Pádraig Harrington claims top four finish in Abu Dhabi as Lowry suffers late collapse

France's Victor Perez survived a nervous finale to narrowly win the tournament.

Sun, 22 Jan, 2023 - 15:10

Cian Locke

PÁDRAIG Harrington says he is well ahead of where he expected to be in January after weekend rounds of 64 and 67 fired him to fourth place at the season opening Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

France's Victor Perez survived a nervous finale to win the tournament by one shot after a shooting a six-under-par 66 in his final round.

But it was a poor day at the office for co-leader going into the final round, Shane Lowry, who collapsed to a 76 on Sunday.

While Ireland's Lowry and Francesco Molinari faded, Australia's Min Woo Lee stayed in contention and managed to draw level after Perez dropped a shot at the 14th at Yas Links.

Perez, who finished runner-up here in 2020, responded impressively with an immediate birdie at the 15th before holing his bunker shot at the 17th for another gain and a two-shot lead.

It looked unassailable before he found another bunker and then the penalty area on the 18th but he took his medicine with a bogey to finish on a victorious 18-under-par total.

Lee and Swede Sebastian Soderberg finished tied for second after shooting 68 and 67 respectively, while Pádraig Harrington, who at 51 was bidding to become the oldest winner on the DP World Tour, was fourth on his own on 16 under after closing with a 67.

“I did some good stuff, while I would also like to have a few shots back - including bogeying the par-5 seventh but then it was nice to birdie the second after the bogey on one from a tough lie in a bunker, and also birdie five and eight,” he said.

“Not to birdie the two par-5s over the inward nine didn’t help whereas everything else is something I can build-on going forward.

“I’m heading to Dubai feeling I am well ahead of where I thought I would be after this first event of the New Year. I would have given myself two weeks to get myself showing a bit of form."

An emotional Perez reflected on his birdie on the 17th as the "greatest" of his life. The dramatic finish did not quite match his Dutch Open triumph in May, where he needed a play-off before he won on the fourth extra hole, but he admitted to hoping for a more routine victory next time.

"It is probably the greatest shot I ever hit," Perez said of his birdie on the 17th. "I got off to a good start and was trying to just focus on me, do the best I can because I know I can't control what everybody else is doing. I was trying to plod along but Seb played fantastic and he was always right there.

"I am just delighted to finish on top because it was a crazy finish but I feel like I am used to that now! Hopefully I can make it a little easier for the next."

Lowry, who won the event in 2019, birdied the second and led the tournament after another birdie on No 5. A pair of bogyes were cancelled out by back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13, but his momentum stalled with a bogey on 14 and a disastrous triple of No 16, where he shanked his recovery into the water and wound up with a triple bogey.

Seamus Power finished with a 69, included an eagle at the 7th, to be next best of the Irish behind Harrington. He would up tied 20th.