Aaron Rai of England overcame a shocking short miss with a pair of late birdies for a 5-under 67 and defeated Tommy Fleetwood on the first playoff hole with a 10-foot birdie putt to win the Abu Dhabi Championship on Sunday.
Rai returned from a two-month break to win for the first time this year and pick up his third European tour title, his first on the tour since defeating Fleetwood in the 2020 Scottish Open. He won the Wyndham Championship in August 2004 for his first PGA Tour title.
Rory McIlroy started the back nine at Yas Links with five straight birdies and closed with a 62, matching his low score on the European tour. He wound up one shot behind but expanded his lead in the Race to Dubai that concludes next week.
Fleetwood was aiming for a third title worldwide in what already has been a memorable season that included a 4-1 record in a winning Europe Ryder Cup team. He holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 16th and made a 15-foot par putt to stay tied with Rai on the 17th.
Both narrowly missed birdie chances in regulation on the par-5 18th. Fleetwood shot 66 to join Rai on 25-under 263.
They finished one shot ahead of McIlroy and Nicolai Hjogaard of Denmark, who just missed a 15-foot eagle putt on the final hole to join the playoff. He closed with a 66.
“It’s hard to put into words how this feels,” Rai said. “It’s amazing to be here.”
It was a tight battle on a day for low scoring, and the 30-year-old Rai fell out of the lead when his three-foot par putt on the 14th spun hard out of the cup. Then, he had to scramble for par on the 15th, making a six-foot putt.
But he hit 5-iron to eight feet on the 16th for birdie to stay within one shot of Fleetwood, who holed a 15-foot birdie. Rai made from 18 feet on the par-3 17th to reach 25 under, and Fleetwood had to make his 15-foot putt for par to stay tied.
The playoff became a pitch-and-putt contest as neither had the length to reach the 616-yard in two shots. Fleetwood’s birdie chance missed to the right, and Rai converted.
Rai came into the week at No. 55 in the Race to Dubai and the victory moved him to No. 9 to qualify for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship next week in Dubai for the top 50. Matthew Jordan tied for 15th to earn the 50th spot.
McIlroy, the defending champion next week, will be going for his seventh title as Europe’s No. 1 and created a bigger cushion with his runner-up finish in Abu Dhabi.
Marco Penge of England closed with a 63 to tie for ninth, but he is now 767 points behind, with 2,000 points to the winner in Dubai.
“I just tried to keep my foot down and make as many birdies as possible knowing that, OK, I’m trying to win this tournament but also give myself the biggest cushion possible going into Dubai next week, as well,” McIlroy said.
