Aaron Rai holds off Tommy Fleetwood to win in Abu Dhabi
Aaron Rai held his nerve to win the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship after beating Tommy Fleetwood on the first play-off hole.
The 30-year-old, from Wolverhampton, sunk a birdie from just over eight feet to emulate his only previous Rolex Series win at the 2020 Scottish Open – which was also a play-off win over Fleetwood.
Rai - a former Shropshire & Herefordshire junior - went into the final round with a one-shot lead over Fleetwood and Nicolai Hojgaard, and emerged with a total of 263 after a topsy-turvy, five-under final round that included seven birdies and two bogeys.
He missed a 10-foot putt to win it on the last and see off Fleetwood, who had moved one shot clear with two to play after a birdie on the 16th, but ultimately had to settle for parity after a six-under final round of 66.
Rai, who embraced his father Amrik after clinching victory, told the DP World Tour: "It's hard to sum up. I think you're just so focused on playing the round and obviously just trying to stay in your zone. It's hard to put into words at the moment how this feels or how I'm going to reflect on it.
"But it's just amazing to be stood here. Tommy is a phenomenal player. He's an even better person than he is a player and that says a lot.
"To play with him the last two days and be out there with him was really special. So yeah, amazing to be here."
Speaking about how he bounced back from missing his close-range par putt on the 14th, Rai added: "My caddie Jason (Timmis) was great. Because it was a little bit of a shock to the system really on the 14th, missing a short putt there.
"He was great, just telling me to stay present and just focusing on playing the next shots and trying to finish strong. Made a really good up-and-down on the 15th which really helped.
"Made a nice putt there which certainly gave a little bit of confidence moving forward. That was an important moment. And yeah, it was nice to finish off strongly over the last few holes as well."
Rory McIlroy left himself just too much to do, coming up one shot short in a tie for third place with Hojgaard, after a stunning 10-under final round of 62, comprising eight birdies and an eagle – his lowest ever round on the DP World Tour.
Hojgaard fired six birdies but his hopes of topping the leaderboard were hit by a bogey on the 12th. Staffordshire's Richard Mansell hit an excellent final round 63 to finish tied for fifth place with Australia’s Daniel Hillier.
