Kaymer Ten Stroke Collapse

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Two-time major winner Martin Kaymer stood on the sixth tee at the Abu Dhabi Championship holding a 10-shot lead in the final round and with records in his sights.

Then came one of the biggest turnarounds the sport has seen.

Within 90 minutes, the normally unflappable Kaymer dropped six shots in eight holes and got swallowed up by Gary Stal as the No. 357-ranked Frenchman mounted an improbable surge to win his first European Tour title Sunday.

"A little shocked, surprised," said Kaymer, his brow furrowed. "I don't know how to put it into words."

The 22-year-old Stal was in a state of shock too after shooting a 7-under 65 for a one-shot victory over top-ranked Rory McIlroy -- one of his idols. Kaymer was a stroke further back in third after a 75.

Stal had teed off at Abu Dhabi Golf Club that morning with a deficit of eight shots to Kaymer and only second place on his mind. Kaymer, a three-time winner of the event, started the final round protecting a six-shot lead, and even McIlroy had said the German was "playing in his own tournament."

Three birdies in his first four holes helped stretch the lead to 10 shots. At 23 under, Kaymer was one stroke off his record under-par score around the National Course.

"When I saw the leaderboard on the fifth hole, I thought it's not possible to win," said Stal, who had an overall 19-under 269.

Kaymer's round started to unravel at No. 6 when he made his first bogey since Thursday -- a run of 47 holes. He then had a double bogey at No. 9 after being forced to take a drop when his drive landed under a bush.

The lead Kaymer had held since the first round was wiped out for good when another drive wound up at the base of a bush on No. 13. A drop gave him a poor lie in the sandy wasteland, and after chipping out into the fairway, he scuffed his approach shot 10 yards short of the green. He two-putted for a triple bogey, and Stal was in front for the first time.

"I do miss fairways, but usually you get away with it OK. You don't make double or triple bogey," Kaymer said. "This is what happened today."

Stal, playing in the group in front of Kaymer, made six birdies from holes 4 to 11 and sank a 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th to move two shots ahead of Kaymer and McIlroy, who stormed into contention with three straight birdies around the turn. Stal's approach to the 18th was tentative and landed in the rough to the right of the green, but he got up and down in two.

Kaymer needed to eagle the final hole to force a playoff, but a drive into a fairway bunker ended his hopes and he made par.

Stal shed tears after being applauded off the 18th green. He said he was thinking about his mother, Christine, who died of cancer last year while he was playing in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

"I can't believe this," said Stal, whose previous best finish was a tie for fifth at the South African Open seven days earlier.

Kaymer said it was an "interesting day that I need to reflect on," but he tried to take the positives from an otherwise impressive first tournament of 2015.

The same can be said of McIlroy, who shot 66 after hitting every green in regulation Sunday to finish second in Abu Dhabi for the fourth time. His ballstriking was superb all week, but missing a string of putts Saturday -- when he shot 71 -- cost him.

"Just a little too late for me today," McIlroy said. "I feel like I'm hitting the ball very, very well. I didn't putt as well as I'd have liked this week, but all parts of my game feel pretty good."

Stal is likely to move into the top 100 in the rankings Monday after a victory that gives him an exemption on the European Tour until the end of 2017.

Belgium's Thomas Pieters (70) and France's Victor Dubuisson (67) tied for fourth at 16 under.

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Real Move Clear In La Liga

Cristiano Ronaldo rounded off a week where he was named world player of the year for the third time scoring a double as Real Madrid opened up a four-point lead at the top of La Liga with a 3-0 win away to Getafe.

The visitors had to wait 63 minutes to make the breakthrough before he fired home Karim Benzema's pass to set them on the road to victory.

Gareth Bale then doubled the visitors' lead before Ronaldo rounded off the scoring with a trademark header from James Rodriguez's cross.

Barcelona can cut Madrid's lead back to a solitary point when they travel to Deportivo la Coruna later today.

Perhaps suffering from the after effects of their Copa del Rey elimination to Atletico Madrid in midweek Madrid started sluggishly, but were rarely threatened by a goal-shy Getafe.

The European champions finally started to get going after 20 minutes as Marcelo drove a fierce effort just over on his weaker right foot before Benzema was denied by Jordi Codina.

Isco then tested the Getafe 'keeper with a piledriver from the edge of the box which Codina did well to turn over and Toni Kroos came even closer a minute before the break when he rattled the crossbar from long range.

Codina continued to frustrate Madrid at the start of the second period with good saves from Benzema and James Rodriguez.

However, his resistence was finally broken just before the hour mark with a brilliant team goal as Isco and Rodriguez combined to free Benzema and the Frenchman produced an exquisite piece of skill on the byline to cut the ball back for Ronaldo to slam home.

Just four minutes later it was 2-0 as this time Rodriguez was the provider with a fine low cross that Bale prodded past Codina with the outside of his left foot.

The winning margin could even have been greater for Ancelotti's men as Ronaldo outfoxed Codina with a free-kick that whistled inches past the post with the 'keeper beaten.

