Alvaro Quiros held a three shot lead over Rory McIlroy heading into the final round of the UBS Hong Kong Open -- Only to falter in the final round, carding a three-over 73 to open the door for McIlory to claim the victory.The Northern Irishman finished off his bogey-free round of 65, by holing out a bunkers shot on 18, to rally from three strokes down for his fourth victory of the year.
“It is very special to win this. No matter how prestigious tournaments are, this is one of my favorites and I’m really happy to win it,” McIlroy said.
“To be able to win a golf tournament when you are not at your best is something. Tiger Woods did this all the time. This is a great win, to come from behind and to be able to draw level and then close it out.”
The 22-year old reigning U.S. Open champion did little wrong in the final round, starting in the fourth position.
He carded two birdies on the front nine on No. 2 and No. 9, to make the turn in 33.
Six pars and three more birdies including the hole out on No. 18; coupled with Quiros's collapse, gave McIlroy the opening he needed to secure the victory in China.
Quiros had the majority of his struggles right out of the gate on Sunday on the front nine.
The Spaniard began the day with a bogey on the opening hole, following that with two more bogeys on No.5 and No. 9, with a very costly double-bogey on the par-three 7th hole.
With two birdies and only one bogey on the back-nine, Quiros made an effort to right the ship.
However, the damage had been done as McIlroy's clean card of 65 was too much to overcome his early errors.
With the victory, McIlroy now moves into second place behind Luke Donald in the Race to Dubai on the European Tour with only one event remaining on the year.
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