Paul Waring held off a stellar chasing pack to clinch a career-changing victory in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship as Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy were left to wonder what might have been.
McIlroy had a chance at Yas Links to claim his sixth Race to Dubai but while he extended his lead over South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence, who finish fifth, he will have to wait until this week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai to raise the Vardon Trophy again.
The Co Down man needed a top-two finish to mathematically clinch the title but while an eight-under 64 left him tied for third on 21 under, he was three strokes adrift of an impressive Waring (39), who birdied the 17th and 18th to win by two strokes from Tyrrell Hatton on 24 under with a bogey-free 66.
The season-long contest is now a two-horse race after McIlroy extended his lead over Lawrence to 1,785.02 points with just 2,000 points on offer for the winner this week.
McIlroy was pleased to move further clear of Lawrence but he could not forget the triple bogey six he made at the 17th on Friday or the double bogey seven at the 18th in round three
“I think the two finishes on Friday and Saturday obviously left me with a bit of work to do, and if I do come up one short, I’ll obviously rue those two finishes on those two days,” McIlroy said as Hatton was making a birdie at the last that pushed him into third.
“Every shot counts at this moment in time, and I was glad to make the four at the last and at least give myself half a chance at this tournament this week but also give myself a little bit more of a cushion going into Dubai next week as well.”
Tom McKibbin (21) made a run on the final day, making an eagle and eight birdies in an eight-under 64 to finish tied for 10th on 19-under.
But while it was his tenth top-10 this season, bogeys at the first and 16th were costly and he fell one spot to 18th in the Race to Dubai and lies 11th in the race for ten PGA Tour cards after Waring guaranteed himself one by soaring 43 places to fifth in the Race to Dubai.
Lowry had more reason than McIlroy or McKibbin to be disappointed after he failed to take a gilt-edged chance to claim his first individual win since the 2023 BWM PGA
The Offaly man made the final group for the third year running but once again failed to finish the tournament in the top 10.
He was six-under for the day and just a shot behind Waring with six holes to play but followed a dropped shot at the 14th with poor bogeys at the last two holes to slip to tied for 13th on 18-under.
It was his seventh top-13 in a row, and he will be doubly determined to finish the season with a win this week.
As for Waring, he was thrilled to get just his second win after fearing he’d blown his chance with a third-round 73.
“To get over the line again is fantastic, and to control it the way I have as well, especially today, he said. “I thought I might have let it slip yesterday.”
It was also a mixed day for the Irish at the Final Stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School.
Amateur Max Kennedy shot a three under 68 in the third round on the Lakes Course at Infinitum in Tarragona to share 44th on six-under, 11 strokes behind leader Edoardo Molinari.
He was two shots outside the top 20 and ties, who will be awarded conditional status after six rounds, but only a shot inside the top 65 and ties, who will make the 72-hole cut today.
Gary Hurley shot a one-over 73 on the Hills Course to share 94th on three-under, two shots outside the projected cut line, while Dermot McElroy made a quadruple bogey eight on his fourth hole at the Lakes and shot 73 to slip six shots outside the top 65 on one-over.
Molinari shot a level par 72 on the Hills Course to lead by four shots from Frenchman Clément Sordet on 17-under as Dutchman Vince van Veen fired a sensational 12 under par 59 on the Lakes, which won’t count as official due to preferred lies, to climb from 148th to 22nd.
Molinari, following rounds of 65-61-72, is well-placed to regain his DP World Tour playing privileges at the first opportunity, and was pleased with how he handled testing conditions on day three in Tarragona.
“I didn’t get off to a great start, but it was difficult with the wind in the trees,” he said. “I felt it was much trickier today. It was swirling a lot.
“I certainly didn’t play as well as the last two days but after a ten under par yesterday, it’s always difficult to follow it with another, so I’m pleased with what I did.
“It was good to finish with a birdie on my last hole, which was a tricky hole today. To finish the round level par, all-in-all it’s a good day.”
The three-time DP World Tour winner and Ryder Cup Vice Captain successfully came through Q-School in 2015 and then again in 2016, and admits that experience, coupled with patience, was the key to staying out in front.
