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| Tennis player Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark stands with the parents of Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, Rosie (R) and Gerry, as McIlroy plays during the final round of the Dubai World Championship at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai yesterday |
South African Thomas Aiken said he was a victim of ‘Murphy’s Law’ after bringing the curtain down on his season with a sparkling five-under 67 in the Dubai World Championship final round yesterday.
The 28-year-old enjoyed the sort of form that won him the Spanish Open in May and would have broken the record at the Greg Norman-designed Earth course but for a series of missed short-range putts over the closing holes.
“I’ve been struggling with my swing for the last couple of months and, Murphy’s Law, I worked it out on the last day of the last tournament of the season,” Aiken told Reuters, referring to the adage suggesting that what can go wrong, will go wrong.
“I hit the ball a lot better today and gave myself a lot of birdie chances,” he added after finishing with a four-under total of 284.
“I had five six-footers in the last five holes, three for birdies, one for eagle and one for par, and I missed all of them.
“I could have gone really low but all in all that was a great way to finish the season. I put the ball exactly where I needed to and that makes the world of difference.” The course record of 64 is held by overnight leader Alvaro Quiros of Spain, British pair Lee Westwood and Ross Fisher, German Martin Kaymer and Swede Peter Hanson.
Aiken is hoping his efforts will secure him a top-20 finish at the Dubai World Championship for the third year in a row.
“I’ve finished 13th and 13th in the last two years here so I’ve had two solid tournaments previously,” said the tousle-haired South African.
“This year was solid too until yesterday’s 75 when I really struggled. I had a triple-bogey six at the sixth hole and that was a huge knock.
“Then it was a case of trial and error on the practice range last night and I managed to sort it out.” Aiken is up to 91st in the world rankings after a good season on the European Tour which has yielded nine top-10 finishes including his maiden victory. But he said the bare statistics were deceptive.
“From a results point of view it was probably my best season but from a swing point of view it was my worst,” he said.
“It just shows you what golf is like, you never know what’s going to happen next.”
One thing Aiken knows for sure, however, is that he will compete in fewer tournaments next season.
“I’m going to play a lot less in 2012,” he said. “I’ve played too much over the last two years and I’m going to plan my schedule better to try to get into the top 50 in the world.
“I played around 35 this year, 29 on the European Tour, a few in South Africa and a couple in America and it’s been way too many. From a physical standpoint all the travelling takes its toll.
“It’s been a long season and I’ve done 10 out of the last 11 so I’m looking to have a good break now. Next year I’ll play around 26 - that’s about the right number.”