Globe-trotter Spieth ‘beat up, mentally and physically’

Fowler started Sunday by finishing off a 7-under 65 in the third round at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, earning a two-shot edge for the final 18.

“I’m going to celebrate this one first”, he said after his one-shot win over Thomas Pieters.

“It’s a great start to the year for him”, McIlroy said.

Fowler, who held a two-stroke lead after three rounds, shot a 3-under 69 for 16-under 272 overall.

Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson, Peter Hanson and Rafa Cabrera-Bello were a shot further back, with halfway leader Andy Sullivan five off the pace after struggling to a 74 and world No 1 Jordan Spieth – who completed his round in near-darkness on Saturday – on seven under.

Fowler’s rise up the rankings comes on the back winning the Players Championship, the Scottish Open, the Deutsche Bank Championship within the last 12 months, with this latest success marking him down as a genuine challenger to the established top three of Spieth, Jason Day and McIlroy. With the win, Fowler is now officially in the Big Four of the Official World Golf Ranking. I was disappointed with my play last season and sometime you need a kick like that to push you.

“It won’t be something I’ll do in the future, to bounce back and forth from Asia or Australia as much as we did”, said Spieth, who since the Presidents Cup in South Korea in October has competed in Shanghai, Australia, the Bahamas and Abu Dhabi. “I think I mentioned through the summer at some point … It shows in certain places, and this week, the first day I was here, I was striping it and since then, I was just a little weak”, he said.

Jordan Spieth may regard Rickie Fowler’s sudden surge as perfectly natural but the world number one has still played down talk of the fellow American being an established top-four player. But I’m very exhausted. I’m not 100 per cent right now.

The championship went down to the wire. His putt on the 18th lipped out for eagle.

Getting entry to that group, of course, would be easier with a major victory and Fowler already has his eyes fixed on Augusta National. “Next time maybe some more putts drop, that’s it”. With this win, Fowler has now won five tournaments on either the PGA or European Tour, including four since May. He has made a fashion statement this week by wearing high-top golf shoes and ankle-tight jogger trousers, but he’s sent out a golfing message, too. “It’s nice to have the game where it’s at right now going into the season, instead of trying to work on things and trying to find stuff”.

“I wasted a lot of opportunities out there this week, so it really is a story of what could have been”.

It was another near miss for McIlroy, who adds a third place to his four runnerup finishes in Abu Dhabi at what is always his first event each year.

And McIlroy said: “It seems like this could be the tournament I just can’t quite master”.

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Jason Dufner won the CareerBuilder Challenge with a par on the second hole of a playoff Sunday, taking advantage of David Lingmerth’s shot off the rocks that bounced into the water.