Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Wrap-up

In the final round there were not one, but two aces. Dan Bradbury won a new Genesis G70 Shooting Brake 2.0 Sport with a hole-inone at the 17th, before Tyrrell Hatton added a second on the par-three 13th with a pitching wedge.

The sixth at Yas Links was the toughest hole of the week with the par four witnessing 15 double-bogeys or worse. One of those blemishes came in the opening round from tournament winner Victor Perez who carded a triple-bogey seven on day one. Hitting the fairway here was crucial, as players who missed it were penalised more than half-astroke (+0.51), the highest such number on the course. The sixth was also the second toughest green to hit in regulation for the week at just under 66 percent. This green also yielded the highest average putts per green in regulation at an average of 1.95. The top nine finishers on the leaderboard played this hole to a combined score of even par.

Sami Välimäki shot a course-record 62 in the final round, firing an eagle and eight birdies to finish the week on 12 under and sneak into the top ten. He beat the old record by one shot.

Tapio Pulkkanen topped the leaderboard for Driving distance at Yas Links, averaging 345 yards per drive over the Kyle Philips-designed track.

26

Victor Perez not only won the tournament but also led the way in the total number of birdies with 26. Last year’s winner Thomas Pieters sunk just the 14 birdies on his way to victory.

15

Marcus Armitage and Nacho Elvira held the unfortunate record of most bogeys across the week with both men having 15 blemishes on their card over four rounds.

By Thomas Wragg