The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 02 February 2009 /

He may have looked like he was going to throw it away but winning for the first time at a big event is a mammoth task and, despite being bad news from a betting persepective, the Punter is delighted for Rory McIlroy. Meanwhile, the final day of the FBR was no damp squib either...

The King is dead. Long live the King!

The once great warrior and undisputed king of Dubai, Ernie Els, skulked away from the battlefield battered, bruised and his putting in complete disarray as the new pretender stepped forward to wear the crown.

The golfing world had waited with bated breath for young Rory McIlroy to win and yesterday in the Dubai desert, he finally did.

From a betting perspective, it wasn't any good for me. I bombed out on the Big Easy, lost even more cash on a few speculative chasers and compounded matters by laying the young magician.

I made my move as his tee shot went wide on the sixth after he'd double bogeyed the fifth, mercifully only modestly at an average of [1.46]. He dropped another shot at the eighth but then birdied the next five and, as he drove relentlessly clear, it was tempting to switch to the tennis. But I stuck with it.

Six shots clear with six holes to play, it looked like a stroll in the park but a Justin Rose eagle on the 13th and some fast finishes from his nearest challengers meant McIlroy's margin was reduced. A poor tee shot on the par three 15th led to the first of three straight bogeys and he went to the last hole just one clear of Rose, where a brave up and down par save from sand secured his much deserved and eagerly awaited maiden win.

It was a wobble for sure but it needs to be put into perspective. Winning isn't easy, winning for the first time is hard, winning at a big event for the first time is harder still and doing it wire to wire is a massive achievement, and all at just 19 years of age. Don't be fooled into thinking that this young man will be unreliable going forward, as far as I'm concerned he's very much the real deal now.

The manner of the victory will only help in the future, he now knows he can do it in the face of considerable adversity and under immense pressure, he wouldn't have known that if he'd cruised in by three or four.

There'll be plenty of people cursing that they missed this maiden win. McIlroy started this week at around [40.0], a much bigger price than usual, and for once went into the event relatively un-fancied. Personally I have no regrets, having never backed him before. Although, like everyone else, I knew that the inevitable would happen, it could easily have been months down the line and at his usual price of sub [20.0] one could have gone mad following him.

I have no regrets about laying him either, it was very nearly the right decision and it took some brilliant clutch putts, the bogey putt on 16 in particular, to secure the win.

It would have been catastrophic had he not finished the job but this is without any doubt the first of many to come. The future is clearly very bright for Northern Ireland's new favourite son.

The final day at the FBR looked like it would be something of a damp squib in comparison, but it was far from that in the end.

My only hope, Zach Johnson, didn't play badly but he couldn't make any putts. I nearly backed Kenny Perry during round three at around [6.0] but dithered and missed the price. He birdied the last two holes on Saturday, went into round four at under [3.0] and made me wish I'd been more decisive.

I had another good look before the final round got under way but just couldn't see an angle in, I still fancied Perry but I hadn't had the sort of weekend to want to dive in on him at a low price and it was tight enough behind him, with plenty of players ready to cash in should he stutter.

It all pointed to a comfortable Perry win, with his closest challengers, rookies Scott Piercy and James Nitties starting to make errors. But then Charley Hoffman came steaming through the field and Perry started to play as shabbily as the rookies and I backed Hoffman at [6.4].

My man missed a birdie putt from three feet on the 17th when level with Perry and trading at [1.50]. Perry then birdied 17 to edge ahead and trade at [1.10] with one to play, but he then made a very scruffy bogey down the last and it was play-off time.

Both men performed poorly before Perry finally finished it off with a 20 foot birdie putt on the third play-off hole, the 17th. I'd very nearly got out of jail, and indeed felt a little aggrieved that I hadn't.

So champagne and caviar last week, pop and crisps this! I'd suspected on Saturday that I'd be surveying a bombsite and so it proved. The only good news was that I'd layed back Hoffman at [2.18] to get my stake back before the play-off began.

Onwards and upwards though... There's no European Tour event this week after the cancellation of the Indian Masters, the first event to be lost due to the credit crunch, but the USPGA Tour offers up a decent event in the shape of the Buick Invitational.... I'll preview that on Wednesday.

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