Larrazabal birdies final hole to win by one
stroke from McIlroy and Mickelson
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Pablo Larrazabal: Third and most important victory on the European Tour
Pablo Larrazabal of Spain claimed victory in the Abu Dhabi Championship as Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy were left to rue their misfortune. They finished only one shot behind the winner.
Overnight leader Craig Lee from Scotland faded out of contention over the final 18 holes. He ran up a 77 for joint 10th place.
Larrazabal bravely holed from four feet for a birdie at the final hole to hold off playing partner McIlroy, who had been penalised two shots after his third round for a minor rule infringement.Mickelson was still to play the 18th but after a disastrous 7 at the 13th, when he picked up a penalty for a double hit when playing a shot right-handed, he needed an eagle at the par-five to force a play-off.
He found the putting surface with a hybrid club but his lengthy putt never threatened the hole, leaving Larrazabal to celebrate a third victory on the European Tour.
McIlroy began the day three shots behind overnight leader Craig Lee, having vowed to get the strokes back as soon as possible on Sunday, although a birdie on the second was cancelled out by a bogey on the fifth when a wild drive hit a cart path and bounded into trouble.
Birdies at the seventh and eighth took him to 11 under par and briefly into a share of the lead, but Mickelson had also birdied the second and recovered from a wayward drive on the eighth to make another.
At 12 under par, the Open champion led by one from McIlroy and Larrazabal, with Lee playing himself out of contention with bogeys at the fourth and fifth.
Coetzee surge
McIlroy looked to have squandered a birdie chance on the par-five 10th with a poor pitch that only just crept over a greenside bunker, but holed from 20ft to join Mickelson and South African George Coetzee in the lead.Coetzee had gone to the turn in 33 and then rolled in a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th to wipe out his six-shot deficit at the start of the day.
Mickelson reclaimed the outright lead with a birdie on the 10th, but then imploded in spectacular fashion on the 13th.
After his drive finished underneath a bush, Mickelson declined to take a penalty drop and attempted to play the shot right-handed, but saw the ball hit a branch and rebound back onto his club.
That 'double hit' still left the ball in trouble and led to another right-handed escape shot, after which the 43-year-old found the green with his fifth shot and two-putted for a triple-bogey 7.
Back to 10 under par, Mickelson was now three shots off the lead held by Larrazabal, with clubhouse Coetzee and McIlroy a shot behind on 12 under.
In typical fashion Mickelson bounced straight back with a birdie on the 14th while Larrazabal narrowly missed a long birdie putt on the 16th to remain 13 under, but playing partner McIlroy (68) saved par from sand to remain just one shot behind.
Mickelson also birdied the 16th to get within a shot of Larrazabal, only for the Spaniard to hit a superb second shot on to the par-five 18th from almost 270 yards.
The eagle putt was left four feet short, but the 30-year-old held his nerve to make birdie and move to 14 under with a round of 67, leaving Mickelson needing to eagle the same hole to force a play-off.
It wasn't to be for the American, who nevertheless holed out for birdie and a share of second place after a 69.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72) Prizemoney in Euros
274 Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) 69 70 68 67 (328,779)
275 Rory McIlroy (N Ireland) 70 67 70 68, Phil Mickelson (USA) 73 70 63 69 (171,338 each)
276 Rafa Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 67 68 73 68, George Coetzee (S Africa) 68 70 72 66 (91,138 each)
278 Joost Luiten (Netherlands) 68 70 72 68 (69,044)
SCOTS TOTALS
280 Stephen Gallacher 70 73 68 69 (T8) (46,752)
281 Craig Lee 68 67 69 77 (T10) (31,168)
285 Marc Warren 68 73 70 74 (T37) (12,675)
286 Colin Montgomerie 73 68 71 74 (10,258)
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Published by scottishgolfview.com