Paul Casey stormed to a four-stroke victory at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday. The win gave the Englishman his 15th European Tour title.
Casey started the final day at the Emirates Golf Club with a one stroke lead. On Sunday he increased his lead over Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre to two strokes after birdies on the third and fourth holes.
The 43-year-old finished the front nine in level par after bogeys on the sixth and eighth holes. Three consecutive bogeys from the seventh hole ended MacIntyre’s title chance.
Casey gained at the 11th and 13th holes and a closing birdie saw him sign for a final round of 70 and a total of 17 under par. He ended the tournament four strokes ahead of South African Brandon Stone.
MacIntyre signed for a 12 under par total, two strokes ahead of England’s Laurie Canter and Kalle Samooja of Finland.
“I’m so over the moon” said Casey. “Not just 15 [victories]. The fact it’s Dubai. It’s an iconic event on The European Tour. You guys all know that. One of the coolest trophies around.”
The win moves Casey inside the Top 15 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time since December 2019. He joins former and current European Ryder Cup Captains Thomas Bjorn and Pádraig Harrington on 15 European Tour titles.
Harrington and Lowry
Harrington finished in a tie for sixth at nine under par alongside Sergio Garcia and Bernd Wiesberger. The Dubliner shot a 70 on Sunday to add to rounds of 71, 69 and 69.
Offaly’s Shane Lowry signed for a 75 in the final round – his worst score of the week. He had shot 70, 62 and 67 in the previous three rounds.
Final select scoresÂ
271 P CASEY (ENG) 67 70 64 70,
275 B STONE (RSA) 70 67 66 72,
276 R MACINTYRE (SCO) 67 68 67 74,
278 K SAMOOJA (FIN) 68 68 71 71, L CANTER (ENG) 70 68 68 72,
279 B WIESBERGER (AUT) 73 68 69 69, P HARRINGTON 71 69 69 70, S GARCIA (ESP) 66 73 67 73,
280 R H?JGAARD (DEN) 72 72 69 67, M SCHWAB (AUT) 70 69 73 68, A WU (CHN) 71 71 70 68, A ARNAUS (ESP) 68 69 74 69, T KANAYA (JPN) 70 69 72 69, A ROZNER (FRA) 70 71 69 70, A LEVY (FRA) 70 68 71 71, T DETRY (BEL) 67 67 74 72,
281 M FITZPATRICK (ENG) 70 71 70 70, T FLEETWOOD (ENG) 68 68 73 72, L WESTWOOD (ENG) 69 68 72 72,
282 R STERNE (RSA) 64 74 75 69, K KITAYAMA (USA) 65 72 75 70,
283 C BEZUIDENHOUT (RSA) 74 70 70 69, L HERBERT (AUS) 74 66 72 71, W ORMSBY (AUS) 68 73 71 71, T HATTON (ENG) 76 64 71 72, S SHARMA (IND) 70 68 72 73,
284 J WINTHER (DEN) 69 75 71 69, F ZANOTTI (PAR) 71 67 76 70, G FORREST (SCO) 74 69 71 70, T PIETERS (BEL) 71 73 68 72, N COLSAERTS (BEL) 70 73 67 74, S JAMIESON (SCO) 70 71 68 75, S LOWRY 70 72 67 75, J HARDING (RSA) 66 70 72 76,
285 A BJ?RK (SWE) 71 71 73 70, D BURMESTER (RSA) 72 72 71 70, D LIPSKY (USA) 72 71 68 74, R CABRERA BELLO (ESP) 73 71 66 75, M KORHONEN (FIN) 70 67 72 76, J ROSE (ENG) 71 69 68 77.
