| -12 V Hovland (Nor), R Bland (Eng); -11 R McIlroy (NI); -8 J Harding (SA), S Horsfield (Eng), T Hatton (Eng), A Meronk (Pol), E van Rooyen (SA) |
| Selected: -7 A Scott (Aus), P Harrington (Ire); -6 T Pieters (Bel) |
Norway’s Viktor Hovland defeated Englishman Richard Bland in a play-off to win the Dubai Desert Classic over Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis course.
Hovland was six shots off Justin Harding’s lead starting the day but a 66 took him level with Bland, who shot 68, on 12 under to force a play-off.
The 24-year-old birdied the first extra hole to beat Bland, 48, to the title.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy finished a stroke behind Hovland and Bland after finding water on the last.
The 32-year-old was two shots off the lead going into the final round but could not capitalise on Harding’s modest Sunday, as the South African slumped to a 76 to slip out of contention.
Needing a birdie to win the event on one of the closing two holes, he had to scramble for par from the bushes on 17 then made bogey on 18 to miss out on the play-off.
In contrast, Hovland went birdie-eagle-birdie to play his last three holes in four under while Bland birdied the last two to join the 2021 Ryder Cup player at the top of the leaderboard.
“This is pretty wild, especially because I didn’t think it was possible going into today,” he told Sky Sports.
“I’m pumping right now, it’s a bit surreal. It’s hard to calm yourself in a play-off but you’ve just got to go back to what you know.”
It is Hovland’s third win in five starts after back-to-back victories at the World Wide Technology Championship and Hero World Challenge at the end of last year.
He added: “I was fuming after the three-putt on the 15th but I knew I just had to try and finish off well and get a nice position for the week.
“I rolled a really long one on 16 and then on 17 and, hey, we got a shot.”
