lost his composure to shift back in contention.
He carded four birdies on the back nine, finishing for a joint fifth on the leaderboard with another three players.
Scott Stephen Gallacher, also played brilliantly throughout the event and shot into contention on several occasions on the weekend.
After pulling in impressive knocks on second and third days, Gallacher tried to emulate the impressive golf of his previous rounds.
Although he managed to pull in a blistering eagle at par-five, 13th, his bogeys on the front nine forced him to settle for a joint second with Westwood.
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