REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

 And the winner is - Pablo Larrazabal 

                       PICTURE BY COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES(c) 

Pablo Larrazábal showed once again his

fondness for picking up prestigious

titles on The European Tour when he

held off a stellar cast to claim the

Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship today.
The 30 year old Spaniard – whose 

previous Tour triumphs have come in the

 Alstom Open de France and the BMW 

International Open in Germany – carded a

bold final round 67 on the National 

Course for a 14 under par total of 274 

and a one shot victory over Rory McIlroy

and Phil Mickelson.
“I win when I can and I win when I have 

a chance to win,” said the former Sir 

Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year. “But it

was great to do it when all my family 

and my team were here. They all know how

 hard I’ve worked for this. 

"I thank them for supporting me and 

continuing to push me hard.”
Larrazábal started the final round three

shots behind leader Craig Lee, but as the

 Scot faded, the Spaniard seized the 

initiative. 

Reaching the turn in 32, further birdies

at the 11th and 13th saw him hit the

front and when he two putted the final 

hole for his sixth birdie of the round,

it set a target neither of his two

illustrious pursuers could match.
Mickelson, the reigning Open Champion, 

battled hard and produced his usual 

brand of golfing fireworks as he strove 

to close the gap. But the 43 year old 

Californian left-hander’s challenge was 

undone at the 13th where a double hit, 

while attempting to extricate himself 

right handed from a bush, saw him run

 up a triple bogey 7.
“It never crossed my mind that I would

 double hit it,” said the American, who

 gamely fought to make up the lost ground

 with birdies on the 14th, 16th and 18th

 holes. 

“But I enjoy challenging myself to hit

some shots. Sometimes they come off, and

sometimes they don’t. This week I had a

little bit of both.”
Like Mickelson, joint runner-up McIlroy

tried everything to make up ground on

Larrazábal, but seven straight pars from

the 11th to the 17th saw him unable to 

do so; like Mickelson, his birdie 4 at

the last leaving his total one shot shy

of the mark.
It did, of course, leave the Northern 

Irishman rueing the rules infringement 

he incurred during Saturday’s third round

, a mistake which cost him a two shot 

penalty and, ultimately, the title.
“I’m standing here and I feel I should

be 15 under par for the tournament and 

the winner, not 13 under par and the 

runner-up,” he said. 

“But that’s the way it goes I suppose. 

I played the least shots of anyone here 

this week so I suppose I can count that

 as a moral victory.
“But I’m very happy with the week as a

whole. I came in here telling everyone I

was happy with my game and I think I’ve

 proved that by doing a lot of good work.

 So it’s fair to say I’m really excited 

about the rest of the season now.”
Larrazábal’s fellow Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-

Bello (68) – who held the lead at one

 stage during the front nine, slipped 

back to share fourth with South African

George Coetzee (66) on 12 under par 276,

while Dutchman Joost Luiten completed 

the top six with a 68 for ten under par 

278.
 

ALL THE FINAL ROUND TOTALS

Par 288 (4x72)

274 P Larrazábal (Esp) 69 70 68 67
275 R McIlroy (Nir) 70 67 70 68, P Mickelson (USA) 73 70 63 69
276 G Coetzee (RSA) 68 70 72 66, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 67 68 73 68 
278 J Luiten (Ned) 68 70 72 68
279 J Carlsson (Swe) 73 70 71 65
280 S Gallacher (Sco) 70 73 68 69, R Karlsson (Swe) 73 67 72 68
281 P Hanson (Swe) 70 70 69 72, M Jiménez (Esp) 73 68 67 73, T Björn (Den) 70 67 72 72, T Jaidee (Tha) 70 70 68 73, M Hoey (NIr) 69 71 68 73, T Hatton (Eng) 69 71 70 71, D Fichardt (RSA) 70 70 75 66, G Bhullar (Ind) 72 68 66 75, C Lee (Sco) 68 67 69 77
282 T Aiken (RSA) 70 73 69 70, H Otto (RSA) 70 71 69 72, P McGinley (Irl) 68 72 72 70, A Sullivan (Eng) 73 70 69 70, B Stone (RSA) 71 71 73 67, T Fleetwood (Eng) 73 65 72 72, D Willett (Eng) 73 63 76 70, S Garcia (Esp) 76 68 70 68, M Baldwin (Eng) 67 72 69 74
283 W Ormsby (Aus) 69 73 71 70, E Molinari (Ita) 70 71 71 71, J Lima (Por) 68 75 67 73
284 R Gonzalez (Arg) 71 66 74 73, E Grillo (Arg) 72 72 70 70, M Kieffer (Ger) 71 71 72 70, M Manassero (Ita) 71 73 70 70, M Kaymer (Ger) 70 71 69 74, A Quiros (Esp) 71 70 70 73
285 L Donald (Eng) 70 73 71 71, R Jacquelin (Fra) 71 72 70 72, P Waring (Eng) 73 71 74 67, O Fisher (Eng) 69 72 73 71, M Siem (Ger) 69 70 73 73, D Howell (Eng) 73 71 72 69, S Kapur (Ind) 71 72 75 67, M Warren (Sco) 68 73 70 74
286 R Wattel (Fra) 67 75 70 74, T Lewis (Eng) 71 70 72 73, C Montgomerie (Sco) 73 68 74 71, E Pepperell (Eng) 70 72 69 75
287 J Campillo (Esp) 72 72 73 70, A Cañizares (Esp) 71 69 76 71, S Benson (Eng) 73 70 72 72
288 D Clarke (NIr) 74 69 72 73, B Grace (RSA) 73 70 70 75, J Quesne (Fra) 71 72 74 71, R Santos (Por) 70 72 71 75
289 A Levy (Fra) 74 69 69 77, E De La Riva (Esp) 70 74 72 73, T Olesen (Den) 74 70 71 74, J Donaldson (Wal) 73 70 73 73
290 S Webster (Eng) 69 73 75 73, J Singh (Ind) 69 75 74 72, P Whiteford (Sco) 74 70 73 73
291 J Jeong (Kor) 70 71 76 74, N Elvira (Esp) 72 70 74 75
292 M Carlsson (Swe) 71 71 77 73, P Casey (Eng) 72 71 73 76, G Maybin (NIr) 73 70 76 73, C Wood (Eng) 71 73 72 76, R Bland (Eng) 71 73 75 73 
293 D McGrane (Irl) 70 72 75 76
294 D Van Der Walt (RSA) 68 73 74 79
Retired: J M Olazábal (Esp) 74 70 73 ret

SCROLL DOWN FOR ANOTHER VIEWPOINT ON THE FINAL DAY OF THE ABU DHABI CHAMPIONSHIP - AND HOW MUCH PRIZEMONEY WENT THE SCOTS' WAY