ABU DHABI: England's Paul Waring birdied the last two holes to win the Abu Dhabi Championship by two shots on Sunday with a bogey-free six-under 66.
The 39-year-old was tied for the lead at 22-under with Tyrrell Hatton, who also birdied his last two holes of the tournament.
Waring delivered the hammer blow on the chasing pack with a 41-feet birdie putt on the par-3 17th hole, and then hit a brilliant three-wood approach shot to set up a birdie on the last.
At 24-under overall, Waring finished two shots ahead of Hatton.
World No. 3 Rory McIlroy was in a three-way tie for third place at 21-under alongside Matt Wallace and Thorbjorn Olesen.
McIlroy fell one shot shy of wrapping up the Order of Merit crown ahead of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next week.
A tie for second would have made his lead insurmountable over second-placed Thriston Lawrence of South Africa in the Race to Dubai standings.
Waring, who shot a course-record 61 on Friday en route to a new European Tour 36-hole scoring record of 19-under par, began the day one ahead of Denmark's Niklas Norgaard and birdied the first two holes to get off to a good start.
Even as others behind him made plenty of birdies, the world No. 229 kept making steady pars and raced ahead on the closing stretch.
He said the birdie putt on the 17th was pivotal.
"That was massive," Waring said.
"We really, really fancied it as soon as it left the blade, I knew it was dead middle. I don't want to sound cocky, but it was so pure," said Waring.
It was Waring's second win on the European Tour, coming nearly six years and three months after his 2018 Nordea Masters victory.
"It's my second win. I've been knocking on the door a few times. I had a few seconds. To get over the line again is fantastic, and to control it the way I have, especially today, after I thought I might have let it slip yesterday."
A bonus for Waring, who climbed to fifth in the season standings, would be a possible card on the PGA Tour.
The top 10 players at the end of the Tour Championship, who are not already members of the PGA Tour, will secure their playing privileges for 2025.
McIlroy, who made a triple-bogey on the 17th on Friday and a double bogey on the par-5 18th in the third round, said: "I think the two finishes on Friday and Saturday left me with a bit of work to do.
"I do feel in a good position. I saw Thriston making a charge today, and I was keeping one eye on the leaderboard and looking at what he was doing," said McIlroy.
"I wanted to birdie the last even though I knew that birdie wasn't going to win the tournament this week."
Only the top 50 players in the standings qualify for the season-ending event next week. - AFP