Englishmen Aaron Rai and Tommy Fleetwood were the stars of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the first of two playoffs, both part of the Rolex Series, which close out the DP World Tour season. They finished tied at 263 (-25), before Rai (66, 64, 66, 67) out-qualified his opponent (64, 66, 67, 66) with a birdie on the first play-off hole.
Aaron Rai, results
In the tournament, which defined the top 50 players in the Race to Dubai (order of merit) admitted to the final event, the DP World Tour Championship (November 13-16, Dubai), Andrea Pavan finished 23rd with a 273 (68, 70, 68, 67, -15) and 59th in the rankings, and Francesco Laporta finished 32nd with a 274 (70, 67, 68, 69, -14), finishing 55th.
Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who attempted to climb from twelfth place, finished third with a 264 (-24), but his best round of 62 (-10, one eagle, eight birdies) wasn't enough. In fifth place with a 266 (-22) are New Zealander Daniel Hillier and Englishman Richard Mansell, in seventh with a 267 (-21) are Spaniard Nacho Elvira and fellow Englishman Andy Sullivan, and in ninth with a 268 (-20) are Scotsman Robert MacIntryre, Spain's Angel Ayora, and England's Marco Penge.
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In the final round, Rai, leading after three rounds by a one-shot margin over Fleetwood and Hojgaard, was overtaken by the former (66, -6, one eagle, four birdies), but recovered with a birdie on the 17th hole (67, -5, seven birdies, two bogeys). Fleetwood then missed the birdie putt in the playoff, while Rai made it with a shot from about ten feet.
Aaron Rai, 30, from Wolverhampton, currently primarily playing on the PGA Tour, where he won the Wyndham Championship last year, secured his third title on the DP World Tour, his second in the Rolex Series, and here too, as in his first (Scottish Open, 2020), he defeated Fleetwood in a play-off. For his exploit, he received a check for $1,530,000 out of a prize pool of $9,000,000.
Pavan, a 36-year-old from Rome, gained thirteen places in the final round with a 67 (-5, eight birdies, three bogeys) and Laporta, a 35-year-old from Castellana Grotte, lost six places with a score of 69 (-3, one eagle, four birdies, three bogeys).
