Paul Waring won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship by two shots over Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, and Tyrrell Hatton after fending off an exciting last-day charge from a number of well-known players.
Paul Waring won a spectacular victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, and Rory McIlroy lost out on a huge £1.2 million pot. With a record-breaking 61 at Yas Links on Friday, the veteran laid the groundwork for his future success. However, following Saturday’s round, his five-stroke lead was reduced to just one.
Waring admitted to being nervous on his third outing, but he was unflappable on the last day, finishing the tournament at 24-under-par with a perfect 66 to hold off McIlroy.
Tyrrell Hatton caught up to Waring, who claimed only his second DP World Tour title since winning the Nordea Masters more than five years ago. Waring responded with a spectacular long-range birdie on the penultimate hole and sailed through the final to win.
Waring, who is currently rising to fifth place in the Race to Dubai rankings and is expected to earn a spot on the PGA Tour by 2025, reflected, “It just means so much to so many other things that come with that win.” He went on to say, overwhelmed by his success, “I’m a bit taken aback right now.”
“I could just see it tracking in the whole way and just knew I was going to hole it,” he said confidently, indicating that he knew his shot on the 17th had something unique about it. I knew it was in as soon as it came out of the blade.
“I’ll admit that after that final putt, my legs were trembling a little. I simply wanted to confirm that nothing more could occur and that everything was fine.
McIlroy took the lead early on, birdieing four of his first six holes, but Waring wasn’t disappointed and made back-to-back gains. Eagles at the seventh and eleventh holes helped England’s Matthew Jordan and Matt Wallace cut their deficit to the lead. McIlroy’s bid, however, was unsuccessful after he stumbled with a short par miss at the seventh and missed an eight-foot birdie opportunity at the ninth.
To keep his distance from the competitors, Waring added a birdie at the tenth hole and capitalized on a superb bunker shot with a gain at the seventh. At 13, he missed a straightforward opportunity, and at 14, he lip-outed.
Hatton was making progress after he had to scramble for par after a stray drive at the 15th hole. He made consecutive birdies to finally catch Waring after two days and set the clubhouse bar at 22 under.
When Waring skillfully sank a 40-footer on the 17th and then executed a faultless drive at the last, all eyes were on him. He managed an up-and-down to secure the title, running his three-wood just past the green.
Hatton had an incredible final 64 to finish as runner-up. McIlroy finished third on 21 under, along with Olesen and Wallace. McIlroy has widened his lead over Thriston Lawrence in the Race to Dubai going into the final event next week.
With confidence, he stated, “I do feel in a good position,” He acknowledged that he was watching the competition: “Today I saw Thriston charging, and I was keeping one eye on the leaderboard and observing what he was doing. He posted 20, I noticed.
“Every shot matters right now, so I was happy to make the final four and give myself a chance at this tournament this week, but also give myself a little more breathing room when I travel to Dubai the following week.”
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