Viktor Hovland was slightly stunned after his ‘pretty wild’ finish to win the Dubai Desert Classic after beating Richard Bland in a play-off.
The Norwegian started the day six shots back, and his chance looked to have gone when he bogeyed the 15th following a three-putt to leave him well adrift.
But the 24-year-old then holed from 35 feet for birdie on the 16th and eagled the par-four 17th after driving the green.
Another birdie on the last saw Hovland card a final-round 66 and set a clubhouse target of 12 under. This was later matched by Bland after a birdie putt on the 18th hole capped a brilliant late charge from the 48-year-old
Rory McIlroy still looked to have a third win at the tournament within his grasp, holding a share of the lead heading down the stretch with his closest rivals having all finished.
After scrambling a par following a wayward drive into a bush at the 17th, he stood on the par-five 18th tee knowing he needed a birdie to win, while a par would have earned him a place in the play-off. McIlroy went for the green with his second shot but found the water, and then could not get up-and-down to join Hovland and Bland.
Hovland found the green in two in the play-off and sealed victory with a two-foot birdie putt, with Bland unable to make a four after his second shot nestled awkwardly in a divot by the green.
“This is pretty wild, I didn’t really think this was possible going into today,” Hovland said.
“I knew I had to shoot a real low number but a lot of things had to go my way. I’m thankful that it did. I just had to try to finish off well and I rolled a really long one in on 16 and then, on 17, hey, we got a shot. I’m pumping right now. It’s a bit surreal.”
The victory was Hovland’s third in his last five starts - he also overturned a six-shot deficit to win the Hero World Challenge in December - and takes him to a career-high third in the world rankings.
“Earlier this week I was up to fifth and I was getting questions about how that felt,” Hovland said.
“More of the same, I guess. Being number three is pretty crazy, but that stuff can vary week to week and I’m not going to let that stuff dictate my mood or how I do things. But it is very rewarding to see all the hard work paying off.”
England’s Sam Horsfield and Tyrrell Hatton were in a group of five to finish on eight under, along with overnight leader Justin Harding who saw a triple bogey on the 11th derail his hopes.
Tommy Fleetwood faded to finish six under alongside last year’s winner Paul Casey.
