The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship marked the first of two DP World Tour Play-off events to decide the Race To Dubai in the Middle East.
The season ends with the DP World Tour Championship, but the field was determined by what unfolded at Yas Links, where 72 of the circuit's best players battled it out for the chance to secure a place in the top 50 of the Race to Dubai rankings and a spot at the Jumeirah Golf Estates' Earth Course event.
Rory McIlroy led the way in the rankings ahead of the tournament, and he did his chances of winning the Race to Dubai no harm at all with a finish of T3.
However, while his 10-under 62 in the final round saw him surge up the leaderboard, he didn't quite do enough to clinch the title, falling one shot shy of Tommy Fleetwood and Aaron Rai.
As a result, the playoff was contested by the two Englishmen to determine the outcome, with Rai winning on the first extra hole for his third DP World Tour title and the biggest victory of his career.
As well as the opportunity to make it to the second event in the Play-Offs, there was also some big prize money on the table in Abu Dhabi, with the players competing for a share of the $9,000,000 purse.
Thanks to his victory, Rai secured the largest slice of the prize money, earning over €1,300,000 ($1,530,000) and 1,500 Race to Dubai ranking points to leave him ninth on the list, a leap of 46 places and safely into the field for the season finale.
For Fleetwood, there is the considerable consolation of a check for almost €850,000 ($990,000), while McIlroy and the man he shared third with, Nicolai Hojgaard, bank around €438,000 ($506,000).
As a no-cut event, every player earned prize money, meaning even the player who finished 72nd and last on the leaderboard, Jeong weon Ko, won over €13,000 ($15,000).
Below is what each player won at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Prize Money Breakdown
Position |
Player |
Prize Money |
|---|---|---|
1st |
Aaron Rai |
€1,318,102.96 |
2nd |
Tommy Fleetwood |
€849,829.54 |
T3 |
Nicolai Hojgaard |
€437,922.36 |
T3 |
Rory McIlroy |
€437,922.36 |
T5 |
Daniel Hillier |
€301,342.62 |
T5 |
Richard Mansell |
€301,342.62 |
T7 |
Nacho Elvira |
€214,625.32 |
T7 |
Andy Sullivan |
€214,625.32 |
T9 |
Angel Ayora |
€157,536.43 |
T9 |
Robert MacIntyre |
€157,536.43 |
T9 |
Marco Penge |
€157,536.43 |
T12 |
Shane Lowry |
€126,231.48 |
T12 |
Keita Nakajima |
€126,231.48 |
t12 |
Richard Sterne |
€126,231.48 |
T15 |
Matthew Jordan |
€112,385.62 |
T15 |
Jordan Smith |
€112,385.62 |
T17 |
Daniel Brown |
€97,400.87 |
T17 |
Alejandro Del Rey |
€97,400.87 |
T17 |
Calum Hill |
€97,400.87 |
T17 |
Alex Noren |
€97,400.87 |
T17 |
John Parry |
€97,400.87 |
22nd |
Kristoffer Reitan |
€88,191.49 |
T23 |
Ludvig Aberg |
€76,484.66 |
T23 |
Marcus Armitage |
€76,484.66 |
T23 |
Laurie Canter |
€76,484.66 |
T23 |
Martin Couvra |
€76,484.66 |
T23 |
Rasmus Hojgaard |
€76,484.66 |
T23 |
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen |
€76,484.66 |
T23 |
Jacob Skov Olesen |
€76,484.66 |
T23 |
Andrea Pavan |
€76,484.66 |
T23 |
Jayden Schaper |
€76,484.66 |
T32 |
Matt Fitzpatrick |
€59,054.48 |
T32 |
Michael Kim |
€59,054.48 |
T32 |
Francesco Laporta |
€59,054.48 |
T32 |
Haotong Li |
€59,054.48 |
T32 |
Elvis Smylie |
€59,054.48 |
T32 |
Conner Syme |
€59,054.48 |
38th |
Grant Forrest |
€52,290.53 |
T39 |
Eugenio Chacarra |
€49,949.16 |
T39 |
Joel Girrbach |
€49,949.16 |
T41 |
Alex Fitzpatrick |
€42,144.61 |
T41 |
Tyrrell Hatton |
€42,144.61 |
T41 |
Kazuma Kabori |
€42,144.61 |
T41 |
Romain Langasque |
€42,144.61 |
T41 |
Mikael Lindberg |
€42,144.61 |
T41 |
Oliver Lindell |
€42,144.61 |
T41 |
Joost Luiten |
€42,144.61 |
T41 |
Adrien Saddier |
€42,144.61 |
T49 |
Ugo Coussaud |
€30,549.27 |
T49 |
Joe Dean |
€30,549.27 |
T49 |
Manuel Elvira |
€30,549.27 |
T49 |
Ewen Ferguson |
€30,549.27 |
T49 |
Patrick Reed |
€30,549.27 |
T49 |
Brandon Robinson Thompson |
€30,549.27 |
T49 |
Johannes Veerman |
€30,549.27 |
T56 |
Jorge Campillo |
€24,974.58 |
T56 |
Ryan Gerard |
€24,974.58 |
T56 |
Marcel Schneider |
€24,974.58 |
59th |
Nicolai Von Dellingshausen |
€23,413.67 |
60th |
Darius Van Driel |
€22,633.22 |
61st |
Shaun Norris |
€21,852.76 |
T62 |
Rafa Cabrera Bello |
€19,901.62 |
T62 |
Joakim Lagergren |
€19,901.62 |
T62 |
Thriston Lawrence |
€19,901.62 |
T62 |
Dylan Naidoo |
€19,901.62 |
66th |
Tom McKibbin |
€17,950.48 |
67th |
Todd Clements |
€17,170.03 |
68th |
Ben Schmidt |
€16,389.57 |
69th |
Ryggs Johnston |
€15,609.11 |
70th |
Jacques Kruyswijk |
€14,828.66 |
71st |
Junghwan Lee |
€14,048.20 |
72nd |
Jeong weon Ko |
€13,267.75 |
