ABU DHABI – England's Aaron Rai overcame a shocking short bogey with a pair of late birdies for a 5-under 67 to beat Tommy Fleetwood on the first playoff hole with a 10-foot birdie putt to win the Abu Dhabi Championship on Sunday.
Rye returned from a two-month layoff to win for the first time this year and claim his third European Tour title – his first on tour since beating Fleetwood at the 2020 Scottish Open. He won the Wyndham Championship in August 2004 to claim his first PGA Tour title.
Rory McIlroy started on the back nine at Yas Links with five birdies in a row and finished with a 62, matching his low score on the European Tour. He fell one shot back but extended his lead in the Race to Dubai, which ends next week.
Fleetwood was aiming for a third world title in an already memorable season that included a 4-1 record on a European Ryder Cup-winning team. He holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 16th and made a 15-foot par putt to preserve a tie with Rye on the 17th.
Both narrowly missed birdie chances in regulation on the par-5 18th. Fleetwood shot 66 to join Rye on 25-under 263.
They finished one shot ahead of McIlroy and Nikolaj Hjogaard of Denmark, who just missed a 15-foot eagle putt on the final hole to advance to a playoff. He closed with 66.
“It’s hard to put into words how this feels,” Rai said. “It's amazing to be here.”
It was a tight battle for the low score that day, and the 30-year-old Rai fell out of the lead when his 3-foot par putt at the 14th went wide of the cup. Then, on the 15th, he had to fight for par with a six-foot putt.
But he hit a 5-iron to eight feet on the 16th to leave Birdie within one stroke of Fleetwood, who holed a 15-foot birdie putt. Rye made an 18-foot putt on the par-3 17th to reach 25 under, and Fleetwood had to make his 15-foot putt to stay tied for par.
The playoffs became a pitching and hitting contest as neither player managed to reach 616 yards on two throws. Fleetwood's chance missed to the right and Rye converted.
Rai entered the week in 55th place at the Race to Dubai and the win moved him into 9th place to qualify for next week's season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai and into the top 50. Matthew Jordan tied for 15th place and finished 50th.
McIlroy, the defending champion next week, will be seeking his seventh title as Europe's No. 1 and created a big cushion with a runner-up finish in Abu Dhabi.
England's Marco Penge closed with a 63 to finish ninth, but he is now 767 points behind, 2,000 points behind the winner in Dubai.
“I was just trying to take my time and make as many birdies as I could, knowing that, OK, I'm trying to win this tournament, but also give myself as much of a cushion as possible before going to Dubai next week,” McIlroy said.
