Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood had been concerned in a dramatic end on the Abu Dhabi Championship.
Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood each missed out on a £1.1million high prize as Aaron Rai claimed victory in a dramatic play-off on the Abu Dhabi Championship. The opening DP World Tour Play-off occasion has concluded because the Race to Dubai reaches its thrilling finale. Two European Ryder Cup stars had been in competition at Yas Hyperlinks, with Fleetwood falling brief within the play-off and McIlroy ending in a share of third place.
The Abu Dhabi Championship’s elevated standing as a Play-off event meant considerably elevated prize cash, with a complete purse of practically £7million up for grabs. Fleetwood pocketed simply over £750,000, while McIlroy collected his portion of £752,000, splitting the mixed third and fourth prize with Nicolai Højgaard. McIlroy had began the ultimate spherical trailing the chief, Rai, by six strokes, however a superb 62 propelled him straight again into the combo, although finally fell simply brief.
Following McIlroy’s end at 24 underneath par, Fleetwood and Rai each holed essential putts on the seventeenth to achieve the ultimate gap locked collectively on 25 underneath. With Fleetwood solely capable of card a par, Rai had a chance to seal victory, however his birdie try slid previous the cup, forcing the event into further holes.
On the primary play-off gap, each gamers had birdie probabilities. Following Fleetwood’s miss, Rai, from marginally nearer vary, rolled his in to safe the highest prize.
Reflecting on his triumph, Rai stated: “It is exhausting to sum up. I used to be so centered on enjoying my spherical, attempting to remain within the zone. It is exhausting to place into phrases for the time being how this feels or how I will replicate on it. It is simply superb to be stood right here.
“Tommy’s an outstanding participant and a good higher individual. It has been actually particular to play with him for the final two days. It is superb to be right here.”
Discussing his restoration from a tough spell, which included lacking a brief putt on the 14th, he continued: “My caddie, Jason, was nice. Strolling down the fifteenth was robust as a result of lacking that putt on 14 was a shock to the system.
“He was nice; he simply informed me to remain current, give attention to the following shot and end sturdy. I had a very good up and down on 15, which gave me a little bit of confidence transferring ahead.
The day’s largest headlines in UK and World information Subscribe Invalid e-mail
We use your sign-up to supply content material in methods you’ve got consented to and to enhance our understanding of you. This may increasingly embrace adverts from us and third events based mostly on our understanding. You’ll be able to unsubscribe at any time. Learn our Privateness Coverage
“That was an vital second and I managed to complete fairly strongly over the past three holes.”
The Race to Dubai reaches its conclusion with the DP World Tour Championship, which begins on November 13.
Leave a Reply