Shane Lowry surged to the summit of the European Tour’s Race to Dubai after holding off a relentless Richard Sterne to complete a sensational wire-to-wire victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA.
The Irishman produced a magnificent fightback to overturn Richard Sterne’s four-shot lead in the final seven holes and win with a birdie on the 18th.
Lowry had not tasted victory since the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and he had to do it the hard way as his three-shot overnight lead quickly evaporated.
Sterne had six birdies and a bogey to go out in 31, and Lowry’s fourth bogey of the day on the 11th left him four shots adrift of the South African.
But he became the first player in European Tour history to make 11 birdie twos in a tournament when he birdied the short 12th, and a 30-foot putt on the 13th edged him even closer.
The pressure got to Sterne as he dropped shots at 14 and 16, and a wayward approach opened the door for Lowry, who found the green in two and secured victory with an 18-inch tap-in putt.
“It’s great to have a Rolex Series beside my name now, I get the gold bib and get the star there,” said Lowry who enters the Race to Dubai Rankings in first place on 1,165 points.
“We’re very lucky to be able to play such big events on the European Tour and Rolex have done a great job. All the players, I can vouch for them and say we’re very grateful to be playing for the types of money we are in the events we’re playing in. I’m just over the moon to have won.”
Sterne, who was searching for a fifth European Tour victory, had to settle for runner-up after narrowly missing his own birdie chance at the last. The 37-year-old receives 780 points which leapfrogs him from 101st to second on the Rankings.
Meanwhile, 2018 Oman Open winner Joost Luiten finished third, three behind Lowry after an impressive final round seven under par 65 which leaves the Dutchman in sixth on the Race to Dubai Rankings on 438 points.
“It’s great to be back at the right end of a tournament,” said Luiten. “I had a tough time at the end of last year with an injury, so it’s good to be back playing again and great to start off the season with a top-three finish. I’m just happy with the way I’m playing. I feel happy on the golf course and that’s a good thing, I guess.”
Louis Oosthuizen carded a final round 66 to secure fourth place on 14 under par to move from fourth to third in the Rankings on 760.6 points.
Søren Kjeldsen finished one further back to complete the top five and start his 2018/19 Race to Dubai campaign ranked 11th while Pablo Larrazábal jumped from 44th to 14th after a share of sixth place earned him 265.7 points.
