Dubai Desert Classic: Tiger Woods finds desert form as Rory McIlroy revels in lead

The meaningful return of golf’s favourite poster boys to the forefront of the game has been high on the sport’s wish list. So, too, has the desire for Rory McIlroy to train on. The Northern Irishman has proved an impossible tease since his teenage victory at this event two years ago. The kid who chipped balls into washing machines before he could spell launderette, and won a world championship at ten, was on his way as a pro. There are few things in life that excite like the next big thing. McIlroy was golf’s. And then…well, not anywhere nearly enough; just one victory since at Quail Hollow in the United States last year. He takes a one-shot lead over Garcia, and four over Woods, into the weekend. His birdie at the last for a 68 to go 11 under was evidence of the maturity McIlroy has been seeking. The green sat up begging to be tamed by a three-wood, the kind of shot he would have played without hesitation 12 months ago. Here he chose the percentage route, laying up with an eight iron, wedge to ten feet and sank the putt. Smart golf does not always have bells on. “I could have got there. It was only 250 yards (only!) to the front but there’s no point. There are still 36 holes left in this tournament. Maybe this time last year I might have gone for it, trying to make a big three or whatever. But I’ll take the birdie,” he said. Boring, boring McIlroy. And thank heavens for that. He celebrated with a quiet meal with his parents. Youngsters, eh? Related Articles * Dubai Desert Classic: leaderboard 11 Feb 2011 * Dubai round two: highlights 11 Feb 2011 * Woods shows signs of best form 11 Feb 2011 * McIlroy leaves Woods trailing 10 Feb 2011 * Woods seeks improvement 10 Feb 2011 * Dubai round one highlights 10 Feb 2011 Garcia ledged a second successive 67, but don’t ask him to smile. The feel is returning to the Spaniard’s game but not yet the romance. “I’m 31, not 20 any more,” he said. “I’m not going to smile on the course because you want me to. I’m going to smile because I feel like smiling.” Let that be soon, please. Smiling was not a problem for Woods. It is only one day, one round of golf, but for 18 holes Woods presented a vision that might yet introduce fresh terror to the fairways. This was not Woods reprising the best of the old but unveiling the new, ten yards longer off the tee than he has ever been. And we thought Kaymer ripped the cover off the ball. Woods chose the fifth as his hole of the day. He had a few from which to pick. His drive finished 40 feet in front of Kaymer’s. The poor German thought he was suffering with tinitis, when in fact the noise he could hear was Woods whistling as he walked past him to his ball. An eight iron to two feet left Woods with a tap-in for his sixth birdie. And no bogeys. At that point world no.1 Lee Westwood looked on the point of combustion. His drive was a metre the wrong side of the second cut of rough, his ball knotted in the undergrowth, Westwood was reduced to a hacker’s thrash, the ball coming out with a grimace and covering no great distance. He was 18 feet short of the pin in three before Woods had played his second shot. It might all be different on Sunday. The wind might blow and the hex shift from Westwood back to Woods. Neither can say with confidence what the next round holds. Westwood made hard work of a beautiful morning when the Emirates golf Club lay on its back with its legs in the air asking to be tickled. For the second day in succession Westwood signed off with an unnecessary bogey, mangling his wedge from position A. His two-under 70 reflected a game shorn of rhythm and confidence. “Just a boring day,” Westwood said. “I’m not hitting it as far as I normally would, distance control on my irons was poor and I’m not striking it well.” It was, perhaps, a question too many to ask Westwood to comment on the state of Woods’s game. The ball he dispatched into the water by 9th green told us something of his mood. “Seemed like we saw the old Tiger today, Lee?” “You’ll have to ask him,” said Number One. Kaymer has not been himself, either. Perhaps the fact of playing with his hero, Woods, for the first time has imposed a subliminal restraint on his game. In Abu Dhabi a fortnight ago, he holed everything. In Dubai the putts have not been dropping.