“Patience was very important,” he added. “I had quite a big lead and sometimes it’s a bit tricky to play with such a big lead, but I just tried to play my own game, make the right decisions and I felt like for the most part, I did that.
“My putting wasn’t great, and definitely not as good as it has been for the last two days, but level par in these conditions, on this course, is not too bad.
“I haven’t really hit a bad putt in two days so it’s going to happen eventually, but I kept it together well.”
Englishman Matthew Southgate is five shots off the lead in third place on 12 under par, with four players one shot further back in fourth, including Australian Danny List, Dane Alexander George Frances, Englishman Callan Barrow and Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist.
The leading 65 players and ties will make the cut, with the leading 20 players and ties after round six earning a DP World Tour card for the 2025 Race to Dubai.
198 E MOLINARI (ITA) 65 61 72,
202 C SORDET (FRA) 67 66 69,
203 M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 73 63 67,
204 R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA) 66 66 72, D LIST (AUS) 72 63 69, A FRANCES (DEN) 65 69 70, C BARROW (ENG) 63 71 70,
205 D BRYANT (USA) 69 67 69, J BERRY (ENG) 65 70 70, J HARDING (RSA) 66 71 68, A BONETA (ESP) 66 70 69, I ZALLI (ALB) 69 73 63,
206 A SETTEMSDAL (NOR) 68 63 75, M SHARPSTENE (USA) 68 69 69, B VIRTO (ESP) 66 70 70, F KENNEDY (ENG) 68 71 67, D LAW (SCO) 67 68 71, W BESSELING (NED) 64 70 72, F MORY (FRA) 61 70 75, J OLESEN (AM) (DEN) 65 71 70, S GARCIA (ESP) 65 70 71, S TALWAR (IND) 70 71 65, V VAN VEEN (NED) 74 73 59, B COLETTA (AUS) 66 74 66, C HANNA (USA) 71 69 66, R ENOCH (WAL) 68 72 66, R LUMSDEN (SCO) 72 70 64,
207 E PEPPERELL (ENG) 70 64 73, B SCHMIDT (ENG) 73 66 68, P JACKSON (USA) 66 71 70, M STEINLECHNER (AUT) 71 66 70, A WU (CHN) 68 68 71, C SHAUN (USA) 68 70 69, G DE LEO (ITA) 70 69 68, N LEGENDRE (FRA) 69 68 70, F CELLI (ITA) 67 69 71, C REITER (USA) 71 70 66,
208 B SIGEL (USA) 69 65 74, O WILSON (ENG) 70 68 70, S GROS (FRA) 70 68 70, S JONES (NZL) 69 66 73, S BROHOLT LIND (DEN) 70 69 69, M MILLER (USA) 64 72 72, G WIEBE (USA) 72 68 68, J MEYER DE BECO (BEL) 73 69 66, G COETZEE (RSA) 71 71 66, S CROSS (USA) 68 73 67, M KENNEDY (AM) (IRL) 70 70 68,
209 N SCHIETEKAT (RSA) 69 65 75, R PARATORE (ITA) 72 67 70, B FOLLETT-SMITH (ZIM) 70 67 72, D BORIBOONSUB (THA) 70 68 71, J FAHRBRING (SWE) 70 66 73, H BARRON (AUS) 77 61 71, H STUREHED (SWE) 71 68 70, D ERICKSON (USA) 64 71 74, M BESARD (BEL) 69 70 70, L NEMECZ (AUT) 62 73 74, N LEMKE (SWE) 66 69 74, A HALVORSEN (NOR) 71 64 74, D PERRIER (FRA) 73 67 69, J MORRISON (ENG) 70 70 69, J FREIBURGHAUS (SUI) 72 70 67, L VAN MEIJEL (NED) 74 68 67, J FLOYDD (ENG) 66 76 67, R PETERSSON (SWE) 72 70 67, T SHADBOLT (ENG) 71 72 66,
