Spain’s Jon Rahm with the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship trophy following his two-stroke win on event debut at the Yas Links course on Sunday. Image courtesy DPWT.
Rahm caps Abu Dhabi debut with Aldar Championship title
By Rahul Banerji
Jon Rahm made his Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship debut one to remember with a two-shot win and a record-breaking sixth Rolex Series title at Yas Links on Sunday.
The Spaniard had shared the distinction of being the most successful Rolex Series player with Tyrrell Hatton, and the Ryder Cup team-mates were in the hunt for further glory over the final 18 holes, the DPWT said.
Playing in the day’s last group alongside Italy’s Francesco Laporta, Rahm cruised to a 23 under par 265 total, two shots ahead of runner-up Hatton with his final-round 5 under 67.
“It’s been what has felt like a long week, obviously quite a long travel from the US to come here but what a wonderful city,” Rahm said later. “I keep thinking what has taken me so long to come here.
“Early in my career, it was a scheduling issue. But the last three years, I really don’t have a good excuse to be honest.
Played really good all week. Playing really solid. There was a bit of a question mark of how it was going to go for me on Tuesday and Wednesday, and just happy to pull through with a fantastic week overall.
Cool approach
“I felt incredible calm, even when things didn’t go anyway. Not much seemed to bother me, and probably the main reason why I was able to perform the way I have.”
World number two Rory McIlroy – who kept his dream of an eighth Race to Dubai title alive – briefly shared the lead on the back nine before a crucial bogey on hole 15 saw him fall away.
The Northern Ireland golfer made a brilliant start by finding the green at the 378-yard first hole for birdie before a huge eagle putt from the fairway at the next saw him climb to 19 under.
McIlroy was tied alongside Rahm at this point after the latter’s own birdie at the first but the Spaniard was handed the outright lead when McIlroy bogeyed hole three.
“It was sort of a week where I felt like I had my chances,” McIlroy noted later.
“Especially today, birdieing 10 and 11 to get tied for the lead, and then I had two good chances, 12 and 13, and didn’t make those. Had to scramble for par on 14. And then, yeah, I just couldn’t keep my momentum going.
Encouraging signs
“But it was a good week. I saw some encouraging signs in the game. You know, I’m going to be in that final group going out on Thursday next week.
“I obviously would have loved to have won the tournament, but enough positive signs to feel good about going into next week.”
Laporta joined Rahm at the summit on 19 under with birdies at the first and third, but the Italian took the sole lead when Rahm followed McIlroy by dropping a shot at the third.
Back-to-back birdies on five and six saw the Spaniard reclaim top spot at 20 under, with Laporta and Hatton, who matched the leader’s scoring run from the fifth, one shot behind.
A birdie at seven saw Laporta join Rahm at 20 under as the pair shared a one-shot lead at the turn.
The lead group increased to three when McIlroy rolled in birdies on 10 and 11, and when Hatton also picked up a shot at 11, all four were tied at the top.
Rahm and Laporta then tapped in for birdies at the same hole to nudge ahead to 21 under.
Decisive swing
There would be a two-shot swing at 12 when Laporta found trouble and could not get up and down to save par, while Rahm took full advantage with a birdie from short range.
That put him at 22 under, and Laporta’s race was run when he triple-bogeyed the par-3 13th to slip five behind.
Rahm produced a stunning approach on 15 to take a stranglehold of the tournament after tapping in for birdie.
Hatton maintained the two-shot deficit when following suit, but Rahm kept his friend at bay by closing out with three straight pars for his 11th DP World Tour title.
The Englishman signed for a final-round 68 to claim solo second at 21 under 267 and seal his place at next week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
McIlroy climbed to second on the Race to Dubai behind Eugenio Chanarra in his bid for a record-equalling eighth Harry Vardon Trophy with a third-placed finish at 19 under 269.
Familiar feeling
“It’s a pretty familiar spot for me going into the DP World Tour Championship, and I’m excited for it,” said McIlroy.
“That was the goal coming into these two weeks to try to catch Eugenio and Patrick (Reed) and try to win the Race to Dubai again.
“It would have been great to win this week and give myself not as much of a deficit or even a lead but still feel like I’m right in there with a great chance.”
Laporta was two shots further back in fourth, with Spain’s Angel Ayora and David Puig and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger at 16 under 272.
Jayden Schaper was solo eighth at 15 under 273, while Englishmen Nathan Kimsey and Matthew Jordan, Australia’s Adam Scott, Frenchman Frederic Lacroix and Freddy Schott of Germany shared ninth place on 14 under 274.
Leading scores
265: J. Rahm (ESP) 65 67 66 67
267: T. Hatton (ENG) 67 65 67 68
269: R. McIlroy (NIR) 70 63 67 69
271: F. Laporta (ITA) 62 70 67 72
272: A. Ayora (ESP) 70 70 65 67, B Wiesberger (AUT) 65 69 70 68, D. Puig (ESP) 70 64 68 70
Also read: Jon Rahm surges into Abu Dhabi Championship sole lead
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