DUBAI: Spaniard Alvaro Quiros beat Luke Donald to the Dubai World Championship title but he is still in awe of the record-breaking Briton's nerves of steel and tenacity under pressure.
"Luke is unbelievable," the 28-year-old Quiros told reporters after Donald came third in the blazing heat of the United Arab Emirates on Sunday. "You can never count him out.
"He's always coming back, always coming at you. It's not easy being number one in the world when everybody wants to catch you," he said after finishing two shots ahead of 42-year-old Briton Paul Lawrie and three in front of Donald.
"The mental statement is the one that moves a real golfer and you can see it in Luke. He obviously feels so good under pressure."
World number one Donald's third-place finish in Dubai made sure he became the first player to win the orders of merit in Europe and the United States.
The willowy 6-foot-3 Quiros is one of the longest hitters in world golf but can be terribly wayward off the tee and he acknowledges that, despite his smiling demeanour, he is often prone to negative thoughts on the course.
"There are always two ways to see the bottle -- half-empty or half-full," said the Dubai specialist after adding the World Championship to his Desert Classic success in the same city in February.
"I've spent so much time looking at the bottle half-empty so it's now time to see it the other way. That's the right way to look at it too."
Quiros's victory at the Greg Norman-designed Earth course on Sunday, the sixth of his career on the European Tour, lifted him to fourth in the points list for next year's Ryder Cup and secured his place in all four major championships in 2012.
The win, he said, was a product of hard toil on the practice range in recent weeks.
"I've been working on my swing for two or three months because I want to become a more consistent player," he said after soaring from 52nd to 21st in the world rankings.
"It is not completely mechanical yet but this is what I must do. A better swing is the way to go for me."
The big advantage he has over his rivals, though, is length and that was an asset that once again came in useful on the 620-yard 18th hole on Sunday.
Quiros made the green after two booming efforts with his three-wood before he rolled in a curling, right-to-left, 50-foot putt for an eagle three and celebrated with a series of theatrical fist pumps.
"That putt was perfect, simply genius," he said, laughing.
Source:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/golf/top-stories/Dubai-winner-Quiros-hails-record-breaking-Donald/articleshow/11080821.cms
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