Four time Major winning Rory McIlroy said he was delighted to use his influence in the game to assist fellow Irishman Peter Lawrie secure an invitation, along with a Jumeriah Resort hotel room for the week.
“I wrote the tournament a letter as Peter asked me for a little help getting into the event given he had such a tough year last season,” said McIlroy.
“You try and do anything you can to help out your fellow players, and I guess my voice does not carry a little more weight that it used to, so I was delighted to help out Peter.
“And we saw how well Peter played last week in Qatar and then shooting a 66 on Sunday in the Abu Dhabi Invitational that there is now some light at the end of the tunnel.”
Lawrie ended the day posting a one over par 73.