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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Matt Verri

Viktor Hovland hails ‘pretty wild’ play-off win at Dubai Desert Classic after late Rory McIlroy disaster

Viktor Hovland was slightly stunned after his ‘pretty wild’ finish to win the Dubai Desert Classic after beating Richard Bland in a play-off.

The Norwegian started the day six shots back, and his chance looked to have gone when he bogeyed the 15th following a three-putt to leave him well adrift.

But the 24-year-old then holed from 35 feet for birdie on the 16th and eagled the par-four 17th after driving the green.

Another birdie on the last saw Hovland card a final-round 66 and set a clubhouse target of 12 under. This was later matched by Bland after a birdie putt on the 18th hole capped a brilliant late charge from the 48-year-old

Rory McIlroy still looked to have a third win at the tournament within his grasp, holding a share of the lead heading down the stretch with his closest rivals having all finished.

After scrambling a par following a wayward drive into a bush at the 17th, he stood on the par-five 18th tee knowing he needed a birdie to win, while a par would have earned him a place in the play-off. McIlroy went for the green with his second shot but found the water, and then could not get up-and-down to join Hovland and Bland.

Hovland found the green in two in the play-off and sealed victory with a two-foot birdie putt, with Bland unable to make a four after his second shot nestled awkwardly in a divot by the green.

“This is pretty wild, I didn’t really think this was possible going into today,” Hovland said.

“I knew I had to shoot a real low number but a lot of things had to go my way. I’m thankful that it did. I just had to try to finish off well and I rolled a really long one in on 16 and then, on 17, hey, we got a shot. I’m pumping right now. It’s a bit surreal.”

(Getty Images)

The victory was Hovland’s third in his last five starts - he also overturned a six-shot deficit to win the Hero World Challenge in December - and takes him to a career-high third in the world rankings.

“Earlier this week I was up to fifth and I was getting questions about how that felt,” Hovland said.

“More of the same, I guess. Being number three is pretty crazy, but that stuff can vary week to week and I’m not going to let that stuff dictate my mood or how I do things. But it is very rewarding to see all the hard work paying off.”

England’s Sam Horsfield and Tyrrell Hatton were in a group of five to finish on eight under, along with overnight leader Justin Harding who saw a triple bogey on the 11th derail his hopes.

Tommy Fleetwood faded to finish six under alongside last year’s winner Paul Casey.

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