Spain’s Alvaro Quiros hit a hole-in-one as he won golf’s
Dubai Desert Classic by a single shot, while Tiger Woods slipped out of
contention after a final round that included a double-bogey at the last hole.
The 28-year-old Quiros finished on 11-under-par 277 at the
Emirates Golf Club following a final-round 68, with South Africa’s James
Kingston and Anders Hansen of Denmark on 10- under. Woods was 3-over today,
giving him a four-round total of 4-under.
“It was the perfect shot,” Quiros told reporters of his
hole-in-one. “Once a year it happens.”
Woods, seeking his first victory since November 2009, was
among several players to fade, with Spain’s Sergio Garcia tying for 20th with
the American after also carding a 3-over round. Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy
dropped to 10th and world No. 1 Lee Westwood of England dropped three shots on
the last two holes to finish 15th.
Quiros, who collects a check for €301,353 ($408,500) after
claiming his fifth European Tour title, aced the par-3 11th hole on his way to
victory.
His last round also included an eagle at the second hole,
four birdies, a bogey and a triple bogey as he lost his ball in the branches of
a palm tree at the eighth.
Woods, 35, winner of the tournament in 2006 and 2008, told
the BBC he would take “quite a few positives” from the week, but “a couple of
glaring examples of what I need to work on.”
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