210 W NIENABER (RSA) 73 64 73, J BEKIRIAN (ARM) 69 67 74, J ZUSKA (CZE) 71 67 72, G MORGAN (CHI) 69 66 75, R THOMAS (IND) 67 72 71, L SCALISE (ITA) 66 71 73, J GOLDENBERG (USA) 69 68 73, M CHEUNG (HKG) 68 69 73, N CARLSON (USA) 70 68 72, G FDEZ-CASTA?O (ESP) 68 70 72, B AMAT (FRA) 66 70 74, J DAVIDSON (WAL) 71 69 70, B RUSCH (SUI) 64 76 70, J WALTERS (RSA) 73 69 68, T SINNOTT (AUS) 74 68 68, N KRISTENSEN (DEN) 74 67 69, A CHEEMA (IND) 70 71 69, R JOHNSTON (USA) 71 70 69, T HUNT (WAL) 67 73 70, B BERRY (USA) 70 70 70, H HOPEWELL (AUS) 68 74 68, M WARREN (SCO) 73 70 67,
211 J RUTHERFORD (ENG) 71 68 72, M ROTTLUFF (GER) 74 64 73, G EVANS (ENG) 71 67 73, S STEVENS (USA) 68 71 72, C WOOD (ENG) 72 68 71, D HUIZING (NED) 74 68 69, J NICHOLAS (USA) 72 70 69, A EJLERSEN (DEN) 70 71 70, T THURLOWAY (ENG) 72 69 70, D NYFJALL (SWE) 72 69 70, S TARRIO (ESP) 70 72 69, G HALL (USA) 70 72 69,
212 J BROOMHEAD (RSA) 70 69 73, G HURLEY (IRL) 72 67 73, A ARNAUS (ESP) 71 68 73, T CHRISTENSEN (AM) (GER) 73 66 73, S HUTSBY (ENG) 72 67 73, C JACOBSEN (DEN) 70 68 74, J PERICO (PER) 70 69 73, B SKOGEN (NOR) 68 69 75, J AXELSEN (DEN) 66 69 77, M FERNANDEZ DE OLIVEIRA (ARG) 74 66 72, T SLOMAN (ENG) 70 70 72, T POWER HORAN (AUS) 70 73 69, J RITCHIE (RSA) 70 73 69, J ETULAIN (ARG) 71 73 68, F SCHOTT (GER) 65 76 71,
213 T TETAK (SVK) 73 66 74, A PLANT (ENG) 69 67 77, S SYR (NOR) 72 73 68, J HRINDA (SVK) 71 72 70, R EVANS (ENG) 74 67 72, C BRING (DEN) 70 71 72, C CROCKETT (ENG) 73 73 67, K JOHANNESSEN (NOR) 72 74 67, T LEWIS (ENG) 69 77 67, J TORRES (ESP) 69 73 71, L MASAVEU (ESP) 73 69 71, S GALLACHER (SCO) 69 74 70,
214 W ENEFER (ENG) 72 67 75, P KATICH (GER) 72 66 76, K SAMOOJA (FIN) 69 70 75, R KAMINSKI (RSA) 73 72 69, A ALBERS (GER) 77 65 72, A KELLY (AUS) 72 70 72, T FUNK (USA) 69 78 67,
215 A WALLIN (SWE) 70 68 77, L SLATTERY (ENG) 74 72 69, T ED?N (SWE) 76 66 73, D MCELROY (NIR) 67 75 73, A VERDONK (NED) 74 71 70,
216 M HAMMER (GER) 75 69 72, S FRIEDRICHSEN (DEN) 72 73 71, A LAUSSOT (FRA) 69 78 69, C JOHN (AUS) 71 71 74, C HANSON (ENG) 76 69 71,
217 J GOTH-RASMUSSEN (DEN) 71 67 79, T TILLMANNS (GER) 76 70 71, B GILL (ENG) 71 72 74, K KOUWENAAR (NED) 72 75 70,
218 W DE VRIES (NED) 74 72 72, M GRIFFIN (AUS) 72 77 69,
219 S MANLEY (WAL) 74 71 74,
221 G KRISTJANSSON (ISL) 75 75 71,
223 R FOLEY (SUI) 80 73 70,
226 J WINSLOW (USA) 71 79 76,
**
OUT D HORSEY (ENG) 69 76 WD,