Padraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy had to settle for a share of fifth place at the Abu Dhabi Championship today as England’s Paul Casey ended two years without a win. McIlroy fired a final round of 65, while Harrington carded a closing 66, but at 17-under both were four adrift of Casey’s total.
Six clear with six holes to play in the event which saw his last victory in 2007, Casey had his lead reduced to one when he had three bogeys and South African Louis Oosthuizen posted a 64.
However, Casey parred the last four for a 70 and claimed the €244,000 first prize with a 21-under par total of 267.
Defending champion Martin Kaymer eagled the last to tie Oosthuizen in the runners-up with Swede Johan Edfors joining Harrington and McIlroy in fifth.
World number two Sergio Garcia, meanwhile, matched Oosthuizen’s 64 to climb into a tie for eighth with England’s Danny Willett.
Having slipped from 12th in the world to outside the top 40, the ninth European Tour title of his career should take Casey close to the top 20 again.
“That was a bit of a nervous one,” admitted the former World Match Play champion. “I started off great, but it was tricky coming in. The greens were exceptionally difficult to read and there were a couple of camera clicks which put me off.
“It feels very satisfying to get my hands on the trophy again.
“I didn’t think I would have to wait so long. My game is now better than it’s ever been and I’ve played some great stuff in spurts, but I’ve never really put it together.
“I’ve been focused very much on the majors, and performed well, and maybe neglected other tournaments. That’s what I’m trying to do and it looks like it’s paying off.”
Collated final totals(Irish an Gbr unless stated, Irishin bold)
267Paul Casey 69 65 63 70
268Martin Kaymer (Ger) 68 68 65 67, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 67 69 68 64
270Anthony Wall 67 67 69 67
271 Rory McIlroy66 69 71 65, Johan Edfors (Swe) 66 69 69 67, Padraig Harrington71 66 68 66
272Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70 71 67 64, Danny Willett 71 66 68 67
273Peter Hanson (Swe) 67 71 66 69, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 67 69 71 66, Bradley Dredge 71 69 66 67
274Phillip Archer 71 71 67 65, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 70 69 66
275Anders Hansen (Den) 70 67 69 69, Robert Allenby (Aus) 71 68 69 67, Soren Hansen (Den) 71 66 71 67, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 69 69 69, Graeme Storm 69 64 69 73
276Brett Rumford (Aus) 68 67 71 70, Stephen Gallacher 74 66 65 71, Paul Lawrie 73 70 68 65, Gary Murphy69 72 69 66, Mark Foster 70 69 68 69, Peter Lawrie73 70 69 64
277Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 74 67 70 66, Marc Warren 70 69 70 68, Richard Green (Aus) 68 65 76 68, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 72 67 67 71, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 71 70 67 69, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 71 70 67
278Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 68 72 69 69, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 68 72 72 66, Simon Dyson 71 68 69 70
279Danny Lee (Nzl) 68 70 73 68, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 72 67 69 71
280Rodney Pampling (Aus) 70 72 71 67, Ross Fisher 75 67 70 68, Colin Montgomerie 72 67 70 71, Oliver Wilson 69 71 70 70, Oliver Fisher 67 69 69 75
281Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 66 69 73 73, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 67 75 69 70, Alastair Forsyth 75 66 69 71, Mark Brown (USA) 72 69 70 70, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 71 69 72 69
282 Damien McGrane70 72 70 70, Robert Rock 67 75 71 69, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 74 69 72 67
283Scott Strange (Aus) 73 66 72 72, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 68 70 72 73, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 72 69 71 71, Jamie Donaldson 69 72 71 71, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 70 72 71 70, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 67 70 73 73, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 71 71 71 70, Thomas Levet (Fra) 69 74 71 69
284David Dixon 70 69 73 72
285Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 72 71 75 67, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 73 66 73 73, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 69 71 73
286Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 72 71 73 70, Gary Orr 75 68 72 71, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 71 71 75 69, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 72 70 77 67, Simon Wakefield 71 72 71 72
287 Paul McGinley69 73 74 71
288David Drysdale 72 70 74 72, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 72 71 72 73
289Nick Dougherty 74 69 74 72
290Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 72 70 72 76
291Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 72 69 78 72, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 73 69 73 76
