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Thomas Pieters delivered a composed final round to claim the biggest win of his career with victory in the Abu Dhabi Championship.
Pieters, who turns 30 next week, finished one shot clear of Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello and 450-1 outsider Shubhankar Sharma, to take his sixth DP World Tour triumph and the “1million winner’s prize.
Frenchman Victor Dubuisson took a tie for fourth alongside Viktor Hovland, while defending champion Tyrrell Hatton recorded an eagle and four birdies to finish three shots back in sixth place with countrymen Ian Poulter and James Morrison.
Scotland’s Scott Jamieson, who held the overnight lead, carded a disappointing five-over 77 to finish four off the lead in 10th.
Former Open champion Shane Lowry was one shot behind Jamieson following Saturday’s play, but he too endured a final round to forget which started with a triple-bogey seven on the opening hole. He ended the day with a five-over 77.
“I’m happy I can finally get my caddy, Adam a gold bib [for winning a Rolex Series event],” said Pieters, who finished with a final-round 72.
“I chickened out on the last. I was gong to go for it but I was told I was two ahead so I decided to lay up and I made a [par] five which was fine.
“I just hope all the juniors back in Belgium are watching this. I used to think it was impossible, but when Nico [Colsaerts] came on the scene and started winning that was inspiring and I hope that is the same for the kids back home.”
Rory McIlroy will be pondering what might have been after he moved to within two of the lead, courtesy of a superb 141-yard eagle on the par-four ninth and a birdie on 13.
But his round fell apart with three bogeys in the final five holes — the Ulsterman eventually ending the week with a three-under 69 in a tie for 12th.
“Honestly, I am just happy that I got to play an extra two days,” said McIlroy.
“I had to make a birdie on the last hole on Friday night just to be here, and I almost made the most of the weekend.

Shane Lowry’s challenge faded on the final day in Abu Dhabi. Photograph: Ryan Lim/Getty/AFP


“I played well yesterday, and really well today through 13, and then a couple of loose shots coming in cost me.
“It wasn’t the finish I wanted, but big-picture wise it was good to play another 36 holes and assess where everything is and know what to work on.”
Jamieson led after every round at Yas Links, setting the pace with a brilliant opening 63 and staying ahead with a 74 before heading into the final round with a one-shot advantage over Pieters after a 68.
But the 38-year-old, whose sole World Tour sole triumph came nine years ago over 36 weather-affected holes and a modified layout at the Nelson Mandela Championship, was unable to recover from a poor start, which included four bogeys in the first five holes.
Collated final round scores & totals in the DP World Tour Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Yas Links, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Britain & Irl unless stated, Par 72):
278 Thomas Pieters (Bel) 65 74 67 72
279 Rafael Cabrera (Spa) 69 71 69 70, Shubhankar Sharma (Ind) 70 71 67 71
280 Viktor Hovland (Nor) 64 74 70 72, Victor Dubuisson (Fra) 70 72 69 69
281 Tyrrell Hatton 66 77 71 67, Ian Poulter 66 72 71 72, Jeff Winther (Den) 71 69 71 70, James Morrison 66 71 72 72,
282 Adam Scott (Aus) 70 72 68 72, Scott Jamieson 63 74 68 77
283 Rory McIlroy 72 75 67 69, Shane Lowry 67 72 67 77, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 69 77 67 70, Erik van Rooyen (Rsa) 69 71 73 70, Ashun Wu (Chn) 69 77 70 67, Sam Horsfield 74 70 68 71, Jordan Smith 71 72 71 69, Romain Langasque (Fra) 72 73 67 71
284 Lee Westwood 71 74 70 69, Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den) 70 72 73 69, Padraig Harrington 73 71 68 72, Alexander Bjoerk (Swe) 68 71 72 73, Adria Arnaus (Spa) 71 76 72 65
285 Takumi Kanaya (Jpn) 66 73 75 71, Dean Burmester (Rsa) 71 75 70 69, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 70 71 72 72, Andrea Pavan (Ita) 69 72 69 75, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 69 77 68 71, Justin Harding (Rsa) 69 72 70 74, Richie Ramsay 71 76 68 70, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 73 72 69 71, Callum Shinkwin 71 75 72 67, Julien Brun (Fra) 69 69 77 70
286 Min-Woo Lee (Aus) 71 76 72 67, Daniel Gavins 69 74 70 73, Dale Whitnell 68 74 72 72, Robert Rock 68 75 68 75
287 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 72 75 75 65, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 67 76 68 76, Ewen Ferguson 71 74 73 69, 288 Thorbjoern Olesen (Den) 71 74 74 69, Ignacio Elvira (Spa) 69 74 75 70, Matthew Southgate 70 73 71 74, Jack Singh-Brar 70 76 72 70, Soeren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 74 70 74, Marcus Helligkilde (Den) 69 75 72 72
289 Tommy Fleetwood 68 76 74 71, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 74 72 71 72, Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 69 74 69 77, Jamie Donaldson 74 69 70 76, Justin Walters (Rsa) 74 71 71 73
290 Thomas Detry (Bel) 67 76 72 75, David Horsey 70 75 73 72, Connor Syme 70 77 74 69, Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 73 72 70 75, Daan Huizing (Ned) 71 76 72 71
291 Victor Perez (Fra) 66 74 73 78, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 72 73 76, Josh Hill 71 76 69 75,
292 Ryan Fox (Nzl) 72 74 70 76
293 Collin Morikawa (USA) 73 74 71 75, Joachim B. Hansen (Den) 70 77 69 77, Matthew Jordan 70 74 74 75
294 Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn) 71 76 75 72, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 75 72 74 73, David Law 69 75 72 78
295 Daniel van Tonder (Rsa) 71 75 72 77, Matt Wallace 72 75 72 76, Santiago Tarrio (Spa) 70 75 75 75
296 Fabrizio Zanotti (Pry) 71 76 70 79
297 Brandon Stone (Rsa) 74 72 74 77, Sami Valimaki (Fin) 69 75 76 77, Chris Paisley 73 74 77 73
299 Marcus Kinhult (Swe) 68 78 74 79