Alvaro Quiros wins Dubai World Championship

Alvaro Quiros won the Dubai World Championship by two shots from Paul Lawrie. By finishing in third place, England’s Luke Donald secured the Race to Dubai title and became the first man to win the money list on both sides of the Atlantic.

Alvaro Quiros wins Dubai World Championship

Alvaro Quiros of Spain won the Dubai World Championship by two shots from Scotland's Paul Lawrie. By finishing in third place, England's Luke Donald secured the Race to Dubai title and became the first man to win the money list on both sides of the Atlantic.

Quiros began the final round two clear of Lawrie and he doubled his advantage with three straight birdies to open his final round. But things changed quickly over the course of the front nine and, after the 1999 Open Champion posted five birdies in his first seven holes and Quiros dropped a shot at the ninth, the Scot took the lead.

A bogey from Lawrie at the 12th meant the pair were tied, then Quiros took the lead again with a birdie at the 14th. There was still just one shot in it as they came to the final hole.

The big-hitting Spaniard slammed the door on Lawrie on the home hole. Two powerful shots into the wind gave him a long eagle chance across the 72nd green. He rolled it home to finish two clear.

"From the beginning Paul was holing every putt," said Quiros. "It was a very good day of golf between him and me."

Although disappointed not to claim the victory, Lawrie was able to take a number of positives from his performance.

"I probably did enough to have a chance coming down 18, and that's all you can do. Alvaro, he's got at least 250 yards uphill into the wind on 18 with a three wood off a hanging lie. Any time you make a three off that lie... He's a worthy winner," Lawrie said.

"I've enjoyed it. I haven't played here before and it's been a great week. It's a big event, it's a big field, some great players. You're talking about Luke Donald, the first person to win the Order of Merit on both sides of the Atlantic. I finished a shot ahead of Luke this week - that's massive for me."

Closing with an excellent 66, Donald did more than enough to win the Race to Dubai title.

"It's funny to sum up how I feel," said Donald. "This is something I've wanted for the last few months - to try and win both Money Lists. Obviously with my come from behind win at Disney, this really became possible. I got what I came for, and that was to win The Race to Dubai and do the double and create history."

Dubai World Championship presented by DP World Earth Course, Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai Dec 18-11, purse €5,500,000, par 72

1   Alvaro Quiros (Esp)   68   64   70   67   269   €922,645 2   Paul Lawrie (Sco)      65   73   66   67   271   €615,094 3   Luke Donald (Eng)   72   68   66   66   272   €359,832 4   Peter Hanson (Swe)   64   72   71   67   274   €276,794 5   Charl Schwartzel (RSA)   69   71   68   67   275   €221,435 T6   Francesco Molinari (Ita)   71   68   68   69   276   €170,291 T6   Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)   72   67   66   71   276   €170,291 T8   Shane Lowry (Ire)   69   70   68   70   277   €143,933 T8   Robert Rock (Eng)   68   69   71   69   277   €143,933 10   Pablo Larrazabal (Esp)   71   68   70   69   278   €127,325

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage Where next? Golf Monthly - Everything must go sale  

Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly. 

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?