Rickie Fowler wins Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship

Nos. 1 (Spieth), 3 (McIlroy), 5 (Stenson) and 6 (Fowler) in the World Ranking were in the field, principally the result of appearance fees that are allowed by the European Tour.

Dressed in his trademark Sunday orange, Fowler rebounded from double bogey at No. 7, which helped trim his lead over a congested pack from four strokes to one, by chipping in from 30 yards for eagle from a bunker at No. 8.

He needed two moments of inspiration in the final round to seal a one-shot win – and spark more talk about Fowler’s place in golf’s current elite.

Victory lifts Fowler, who also won the Scottish Open at Gullane last July, to fourth in the world rankings, with Henrik Stenson and Rory McIlroy finishing the week in a tie for third.

Having started off poorly, he stated that he had to put in a great performance to end up as the victor on Sunday, saying “I had to just find my way around the course, make a couple of putts to kind of keep the momentum going”.

Northern Ireland’s McIlroy had been out of sorts after fluffing a six-foot birdie putt on his third round’s last hole and tossing his putter away in disgust at the mistake that denied him a place in the concluding round’s final group.

But who really would have thought it would be Rickie Fowler after he’d been overshadowed by both Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy in Thursday’s opening round of the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship? “This week it was better”, said Kapur, who was the lone Indian in the field. The ultimate goal is to be the best player in the world. So this is the highest, or lowest, however you want to say it, I’ve been ranked. “This is really the first time in my career I’ve had this feeling about my game and where it’s at”.

“From The Players on, just being in the situation, contention, Sunday, final round, against the best players in the world and just believing and having the confidence that, hey, if I go hit the shots, I’m winning, no question”, Fowler said. And I’d like to have my shot at getting the Green Jacket there.

After fog caused a lengthy delay to the resumption of play for the second morning running, McIlroy produced a sensational finish to his second round before ending the day tied with Rickie Fowler, Branden Grace, Ian Poulter and Joost Luiten on 10 under par. “I’m not 100pc right”. “Just looking forward to next week now”, said Pieters, who had finished third in Abu Dhabi previous year. It’s a busy schedule going into the Masters.

Fowler had been very much the third wheel in the Hollywood three-ball alongside McIlroy and Spieth in the first round on Thursday.