Golf:Spain's Alvaro Quiros produced a bizarre final round to capture the Dubai Desert Classic where Rory McIlroy dropped further off the pace to eventually tie for 10th.
The 27-year-old Quiros had a hole-in-one, chipped in for an eagle and also lost a ball up a palm tree in a final-round 68 to win by a stroke at 11 under par and collect the €301,353 first prize.
Denmark's Soren Hansen, needing to birdie the last hole to match Quiros and force a play-off, posted a 70 to end with a 10-under and in share of alongside South Africa’s James Kingston (67).
Struggling Tiger Woods ended his desert campaign with a final-hole double bogey in a closing 75 for a four-under-par score.
England’s Lee Westwood dropped three shots in his closing two holes and posted a 72 but remains world number one after nearest ranking rival Martin Kaymer of Germany ended in a share of 31st place.
McIlory, who led the €1.7 million tournament over the first two days added a 74 to Saturday’s 75 to drop back to five under.
Michael Hoey finished a shot further back on five under after a 73. Damien McGrane (70) was level par, Darren Clarke (75) a shot further back with Peter Lawrie (76) way down the field on five over.
Quiros's ace, his fourth on the European Tour, came at the 11th.
"I played a three-quarter wedge shot and it was the perfect shot, but that happens just once a year," he said. "I had fallen back to second or third so that hole-in-one was the positive point of the round. It gave me a good advantage."
Starting his final round a shot behind the leaders, Quiros began with a bang after chipping in from five yards off the back of the green for an eagle at the second.
But he lost the lead when his drive at the eighth landed in bushes forcing him to take a penalty drop. However, Quiros's ball plugged in the waste sand from where he skied the ball some 30-yards into a palm tree.
A pair of binoculars was required before Quiros, in the company of chief referee John Paramour, could confirm that the ball in the tree was his. Quiros took a penalty drop but walked off with a triple bogey.
He quickly shook off his misfortune to birdie the ninth and the hole-in-one then put him back in front for good.
Woods heads home still seeking a first win since November, 2009. "It was a very frustrating day," the American said.
"But I got off to such a poor start, to be two-over through three holes and I just couldn't make it up from there.
"When it was calm this week, I hit the ball pure, and that's the thing. When the wind blows, I have to shape shots and hit shots differently and all of my old feels are kind of out the window.
"That's the thing about making changes, As I've said, I've been all through this before with my last two instructors, and it will come around. I just need more work and more practice."
Collated final round scores and totals in the European Tour Omega Dubai Desert Classic, Emirates GC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
(Gbr and Irl unless stated, Irish in boldpar 72):
277Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 73 68 68 68
278Anders Hansen (Den) 69 68 71 70, James Kingston (Rsa) 72 72 67 67
279Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 68 69 72 70, Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 74 70 65 70, Scott Strange (Aus) 72 72 67 68
280Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 67 67 74 72, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 69 71 69 71
281Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 69 73 70
282 Rory McIlroy 65 68 75 74, Chris Wood 71 72 70 69, Stephen Gallacher 70 69 71 72, Ross Fisher 73 69 70 70, Bradley Dredge 70 72 71 69
283Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 73 69 72 69, Ben Curtis (USA) 71 71 72 69, Michael Hoey 70 67 73 73, Lee Westwood 69 70 72 72, Gregory Havret (Fra) 72 71 69 71
284Tiger Woods (USA) 71 66 72 75, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 67 67 75 75, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 72 70 69 73, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 71 71 78 64, Brett Rumford (Aus) 69 68 72 75, Robert Rock 73 71 71 69, Marc Warren 72 67 74 71, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 71 68 74 71
285Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 73 71 69 72, Tano Goya (Arg) 73 70 72 70, Simon Dyson 72 72 70 71
286Hennie Otto (Rsa) 72 70 69 75, Richie Ramsay 71 69 73 73, Floris De Vries (Ned) 71 70 71 74, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 71 72 68 75, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 69 71 76 70, David Lynn 74 69 71 72, Victor Dubuisson (Fra) 68 71 77 70, Johan Edfors (Swe) 70 69 78 69, Anthony Wall 69 70 74 73
287Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 72 70 74 71, Pablo Martin (Spa) 68 72 71 76
288Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70 70 73 75, Danny Lee (Nzl) 74 69 78 67, Damien McGrane 72 71 75 70, Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 71 72 71 74, Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 70 74 73, Thomas Levet (Fra) 72 68 77 71
289Steve Webster 68 68 81 72, Paul Waring 73 68 71 77, Jamie Donaldson 71 71 76 71, Danny Willett 68 71 73 77, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 71 72 72 74, Darren Clarke 70 72 72 75, Ross Bain 75 69 72 73
290Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 73 70 76 71, Todd Hamilton (USA) 69 73 74 74, Mark Foster 75 67 73 75, Mark Brown (Nzl) 69 70 79 72
291David Drysdale 73 71 70 77, Richard Finch 72 72 76 71, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 75 69 71 76, David Horsey 73 70 75 73, Tom Lewis 73 70 74 74, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 68 72 77 74
292Rhys Davies 73 70 74 75, Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 70 74 74 74, Seve Benson 73 69 78 72
293Mark F Haastrup (Den) 76 68 74 75, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 71 70 76 76, Peter Lawrie 74 70 73 76
298Simon Khan 73 71 73 81
