A stellar field assembled in Abu Dhabi, with 2008 Player of the Year Padraig Harrington joining defending champion Martin Kaymer, and Sergio Garcia making his first appearance since his victory at the inaugural Race to Dubai event in Shanghai. Miguel Angel Jimenez, Ross Fisher, and Henrik Stenson were all back in action in what was a magnificent tournament once again.
Sergio and Harrington both admitted that they weren't on top of their games coming into the week, but they certainly looked comfortable by Sunday, having secured a steady top 10 to start the calendar year.
Martin Kaymer showed his class once again, defending his title as staunchly as Mark Selby did his in the snooker Masters in Wembley this week. Unfortunately, Kaymer went the same way as Selby. He simply couldn't get things going on the back nine, until he rolled in a 30 footer on the last for an eagle to tie Louis Oosthuizen for 2nd place, one shot behind Paul Casey.
The week belonged to Casey. He played the best golf I have seen him play in a long, long time. His long game, particularly his driving is always excellent, but anyone who watched the Ryder Cup will remember that his putting left a lot to be desired in Valhalla. There was no such weakness in the desert this week, as he putted beautifully on the way to a 3rd-round 63, placing him firmly in control of the trophy.
On Sunday, he did well to hold his nerve on the back nine after three bogeys in four holes saw him slip back to the slavering pack (no offence to Oosthuizen and Kaymer).
Ultimately, he showed his class in closing out the tournament with pars. It's not surprising that his form didn't continue into Sunday - it's very rare that a 54-hole leader by several shots shoots a better final round than his pursuers, the temptation is to play defensively. To his credit, Casey didn't do so until the bogeys crept on, having extended his lead to 6 shots by the 11th hole. Only last year, we saw Martin Kaymer drop a six shot lead in the last round to scrape over the line in similar fashion.
Casey had a solid if unremarkable season last year on Tour, with a handful of top 10s and a below-average Ryder Cup. His last win came in the same event in 2007, but with a win back under his belt there's no reason he won't go on to pick up a few more this season, and indeed challenge in the majors.
It was another fine week for Rory McIlroy, notching up his third top 5 in his last 4 events. McIlroy has had an excellent winter, with 7 top 10s in 10 starts. He's leapfrogged Northern Irish compatriot Graeme McDowell to lie at 35th in the world, and has made clear his intentions of making it into the top 20, if not the top 10, by the end of the season.
An ambitious claim? Perhaps, but the movement in the golf rankings is fairly fluid once you get below, well, No. 1.
However, I've said it before - if McIlroy wants to get the wins he will get, he's got to hole a few more putts. He shot a great 65 on the last day at Abu Dhabi, but it was never going to be good enough, after he failed to capitalize on a good long game on Saturday. As I've written before, it's not that he's a bad putter, it's simply that he doesn't hole his share of 20-footers. When you miss one it's not a disaster, but if you look back at the round and see you haven't holed any, you won't be holding the trophy.
I'll be back in a day or two with a preview of the Qatar Masters and a word on the European Ryder Cup captaincy.
Until then.
