Shane Lowry was left berating himself after making a hash of the final hole and tumbling dramatically out of the frame at the Dubai Invitational. As he started the last hole he held a one-stroke lead, but the Irishman found the sand and water on his way to a gut-wrenching double bogey. That nightmarish finale enabled Nacho Elvira to celebrate a “dream come true”.
In the final group at Dubai Creek Resort, Elvira, a 38-year-old Spaniard and the world No190, got to ten under par on the 17th and then maintained his poise and held his nerve to make a par at the last and thus avoid a play-off with New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier. Elvira’s round of 69 was enough for a one-stroke victory, with Lowry and Rory McIlroy’s late errors dropping them to a share of third with David Puig and Julien Guerrier.
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McIlroy had been chasing when he went down to the last, and was close with his boom-or-bust attempt to hole out from the bunker at the back of the green. Lowry, though, needed only a par to keep the pressure on Elvira behind him. However, the 2019 Open champion also found the bunker from the light rough, and was too heavy with his escape, watching in grim disbelief as his ball ran across the green and into the creek.
Elvira then avoided trouble on the last and held his nerve to claim the £350,000 prize, settling an enthralling conclusion during which five players had shared the lead on the back nine.
Elvira said he had dreamt of celebrating a win with his children
WALEED ZEIN/GETTY
The Spaniard said he had been unaware of Lowry’s misfortune as he plotted his own route to victory. “The leaderboards are facing the other way, so I had no idea,” he said. “I tried to go for it, and I was lucky enough that I had enough club to go just a little bit past the pin. When I turned around and I knew I had two putts to win, I felt more nervous, to be honest.
“I’ve always dreamt of my kids walking up to me after a win. Anything that happens after this is just nothing compared to this.”
It was the biggest of his three DP World Tour victories and his delight was the antithesis of Lowry’s mood. For someone whose short game can be so magical, it is hard to fathom that the 38-year-old has not had a solo tour win for more than three years.
McIlroy almost holed out from the bunker at the last, but ended up carding a final-round 68, two strokes behind Elvira
ANDREW REDINGTON/GETTY
As for McIlroy, he viewed this as a decent warm-up for this week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic. With his new cavity-backed irons in the bag instead of the blades that served him so well last year — an intriguing switch to more forgiving clubs for one of the games best ball-strikers — he was not at his best, but still gave himself a chance of victory with five successive birdies on his way to a closing 68.
“I don’t think I’m hitting the club that badly,” was the 36-year-old’s self-assessment. “It’s just maybe some strategy off the tee. I was hitting driver a lot this week, more for practice than anything else.
“Next week at the Emirates, it’s obviously important to get the ball in the fairway and give yourself chances from there. The short game and putting felt good, which is a really good sign. Tidy up the ball-striking a little bit, and I’ll hopefully be right there next week.”
The Desert Classic is the year’s first Rolex event and has a $9million prize pool. McIlroy, Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood and last year’s winner, Tyrrell Hatton, are all in the field, along with Dustin Johnson, the two-times major champion now on the LIV Golf circuit.