If Rory McIlroy goes on to fulfil his potential as one of the greatest stars the game has ever known, we will look back at the day he emerged victorious at the UBS Hong Kong Open as a pivotal one in his career. Up until this moment, the Ulsterman's wins came when he was playing well. But at Fanling, McIlroy somehow managed to summon the determination to win the hitherto elusive title without firing on all cylinders. It made for a quite brilliant spectacle – but my goodness, the 22-year-old made it tough on his legions of Hong Kong fans.
After opening up with a superb 64 in blustery conditions on Thursday, McIlroy failed to make much headway over the next two rounds, carding lacklustre rounds of 69 and 70 to fall three shots behind the pace set by Alvaro Quiros, the long-hitting Spaniard whose game, at face value at least, would seem far from suited for the traditional parkland layout of the Composite Course. It would later transpire that McIlroy was suffering the effects of Dengue fever, an illness he had picked up on his travels throughout Asia in the weeks leading up to Hong Kong, and his energy levels were low. McIlroy woke up on Sunday morning feeling lethargic again. "Why don't you go for a jog?" suggested his new manager, Conor Ridge. McIlroy's 'jog' became a decent workout session, which included a five kilometre run completed in 23 minutes. Stung into action, McIlroy arrived at the course with renewed vigour. He was ready to go.
Every top player has a favoured venue, a course which he feels comfortable on, one where he is more often than not able to conjure up some magic. Nick Faldo had Muirfield, Tiger Woods has Augusta. With McIlroy, even at this early stage of his career, it's already looking like the Hong Kong Golf Club. It was here on the celebrated 18th hole in 2008 that he produced a miracle shot from the trees in the play-off with Taiwan's Lin Wen-tang that he has come to look back upon with particular fondness. He didn't win that year but such was his liking for the occasion that the UBS Hong Kong Open became one of the first tournaments he'd earmark to play. "That remains one of my favourite moments on a golf course," said McIlroy in the lead up to last month's event.
McIlroy came close again in 2009, finishing second behind Gregory Bourdy, and was once again in the running a year later, losing out to an inspired Ian Poulter. But it was 2011 that will forever be remembered as Rory's Open.
Playing in the third to last group alongside Frenchman Gregory Havret on Sunday, McIlory started solidly enough with a par at the demanding par-four first and a birdie at the par-five second. Six consecutive pars wouldn't normally make much of a move up the leader board during the final round at Fanling, but after the scoring fest that was the 2010 Open, the Composite Course was in unforgiving mood this time around. Hard and fast conditions prevailed, making the already small greens far tougher targets to find than usual. Although the course was bathed in agreeable winter sunshine, the wind blew almost constantly, while the rough had been left to grow to a height that even the world's best struggled from. The setup was perfect and measuring just a shade over 6,700 yards, Fanling, the shortest course on the European Tour, was playing as one of the toughest. McIlroy's six pars, followed by a birdie at the ninth, where he drove the green with a three-wood, lifted him into a share of the lead. Amazing.
At the same time McIlroy was getting plenty of help. Quiros was losing his composure, the Spaniard coming to grief at the short seventh which he double bogeyed on his way to reaching the turn in a dismal four over. YE Yang, Asia's major hero, was treading water, while Thailand's Pariya Junhasavasdikul, the surprise package of the week, was failing to replicate the form he'd shown in earlier rounds. All of a sudden, the Hong Kong Open became McIlroy's to lose. The main threats to his challenge coming from playing partner Havret, who made a huge move on the par-five 12th by holing a 35-footer for eagle, and the unflappable Peter Hanson, who was quietly going about his business and making few mistakes.
But McIlroy stayed calm – and above all, confident. While his characteristic jaunty stride had disappeared in the second and third rounds, it was well and truly back on Sunday. Looking more and more like the man who blitzed the field at Congressional five months earlier – rather than the one who had let slip the Masters at Augusta in April – McIlroy was imperious over the back nine. An expected birdie materialised at the long 12th, followed by two pars and a fine birdie at the new par-three 15th consolidated his advantage and he reached the 18th tee with a one-shot lead over Havret who had holed a beautiful putt on 17 to apply more than a modicum of pressure.
The home hole at Fanling has over the years given witness to some of the most spectacular and dramatic moments in European and Asian Tour history. It has created heroes in the form of Lin Wen-tang (2008), Padraig Harrington (2003) and Jose Maria Olazabal (2001), and villains out of readily likeable men such as James Kingston (2004 and 2005) and Robert Karlsson (2007). Not long at 410 yards, it does however leave accomplished players praying for a straight drive down its bunkered and tree-lined fairway.
McIlroy, of course, knows all about the 18th following his tussle with Lin three years previously. And this time, the 18th was kind.
Electing to go with a "hard three-wood" into the wind, McIlroy tugged his drive ever so slightly. By such margins are tournaments won and lost. It wasn't a bad pull, but the shot was certainly heading left of its intended line. If McIlroy had been unlucky the ball could well have bounded on through the rough and into the trees or – worse – gone out of bounds. Maybe the 18th thought it owed McIlroy something because somehow his ball defied science and kicked right and into a good lie in the rough just 95 yards from the flag. The enormous galleries – and Hong Kong golf fans have well and truly been taken in by Rorymania – breathed a collective sigh of relief. Havret, however, wasn't quite so fortunate, the Frenchman hit a stinker that found the fairway bunker from where he was forced to lay up.
Surely it was all over? Not a chance. His US Open performance aside, McIlroy, wonderful talent that he is, never seems to make things easy for himself, and he caught his pitch a groove too high on the clubface and the ball plummeted into the deep bunker guarding the front of the green. Such was the trajectory of the shot that the ball could have plugged into the sand, which would have left a near-impossible up and down. Fortunately it didn't, and after Havret pitched up to 30-feet of the hole, McIlroy knew a sand save would win him the title over a quality leader board that included a resurgent defending champion, Ian Poulter, who was in with a 66.
But trust McIlroy – coming off the most impressive season of his career – to go one better and finish with aplomb. Splashing delicately from some distance below the level of the green, the bunker shot landed softly on the putting surface and trundled unerringly – majestically – into the bottom of the cup to complete a marvellous round of 65. What followed was pandemonium of the very finest order. As the cheers reverberated around this most picturesque of settings, McIlroy flung himself into a celebration quite unlike any we have seen from him before. Pumping his fists and letting out screams of joy, McIlroy knew he had finally won the title he so craved.
McIlroy's finish also provided the perfect ending for Swiss banking giant UBS, whose seven-year title sponsorship came to a close following the championship. Since becoming involved in 2005, UBS has increased the tournament prize purse steadily each year from US$700,000 to the US$2.75 million on offer last month. They have also raised the tournament's profile significantly and, combined with the generosity of the government's Mega Events Fund, which supported the event financially for the first time in 2011, ensured a first-rate field of entrants.
"It means a lot. I wanted to win this tournament so badly since that play-off in 2008, but finally, to get this trophy in my hands, is very special," said McIlroy, who first visited Hong Kong in 2005 when he played the Faldo Series International Trophy at Fanling. "I've loved this city, I've loved this golf course, "I've loved this tournament ever since I got here. No matter how prestigious tournaments are, you always have your favourite and this is definitely one of my favourites, so to be able to win is fantastic. I couldn't be happier. I think that's the most excited I've ever been on a golf course. It was just incredible to see the ball drop and realise that I had finally won."
