The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship

Following an exciting final round at the Yas Links Golf Course, England’s Paul Waring finished on top of the leaderboard at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. It was the 39-year-old’s second tour win, his first being 6 years ago at the Nordea Masters in 2018.

Waring was hot out the gates with an opening round of 64 and a second round of 61 that included 9 birdies and an eagle. A comparatively underwhelming third attempt of 73 however allowed for the competition to catch up with him ahead of the final day.

Fellow Englishman Tyrrell Hatton was vying for victory come round four, finishing on two birdies that moved him to 22-under-par, making him level with Waring. If Paul Waring was feeling the nerves, he certainly wasn’t showing it as he sank a tremendous 40-foot putt to birdie the 17^th hole.

A stellar second shot on the 616-yard 18^th hole had Waring overhit the green, and a tidy up-and-down secured him a closing birdie to finish on 24-under-par. A very satisfying end to a gripping tournament, Waring was elated to have added another win to his career:

“To keep control of myself in the way that I did, I’m really proud of myself. I’m a bit taken aback right now. I felt that my golf game has been in such a good place over the past year, I just haven’t put it all together. What a week for it to click together.”

Waring did very well to overcome a fierce field of renowned golfers. Rory McIlroy finished in a three-way tie alongside Thørbjorn Olesen and Matt Wallace. Having won five Race to Dubai titles on the DP World Tour, McIlroy is in a great position to try for a sixth.

While he fell short of Waring and Hatton at the event, McIlroy actually extended his lead in the overall Race to Dubai standings by finishing ahead of his rival Thriston Lawrence. As a result, McIlroy is now on 4,997.66 points while Lawrence is on 3,212.64 points, Rasmus Højgaard is currently in third on 2,684.05.

He may have found the water when closing his third round, but McIlroy seemed pleased with his performance overall “I set myself a target with six holes to go and I achieved that target. I was glad to make the four at the last and give myself a little bit more of a cushion going into Dubai.”

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