GOLF TOUR NEWS: NINETEEN-YEAR-OLD Rory McIlroy has made it into the world's top 50 for the first time despite his play-off defeat in the Hong Kong Open yesterday.
McIlroy, a professional for only 14 months, suffered his second sudden death loss of the year, being beaten at the second extra hole by Taiwan's Lin Wen-tang.
The pair are now 50th and 51st on the rankings, separated by only 0.01 points, but if McIlroy, up 13 places from last week, remains in the top 50 at the end of next month he will earn himself a debut in the US Masters at Augusta next April.
McIlroy insisted he was not too downhearted after narrowly missing out on his first European Tour win following the play-off defeat.
He shot a final-round five-under-par 65 to enter a three-way play-off with Lin and Italian Francesco Molinari at the Hong Kong golf club.
Molinari could only par the first play-off hole on the par-four 18th while Lin and McIlroy both birdied meaning the two would face off again.
McIlroy sent his tee shot into a crowd of spectators to the left of the fairway but recovered by hitting his approach shot onto the edge of the green.
Lin, meanwhile, hit the fairway from the tee before superbly hitting his second shot to within a foot of the pin and when McIlroy failed with his birdie putt, the 34-year-old applied the easy finish to become the first Asian player in a decade to win the tournament.
"It was a great week," said McIlroy. "I'll take all the positives.
"As long as I can keep putting myself in these positions and feeling the nerves and the adrenaline, I'll know I'm doing things right. It's been a great week and I can't be too disappointed. That's the way it goes."
The result means McIlroy improves his Race to Dubai standing having been tied for fifth after the season-opening HSBC Champions and he remains confident that a maiden victory on the European Tour is on the horizon. "It puts me in a great position going into the new year and I have two events left in South Africa," added McIlroy. If I don't win there, I'll hopefully win sometime next year."
For Lin, the victory earns the 34-year-old a two-year exemption on the European Tour. However, Lin admitted he is unlikely to change his schedule due to the win, insisting he is happy to continue on the Asian Tour.
"I will stay longer on the Asian Tour because I want to play better on it," he said. "Also there are a lot of supporters, sponsors, friends in Asia."
There was heartache for Oliver Wilson once again, however, as the 28-year-old conspired to hit three successive bogeys from the 15th to drop to 12 under for the tournament and leave him still searching for a maiden European Tour victory.
The Englishman tied for sixth alongside German veteran Bernhard Langer, Malaysian Iain Steel, David Gleeson of Australia and South African Richard Sterne.
Graeme McDowell and Oliver Fisher were among a group of four a further stroke behind while Gareth Maybin shot a final round 67 to finish on seven-under-par 273 with Paul McGinley on two-under-par 278 after a 71.
Hong Kong Open
Leading final round scores
(Irl and Brit unless stated, par 70):
265 - Wen-Tang Lin (Tai) 65 69 64 67 (Wen-Tang Lin won at the second play-off hole) Francesco Molinari (Ita) 66 67 67 65, Rory McIlroy 70 64 66 65.
267 - Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 66 66 70 65, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 69 67 64 67.
268 - Bernhard Langer (Ger) 69 67 63 69, David Gleeson (Aus) 72 65 65 66, Oliver Wilson 66 66 65 71, Iain Steel (Mal) 68 68 66 66, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 64 69 69 66.
269 - Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 71 63 66 69, Graeme McDowell 71 68 65 65, Angelo Que (Phi) 68 68 67 66, Oliver Fisher 67 65 73 64.
World Rankings
Leading positions
1 Tiger Woods 13.48pts
2 Sergio Garcia 8.48
3 Phil Mickelson 7.79
4 Padraig Harrington 7.39
5 Vijay Singh 7.31
6 Robert Karlsson 5.21
7 Camilo Villegas 5.20
8 Ernie Els 4.88
9 Anthony Kim 4.78
10 Lee Westwood 4.76
Other Irish: 31 Graeme McDowell, 50 Rory McIlroy, 64 Darren Clarke, 100 Paul McGinley.
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