Jeev shoots 68 for 21st, McIlroy wins title

Dubai: Jeev Milkha Singh rounded off a mixed week with a four-under 68 that saw him finish the DP World Tour Championships on the European Tour at a creditable tied 21st place even as Rory McIlroy ended a remarkable season with five birdies on last five holes to complete another title win.

Jeev started with a bogey and then had four birdies on second, fifth, eighth and ninth and tenth at which point he was four-under for the day. Then the birdies did not fall and he had pars for the next six holes before a bogey on 17th spoilt the day, but he quickly ended the Tour season with a birdie and a 68. He then rushed back home to meet his mother who is in hospital following a fall on Friday. On a dramatic final day at the Jumeirah Golf Estates, the world No. 1 held off number 2 and playing partner Luke Donald, and also Justin Rose, who shattered the Earth Course record by firing 62 and setting the clubhouse target of 21-under. McIlroy, only one-under after the front nine, birdied the 11th but bogeyed the 13th at which point he was only 18-under. Then he launched a blistering attack on the course with five-in-a-row streak of birdies. That completed an amazing year during which he won he also won the the US PGA Championship and the money list in America. McIlroy chipped close on the long 14th, pitched to three feet at the next, made a 20 footer on the 16th and went one ahead with a six foot putt on the short 17th. Rose had two-putted the par five last for birdie from around 100 feet, but McIlroy matched it and won by two, shooting 66 and aggregating 23-under. By adding the title to his Race to Dubai crown, McIlroy earned himself a combined 1,822,520 to set a new record for a single-season earnings with 5,519,117. PTI