In the final moments of the 2026 Dubai Invitational, both Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry seemed primed for a fairytale win to kickstart the year in pro golf. That is until each player reached the final challenge.
With victory in their sights, both McIlroy and Lowry stumbled on the 72nd hole to miss out on a dream start to 2026.
Here’s what happened.
Rory McIlroy’s epic rally spoiled with closing bogey at Dubai Invitational
Heading into Sunday’s final round, McIlroy was three shots off the lead and hungry to start his year off with a bang. An early birdie at the 3rd hole helped his case, but then things went sideways for the five-time major champion.
Bogeys at 4 and 7 dropped McIlroy to four under for the tournament and well off the lead. It seemed he’d have to settle for a top-10 after all.
But then the World No. 2 went on one of his trademark hot streaks to change the narrative completely. Rory reeled off five-straight birdies on holes 9-13 to rocket back up the leaderboard into a tie for the lead at nine under.
With five holes to go, McIlroy shared the top of the leaderboard with Daniel Hillier and 54-hole leader Nacho Elvira. Lowry was one shot back at eight under.
At the par-3 14th, McIlroy watched in dismay as his 30-foot birdie try burned the edge of the cup, forcing him to tap in for par. Had his putt dropped, it would have stretched his birdie streak to six-straight holes and would have given him the solo lead with four to play.
By the time McIlroy reached the watery par-4 18th hole at Dubai Creek Resort, he was still at nine under and tied with Elvira and Hillier. But Lowry had jumped into the lead at 10 under.
Still, with a birdie at the last, a feat he accomplished in Round 1, McIlroy could have set himself up for a playoff. But the toughest hole on the course proved to be too much.
McIlroy lost his drive right behind a grove of palm trees and nearly into a lagoon. His second shot ended up in a back greenside bunker. He splashed out to 15 feet, then just missed his par-saving putt.
The unfortunate bogey dropped McIlroy to eight under and out of contention.
After his round, McIlroy admitted he “wasn’t very sharp” in his first start of the year but also took away some positives from the experience.
“I wasn’t really focused on winning the tournament. I was just trying to piece it together and make some good swings and try to hit a few more fairways, which I did for the most part. Would have been nice to hit the fairway at the last to give myself a chance for birdie there,” he said. “Overall it was a good first week back. I felt like I learned a lot of stuff about my game. I wasn’t very sharp, but hopefully I’m a little bit sharper going into next week than I was going into this week, I guess.”
