Abu Dhabi Championship final round standings
-23 J Rahm (Spa); –21 T Hatton (English); -19 R McIlroy (NI); -17 F Laporta (Italy); -16 B Wiesberger (Aut), A Ayora (Spa), D Puig (Spa); -15 J Schaper (SA)
Others selected: -14 N Kimsey (Engr.), M Jordan (Engr.); -13 S Bairstow (English), T Fleetwood (English), A Sullivan (English); -12 E Ferguson (Scotland); -11 E Chacarra (Spa); -10 A Rai (English); -9 M Wallace (eng); -4 P Reed (United States)
Complete ranking
Jon Rahm shot a 67 in the final round to claim a two-stroke victory over England’s Tyrrell Hatton at the Abu Dhabi Championship.
It was a first victory for the two-time major winner since announcing his departure from LIV Golf, and a first victory at a DP World Tour event in four years.
The Spaniard, in his first tournament since the birth of his fourth child last month, made six birdies with just one shot falling on Sunday to finish ahead of Hatton with Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy still two shots further back.
“It means a lot. It took a while to play well in the DP World Tour,” Rahm told Sky Sports.
“With the exception of one shot at 17, for me I played a pretty impeccable back nine. It was really solid, never in danger of making a bogey except on that hole.
“After everything that happened, some bad plays and some mental battles with a lot of noise, to come back after a little break and a new addition to the family, it’s pretty special.”
Having finished at the bottom of the standings in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in his last appearance, Rahm joked that going “from last to first” felt particularly good.
For McIlroy, his third place finish was enough to see him qualify for next week’s season finale at the DP World Tour Championship by sitting second in the Race To Dubai standings as he seeks a record eighth victory.
The 37-year-old, who was handed a two-shot penalty in the first round, moved ahead of American Patrick Reed and now trails only Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra in his bid to match Colin Montgomerie’s eight season titles.
Although he started the week outside the top 50, Rahm’s victory allowed him to also stay in the race if he could make it back to Dubai twice.
Gn sports
