Germany's Martin Kaymer won the 1.5 million euro Abu Dhabi Golf Championship for the second time in three years Sunday when he prevailed over Ian Poulter by one shot.
Germany's Martin Kaymer won the 1.5 million euro Abu Dhabi Golf Championship for the second time in three years Sunday when he prevailed over Ian Poulter by one shot.
Kaymer, who started the day one ahead of Poulter and Rory McIlroy, shot a six-under par 66 to finish with a four-day tally of 21-under-par 267.
Poulter matched him with a 66 of his own, but Kaymer edged ahead with a birdie on the final hole.
McIlroy, who had a slow start and was only one-under at the turn, made four birdies on the back nine of the Abu Dhabi Golf Club to finish at 19-under par 269 for sole third place.
It was Kaymer's fifth win on the European Tour and he is expected to go up to sixth place when the new world rankings are released tomorrow.
Such has been his dominance in Abu Dhabi since 2008 that his worst finish was a second place last year.
In all, he has won 603,162 euros in his last three appearances here, and is a combined 56-under par for his last 12 rounds. In 2008, his winning total was 15-under par.
It was an exhilarating performance from the leading trio, who made 18 birdies between them, for a solitary bogey by McIlroy.
"It was one of the nicest rounds I have ever played on the European Tour. In fact, they were four fantastic days. I hit the ball great and my putting was very good too. And as a group, all three of us played so good. It was very solid, and all about birdies. There was no letting up," said Kaymer.
"It was a lot different from the last time I won here. It was my first win and even though I had a six-shot lead going into Sunday, I played very defensive golf. But today was certainly different. I hope this win helps me in the Ryder Cup rankings, which is my main goal this year."
Poulter got off to a fast start with three straight birdies, while Kaymer could only put red numbers on the first two holes. But they made the turn at four-under for the round, which meant the German had managed to protect his slim lead.
On the back nine, Poulter edged ahead with birdies on the 11th and 12th holes, but the birdies dried up for him thereafter. He had a 25-footer birdie chance on the final hole to enforce a play-off, but could not make it.
Kaymer restored parity with a birdie on the 14th, and then made a crucial 15-feet par putt on the par-4 17th.
It was all over on the final hole when Poulter had to lay-up after hitting his tee shot into the left rough, while Kaymer smoked it down the middle, and reached the par-5 green in two with an equally sizzling three-wood from 276 yards.
Poulter, who is expected to move into the top 10, said: "It's a nice start to the season I guess. Of course, I'm pretty frustrated that I've walked away shooting that score and I haven't won.
"But I am feeling very confident right now. If you are going to hit the ball the way I have hit for these four days, it makes me excited to go out there and play golf."
McIlroy said: "You play in the last group and you shoot five-under, most times you are going to come out on top. But Martin and Ian played very well.
"I am a bit disappointed, but I have got nothing but positives to take out of this. Good start to the season, last group and going down the last just one shot behind and getting the juices flowing again. Hopefully, this sets the tone for the rest of the season."
Shane Lowry, the Irish Open champion, posted his best finish on the tour since turning professional, securing fourth place at 17-under. South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen, who finished tied second with Kaymer last year, shot a 66 for sole fifth place at 16-under.
© 2010 AFP/sid