Ronaldo wasn't to be denied his second of the afternoon 11 minutes from time, though, as another sumptuous cross from Rodriguez allowed the Portuguese to plant a firm header past the helpless Codina to register his 36th goal of the season.

Getafe failed to force Iker Casillas into a single save, but did come within inches of a consolation goal when Alvaro Vazquez fired against the post from Alex Felip's low cross late on.

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La Cuarta For Real Madrid

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Real Madrid landed their fourth title of the year by recording their 22nd straight victory to win the Club World Cup.

The European champions defeated the Argentinian side San Lorenzo 2-0 in Marrakech on Saturday night to add the global crown to their Champions League, Uefa Super Cup and Copa del Rey triumphs.

Sergio Ramos headed the opener after 37 minutes and Gareth Bale scored the second six minutes after the break as Madrid claimed their maiden Club World Cup title.

The goal completed a hat-trick of major championship final goals for Bale, who also netted in the European and domestic cup successes.

Victory also ensured Carlo Ancelotti’s men would end a memorable year still on an incredible winning run stretching back to mid-September.

Madrid almost went ahead after only one minute when Toni Kroos fed Cristiano Ronaldo, whose driven low cross flew across the face of goal, with Karim Benzema just unable to get a touch.

San Lorenzo, the Copa Libertadores winners, adopted a physical approach as they looked to knock their illustrious opponents off their stride.

Ronaldo was unsuccessful with a couple of free-kick attempts as he looked to find his range, but Madrid did not need their star man for the opener.

Bale saw his left-footed effort on the run from a tight angle pushed behind by Sebastián Torrico, but an unmarked Ramos headed home the resulting corner, swung in from the left by Kroos.

Madrid lost Marcelo to injury shortly before the break but it did not put them off their stride. They doubled their lead four minutes into the second half.

An incisive passing move ended with Isco playing the ball into the feet of Bale in the area and, although the Welshman’s shot was weak and straight at Torrico, it somehow squirmed under the goalkeeper and into the net.

San Lorenzo might have pulled one back late on as Juan Mercier’s long-range drive brought a fine diving save out of Iker Casillas, but the Spaniards never looked in trouble as they closed out the game in comfort.

Earlier, Auckland City from New Zealand won the third-place play-off, beating the Mexican side Cruz Azul on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

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I am What I am - Sepp Blatter

Fifa has agreed to publish a redacted version of Michael Garcia’s full report into the controversial 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process in an attempt to quell another round of trenchant criticism of world football’s perennially under-fire governing body.

As Fifa president Sepp Blatter declared the latest crisis over and insisted “we have always been determined that the truth should be known”, he simultaneously ruled out a re-vote for the 2018 World Cup in Russia or the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

“There is no reason to say that our decisions were wrong. So we will go on sticking to our decisions,” said Blatter following a meeting of the executive committee in Marrakech at which it was agreed unanimously, though without a formal vote, to publish an “appropriate” version of Garcia’s report.

“We will not revisit the 2018 and 2022 vote and a report by independent, external legal experts supports the view that there are no legal grounds to revoke the executive committee’s decision on the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups,” he added.

Expert legal advice sought by Domenico Scala, the head of Fifa’s audit committee whose responsibility it was to resolve the row over Garcia’s report, said it was clear “the irregularities determined thus far are not of an extent that would lead to the bidding process as a whole being qualified as significantly illegal”.

Without “huge upheaval” or a “new element” coming to the fore, Blatter said that the verdict of Judge Hans-Joachim Eckert – who produced the disputed summary of Garcia’s report that precipitated his resignation – that neither Qatar nor Russia had seriously broken the rules would stand.

Around half the 22 voting members of the Fifa executive committee who voted in December 2010 have since left the organisation, many with a cloud of corruption allegations trailing in their wake, and even Eckert’s summary highlighted a host of still unanswered questions.

Amid a flurry of familiar Blatter-isms, the 78-year-old declared “I am what I am” and said that the split in the Fifa executive committee over whether to publish Garcia’s report had been resolved. “We have been in a crisis. The crisis has stopped because we again have the unity in our government,” he said.

At the same meeting, Fifa decided that a ban on third-party ownership of players - which could have huge ramifications for football in Portugal, Spain and South America – would be introduced in May 2015. It also said that the controversy over the timing of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, most likely to be moved to November to avoid the summer heat, would be resolved at its next meeting in March.

Blatter said work was also already underway on drawing up a new framework for World Cup bidding, which would incorporate new rules designed to bring some order to a process that rapidly spiralled out of control in the run-up to the dual vote in December 2010. He said the changes would mean “everyone can be confident that the 2026 bidding process will be fair, ethical and open”.

Scala revealed that Garcia’s full 430-page report recommended tightening the rules on gifts, friendly matches and football development investment outside the host country, as well as ensuring that only one World Cup was ever decided at a time. Sources said that Scala, who had been given the task of deciding how much of the report the board should see, recommended it be released in a “legally appropriate form” and that there was agreement around the table. He did not update them further on what is actually contained in the full report and no vote was taken.

