Tiger Woods created an eagle on the ultimate hole to complete the gap spherical of the Dubai Desert Classic 2011 six shots behind leader Rory McIlroy.
Northern Ireland’s McIlroy shot 7-under sixty five at the Emirates Golf Club and is 2 strokes prior to Spain’s Sergio Garcia and South African Thomas Aiken. Woods, seeking his initial victory since November 2009, finished with seventy one.
Woods was grouped with England’s Lee Westwood and Germany’s Martin Kaymer, the 2 players prior to him at the highest of the Official World Golf Ranking. The yankee won in Dubai in 2006 and 2008.
“We had a blast,” Woods said in an interview with Sky Sports. “It’s nice to possess this sort of pairing as a result of we have a tendency to don’t have an opportunity to try and do it fairly often.”
McIlroy, taking part in early before the wind started blowing, created eight birdies and a bogey. The 21-year-old, who started on the tenth hole, had 5 straight birdies from his eighth to twelfth holes.
“It was a good thanks to begin the tournament,” McIlroy, whose solely European Tour victory came in Dubai 2 years ago, said on the tour’s web site. “I felt up to the mark of my ball most of the day.”
Top-ranked Westwood and Kaymer each shot 3-under sixty nine and are four shots off the lead. The duo’s pairing with Woods marked the primary time in seventeen years the highest 3 within the world ranking played in a very regular European Tour event, consistent with the tour’s web site.
‘Very Special’
“It’s terribly special to possess the highest 3 within the world here,” Kaymer told Sky Sports. “Of course, you’re somewhat bit a lot of nervous the primary 2, 3 holes than normally on Thursday. I had a solid initial spherical and that’s all I needed to try and do.”
Woods finished his spherical by hitting his second shot at No. eighteen to inside 5 feet, then creating the putt for an eagle.
“I had 254 (yards) to the opening and had to require one thing off it,” Woods, who known as his spherical “scratchy,” said. “I threw it up within the air and it absolutely was excellent.”
Woods was ranked No. one when he previously played in a very top- 3 grouping at the 2008 U.S. Open with No. a pair of Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott.