Rory McIlroy wins European Tour finale to put a cap on his amazing 2012 season

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Rory McIlroy and his girlfriend, tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, pose with (left) his trophy for winning the Europen Tour money title and (right) his trophy for winning the DP World Tour Championship on Sunday.

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Michael Casey

Associated Press

Series: European Tour

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Rory McIlroy made five straight birdies down the stretch to overtake Justin Rose and win the DP World Tour Championship on Sunday, ending a historic year in which the 23-year-old Northern Irishman won the PGA Championship as well as the money titles on both the European Tour and PGA Tour.

The top-ranked McIlroy recovered from early putting woes to finish at 6-under 66 for a total 23-under 265 at the season-ending tournament. Rose, who was tied for seventh after three rounds, surged down the stretch into contention after shooting a course-record 62 that included an eagle and eight birdies.

"I just wanted to finish the season the way I thought I deserved to finish the season," McIlroy said after holing a birdie on 18 and raising his arms in the air in celebration. "You know, I played so well throughout the year and I didn't want to just let it tail off sort of timidly. I wanted to come here and finish in style."

Second-ranked Luke Donald (71) was tied for third with Charl Schwartzel (68) of South Africa. Louis Oosthuizen (69) was another shot back in fifth.

The day was supposed to be a duel between McIlroy and Donald, who were tied for the lead after the third round. The Englishman grabbed an early two-shot lead when McIlroy bogeyed the first and Donald birdied the second.

But then Donald three-putted the third to end a streak of 102 holes on the Earth Course without a bogey to give McIlroy a chance. He then had another bogey on No. 12 to fall three back and never challenged after that, missing the green on the 17th to end his chances.

In the meantime, Rose was climbing up the leaderboard.

The Englishman pulled within one of McIlroy with a birdie and then moved ahead with an eagle on No. 14 after his approach shot rolled to within 10 feet. He sank it for his first lead of the tournament and doubled his advantage when McIlroy three-putted on the 13th.

Rose had another birdie before his 60-foot eagle putt came within inches of the cup on No. 18, and he settled for birdie. Then, he had to wait.

"I thought it was going to be good, to be honest," Rose said. "I caught a glimpse of the board walking to the 18th tee. I saw Rory had gone birdie, birdie, and he's putting the squeeze on. But I knew that is what Rory does."

At No. 17, McIlroy hit what was probably the shot of his tournament, landing a 5-iron within a few feet of the pin.

"You could easily be a lot right into the bunker and leave yourself a tricky up-and-down," he said. "I committed to it and hit a great shot and followed it with a great putt for birdie to give myself that cushion going into the last."

Steve Bisciotti Discusses Expanded Playoffs

Posted Jan 13, 2014

Garrett DowningBaltimoreRavens.com Staff Writer@Ravens All Garrett Downing Articles



The NFL is reportedly considering adding another playoff spot for each conference.



The NFL postseason could look much different in future years.

The league is exploring the possibility of adding two more playoffs teams – one from each conference – bringing the total number of playoff teams to 14.

"That is under serious consideration," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a recent interview. "We think it's one of the great things about the NFL, besides the fact that it's unscripted. Every team and their fans start the season with hope."



Ravens Owner Steve Bisciotti discussed the idea of adding playoff teams during Wednesday’s “State of the Ravens” press conference, and indicated that a change could be coming.

“They’re talking about expanding the playoffs. It seems to be gaining momentum – adding a seventh team per conference,” Bisciotti said.

He did not specify whether he’s in favor of expanding the postseason, but spoke more about the logistical considerations of the move.

By adding a seventh playoff team per conference, the NFL would change the playoff structure so that only the top seed in each conference has a first-round bye. Currently, the top two teams in each conference have first-round byes. There would then be a total of six games on the opening playoff weekend, rather than four wild-card games in the current format.

The advantage of adding playoff teams is two-fold: It creates more playoff games and opportunities for additional revenue. It also keeps more teams in the playoff hunt throughout the 16-game regular season, giving fans a reason to stay invested all year even if their team is struggling.

From Bisciotti’s perspective, one of the issues to consider is the challenge of selling playoff tickets on short notice. By increasing the number of teams, the playoff picture would be murky until the final weeks of the regular season, creating a challenge for teams to move a large quantity of tickets in a matter of days.

“When you expand, then it’s going to mean that there’s going to be six other teams that are still in the running that are going to be asking their fans to send in that [playoff ticket] money in December to be prepared to have that ticket in hand if you’re right back in at the end of the season.” Bisciotti said.

Selling playoff tickets was an issue this year as the Packers, Bengals and Colts all struggled to avoid having the game blacked out locally. The Packers rarely have trouble selling seats, but they made the playoffs by winning three of their last four games after their postseason hopes were grim earlier in the year.

“It’s not really a lack of a demand as much as it is a logistics problem,” Bisciotti said.

“It really came down to the logistics of people come December, and they’re 6-6, and they say, ‘I’m not paying that $600 for two rounds of playoffs.’ And I don’t know how you deal with that. But they all sold out, but you only get a week to do it.”

The Ravens have never had an issue selling tickets in the regular season or playoffs, as they have sold out every home game in franchise history. The renewal rate for Ravens’ season ticket holders is around 98-99 percent, Bisciotti said, and there is also a waiting list to buy season tickets.

“We’re very fortunate here, and we thank the fans for that,” Bisciotti said. “Other teams struggle a little bit more; that’s their problem.”