However, it remains to be seen how heavily redacted the report will be when it eventually sees the light of day. The identities of all of the 75-plus witnesses are likely to be obscured, unless they agree to waive their right to confidentiality. “It is clear that while a summary of the report was issued, the publication of this report has become a barrier to rebuilding public confidence and trust in Fifa,” said Blatter, who had initially opposed its release.

The decision was made two days after Garcia dramatically resigned as head of the investigatory arm of the ethics committee in disgust at the way the release of his report had been handled. Blatter confirmed that the former US attorney for the southern district of New York would be replaced as head of the investigatory arm of the ethics committee by his deputy Cornel Borbely.

Garcia was furious that a 42-page summary of his 430-page report prepared by Eckert, the head of the adjudicatory arm of the ethics committee, had, as he put it, misrepresented his findings. Garcia spent 18 months and £6m gathering evidence before Eckert effectively cleared the 2018 host Russia and 2022 host Qatar of serious wrongdoing.

Without the power to compel corrupt former Fifa executives no longer in football to talk and the inability to seize evidence, the former US attorney for the southern district of New York was reliant on witnesses co-operating. The Russians said all emails relating to their 2018 bid had been lost and another of Garcia’s recommendations for future bids is that all records are retained for inspection and audit.

Garcia opened investigations into the conduct of five individuals during the bidding process including three current executive committee members – √Ångel Mar√-a Villar Llona of Spain, Belgium’s Michel D’Hooghe and Thailand’s Wowari Makudi – and one former member, the German Franz Beckenbauer.

The “appropriate” version of Garcia’s full report, which the investigator said this week had “identified serious and wide-ranging issues with the bidding and selection process”, won’t be released until those individual cases are complete.

But that also raises the possibility of Blatter being able to time the conclusion of those investigations and the subsequent release of the redacted Garcia report to best suit his purposes as he prepares to stand for another four years as president next April, despite having previously insisted his current term would be his last.

“It is not my duty to evaluate myself. If you claim that I am a weak leader, then kindly ask the members of the executive committee,” he said. “This about weak leadership, let’s leave that aside. I am what I am.”

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Dalglish Gives Hillsborough Evidence

Former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish spoke about the 'mayhem' at Hillsborough as he gave evidence at the disaster inquest.

The team's manager on the day of the tragedy was speaking from the witness box in the final afternoon session at Warrington Coroner's Court before the hearings adjourn for the Christmas break.

"The place was mayhem, nobody knew what's going on, there's stories coming from every angle," Dalglish said.

Dalglish was questioned by Christina Lambert QC on behalf of the coroner, Lord Justice Goldring.

Wearing a red Liverpool tie and a '96' lapel badge, Dalglish told how the news started to filter through that something serious was happening.

"We knew there'd been fatalities. We weren't told what the cause was, but we knew it wasn't people fighting or hooliganism,' he said.

Dalglish spoke about the request to call for calm and told how he used a microphone in the DJ box as the one in the police box didn't work.

He remembered the crowd applauded and added, "so obviously they heard the message. I came out of the room and went back to the dressing room area."

He said the only time he remembers going on to the pitch was to check his son was OK. "Fortunately he was," he said.

John Beggs QC, representing the retired Hillsborough match commanders, read out a passage from Dalglish's autobiography where he discusses Reds fans 'bunking in' to Wembley for the FA Cup final against Everton in 1986.

Dalglish, when Beggs quoted a Home Office report about the same match and described ticketless fans trying to enter the stadium as 'troubling', said: 'I'm just a normal human being. Not judge and jury on how people should behave.'

The court was shown an extract of Mr Dalglish's autobiography about Heysel, in which he wrote: "How on earth could Uefa think they could separate the passionate followers of Liverpool and Juventus with a thin piece of chicken wire? Chicken wire!"

Beggs asked if followers can be passionate without fighting, to which Dalglish replied "yes".

The counsel for Ch Supt David Duckenfield followed up by asking if Dalglish was acknowledging that a group of Liverpool supporters were prone to violence. "No," replied Dalglish. "I'm identifying that chicken wire wasn't substantive enough to separate two groups of fans."

Rajiv Menon, counsel for 10 of the families, asked about press coverage after the disaster.

"It was upsetting for many people," said Dalglish, particularly the Sun front page headline 'The Truth'.

"I know there was outrage," said Dalglish. "I know the fans were very upset. And, in fact, I was asked to attend, if I could go to Walton prison to calm the prisoners down on the Friday because of the stuff that had been written in the newspapers."

Before he was discharged Dalglish was questioned by Peter Weatherby on behalf of 22 of the families. He was asked about his views of delaying the kick-off.

"It wasn't an uncommon occurrence," said Dalglish. "If it was necessary, both teams would be in complete agreement with the police and referee, as I said earlier.

"The third person that would be asked is the team manager, but it's a fait acomplit by the time it gets to us."

Dalglish finished his evidence at 3pm and the coroner adjourned the inquest until the new year.

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