Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy duel in the smog at Zhengzhou golf course
Showdown between world's two best players an opportunity to bring bling to the masses
Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods staged a mock staredown like two heavyweight boxers on the first tee, but the multimillion-dollar bout turned into a surreal, chaotic pantomime yesterday.
Used as promotional tools - and expensive ones at that - the top two players in the world went head-to-head in the Duel at Jinsha Lake in Zhengzhou, a golfing desert. There was nothing at stake apart from bragging rights - and McIlroy won that superficial victory with a five-under 67 to Woods' 68.
Stealing the show was an ostentatious display of cars - from Maseratis, Rolls-Royces and Bentleys to Aston Martins - helicopters and advertisements for luxury homes. A phalanx of Henan provincial officials basked in their moment in the sun - or smog - and even a Russian model used the 12th tee to parade her evening gown and designer jewellery - which may have inspired Woods to birdie the hole.
Both players looked uncomfortable, despite repeating they "had a lot of fun out there" - their moods darkened by losses in Shanghai and Malaysia at the weekend - but then, money talks.
McIlroy, 23, is the No1 player in the world but Woods, 36, is still No1 in China. His "appearance fee" was much larger than the Northern Irishman's and at least US$2 million of the US$5.4 million budget for staging the duel went to the game's two most marketable players.
McIlroy and Woods are used to unruly crowds in China, but even yesterday's scenes were off the scale as hysterical fans broke through security, invaded the driving range and helped themselves to balls. They then took to the fairways, ignoring the most basic etiquette of the game. Eventually, security got them under control.