Rahm Wins Abu Dhabi Championship To Revive Race To Dubai Hopes

Jon Rahm secured a two-shot victory at the Abu Dhabi Championship on Sunday, his first DP World Tour title since walking away from the now-defunct LIV Golf tour last month.

The Spaniard closed with a 67 for a 23-under total of 265, enough to hold off Tyrrell Hatton, who carded a 68 to finish second, with Rory McIlroy further back still.

It was Rahm's sixth Rolex Series title and his eleventh overall on the DP World Tour, arriving in an event Golf Monthly describes as the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship.

"It means a lot," said Rahm, who turns 32 on Tuesday. "I'm almost not letting myself believe it because it's been quite a while since I played good in a DP World Tour event and my last showing, if we don't count withdrawals, I think I finished last."

"So last to first, it's a pretty good feeling," he added.

Rahm had begun the final round a shot clear of Hatton and Italy's Francesco Laporta, with McIlroy a further stroke adrift, and the lead changed hands early when McIlroy opened with a birdie and an eagle.

Rahm answered by retaking top spot at the third, and the contest tightened into a shared lead involving Rahm, Laporta, McIlroy and Hatton that held until the eleventh hole.

Laporta then fell away with three dropped shots across the next two holes, allowing Rahm to pull clear with birdies at the twelfth and fifteenth.

He survived one anxious moment on the way home. "As far as I'm concerned, apart from the tee-shot at 17 it was a pretty flawless back nine. It was really, really solid," he said.

Rahm also pointed to events away from the course, having announced the birth of his fourth child in October. "After everything that's gone on and some poor play, battles mentally with the noise, to come back out after a little bit of rest and having a new addition to the family, it's special," he said.

The win carries wider consequences for the season-long Race to Dubai. Rahm arrived in Abu Dhabi 51st in the standings and seemingly without a realistic route to the Harry Vardon Trophy, but the victory lifts him to sixth.

He remains 1,718.34 points adrift of leader Eugenio Chacarra heading into the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates' Earth Course, where the winner collects 2,000 points.

A fourth career win at that venue would still not guarantee the title outright; Rahm would need Chacarra to finish no higher than ninth, with McIlroy and Patrick Reed also kept outside the top two.

"I didn't think I would ever have a chance to win it. Very excited," Rahm said. "Actually gives me a little extra incentive next week. I really didn't think I was going to have a chance. Those are better odds than I expected so looking forward to it and hopefully I can get my fourth one."

He was candid about the scale of the task ahead. "I need to win again, which is a tall task. I'm not the only one with a good record at Jumeirah," he said. "Hopefully I can do a lot of whatever I've done this week. If I keep hitting the irons and putting the way I have, I'll definitely have a chance."

Hatton's runner-up finish secures his place in next week's field at the DP World Tour Championship, while McIlroy's result moves him up to second in the rankings behind Chacarra, who finished 22nd in Abu Dhabi, as he chases a record-equalling eighth Harry Vardon Trophy.

McIlroy took encouragement from his week despite missing out on the title. "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," he said. "So yeah, I obviously would have loved to have won the tournament, but enough positive signs to feel good about going into next week."

Of starting in the final group at Jumeirah, he added: "That's where I wanted to be. It's a pretty familiar spot for."

Attention now turns to Jumeirah Golf Estates, where Rahm, McIlroy, Hatton and Chacarra will all arrive with a stake in the destination of the Harry Vardon Trophy, last won by Rahm in 2019.