27 January 2019: Shubhankar Sharma fired three birdies on either side of his final round, working his way up the order with a fluent 68. Gaganjeet Bhullar also played some clean golf, shooting four birdies in a Sunday 69. Bryson DeChambeau was at his irrepressible best, coasting home to a comfortable victory in the Dubai Desert Classic.
Shubhankar ended the week at 10-under in T28 aided by his best card of the week inside the Emirates Golf Club. The final round 68 contained six birdies slightly offset by bogeys at the first and twelfth holes.
His performance this week should give the Indian plenty of confidence ahead of a busy stretch of golf, as he pursues a spot at the Masters in April.
Bhullar has been impressive this week, despite the score not echoing such a sentiment. He has played some good golf tee to green and should leave Dubai knowing that a good run of results is well within the grasp of his decorated bag.
DeChambeau capped his return to Dubai with a handsome victory to record his first success on the European Tour and the first ever outside the USA.
He started the day with a hat-trick of birdies to tighten his grip over the lead and never really let go. After six straight pars, DeChambeau picked up the pace with an eagle at the 10th hole.
A bogey at the 12th hole was sandwiched between birdies on either side, as he went six under for the day with only five holes separating him and a near certain victory.
Another birdie at the 14th hole meant that he enjoyed a seven stroke cushion over Paul Waring, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia, all three men inside the clubhouse at 16-under.
Defending champion Haotong Li was playing alongside DeChambeau, watching the on helplessly as the American set about annihilating the Majlis course.
Update – European Tour Website
Bryson DeChambeau claimed his maiden European Tour title in style on Sunday, producing a closing 64 to win the 30th anniversary edition of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic by seven shots.
The World Number Five had set himself the target of securing his first professional overseas win at Emirates Golf Club ahead of the event, and he duly delivered, carding an eagle, seven birdies and a single bogey on day four to finish the week on 24 under par and set a new tournament record.
Last year’s champion Li Haotong, who played alongside DeChambeau in the final round, had held the previous record after producing a winning score of 23 under in 2018.
Matt Wallace finished alone in second place on 17 under after closing his round with back-to-back birdies to sign for a 68. Englishmen Paul Waring and Ian Poulter, and Spaniards Sergio Garcia and Alvaro Quiros were another stroke back in a tie for third.
“Today I was happy with my game. I executed a lot of great shots. It was obviously a lot of fun to be able to finally hoist an international trophy, I’m so happy about that,” said DeChambeau.
“It’s incredibly special. I’ve always dreamed of winning any Tour event, and to have this many under my belt, I don’t even know what I have right now. You know, being able to win internationally is something that I’ve always wanted to do after winning so many times in the States and to get it at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic is incredible. It’s literally a dream come true. I couldn’t be more honoured to win this event.
“Coming back here as a professional, being an amateur in 2016, I was expecting a lot of good things. I knew I could play really well if I was striking the ball well and if I figured out some putting stuff and I did this week. I made a lot of putts with the flag in, with it out, it didn’t really matter too much. But again, going back to it being my first international win, I really couldn’t be more pleased to have this tournament be my first European Tour win.
“Last year I was hitting the ball really well most of the year, but it seemed like at every Major, my ball-striking kind of left me for a little bit at those Majors. That’s really why I didn’t play as best as I could. I believe if I have the ball-striking capabilities like I did today, and even maybe hopefully a little bit better, if I can clean up stuff like that, I can definitely contend.”
Final Scores
264 B Dechambeau (USA) 66 66 68 64,
271 M Wallace (Eng) 70 64 69 68,
272 I Poulter (Eng) 67 71 70 64, S Garcia (Esp) 66 70 70 66, P Waring (Eng) 67 70 71 64, A Quiros (Esp) 69 64 71 68,
273 J Scrivener (Aus) 67 67 71 68, T Olesen (Den) 69 67 68 69, L Westwood (Eng) 67 70 69 67, J Harding (RSA) 70 68 72 63, L Herbert (Aus) 69 63 72 69,
274 E Els (RSA) 68 65 70 71, S Lowry (Irl) 69 67 71 67, B An (Kor) 70 68 68 68, H Li (Chn) 67 67 67 73,
275 M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 65 70 70 70, R Wattel (Fra) 68 70 70 67, T Fleetwood (Eng) 68 70 68 69, K Samooja (Fin) 66 70 68 71,
276 T Pulkkanen (Fin) 68 73 69 66, R Langasque (Fra) 66 70 74 66, A Björk (Swe) 68 70 72 66, P Larrazabal (Esp) 72 66 74 64,
277 M Pavon (Fra) 66 68 72 71, A Johnston (Eng) 72 69 65 71, B Dredge (Wal) 68 68 71 70, R Fisher (Eng) 69 69 69 70, M Kaymer (Ger) 71 67 72 67,
278 V Perez (Fra) 70 70 67 71, J Smith (Eng) 68 68 69 73, A Arnaus (Esp) 68 68 72 70, T Pieters (Bel) 72 69 68 69, S Sharma (Ind) 71 69 70 68, T Bjørn (Den) 72 68 69 69, A Rai (Eng) 70 68 72 68, L Bjerregaard (Den) 72 68 67 71, F Zanotti (Par) 69 66 72 71,
279 M Korhonen (Fin) 71 67 70 71, T Hatton (Eng) 69 70 71 69, K Koivu (Fin) 67 68 72 72, G Bhullar (Ind) 71 70 69 69, V Dubuisson (Fra) 71 70 69 69, G Coetzee (RSA) 70 65 71 73, E Pepperell (Eng) 72 67 69 71, R Karlsson (Swe) 75 65 71 68, A Wu (Chn) 71 68 69 71,
280 T Jaidee (Tha) 66 71 74 69,
281 H Porteous (RSA) 69 72 72 68, S Hend (Aus) 66 70 75 70, N Colsaerts (Bel) 74 67 67 73, D Burmester (RSA) 70 69 73 69, T Detry (Bel) 68 68 74 71, J Dantorp (Swe) 70 70 71 70, T Lewis (Eng) 68 72 71 70,
282 T Aiken (RSA) 71 68 73 70,
283 R Ramsay (Sco) 69 72 67 75, C Shinkwin (Eng) 66 68 75 74, J Campillo (Esp) 69 67 75 72, C Paisley (Eng) 73 68 72 70, S Brazel (Aus) 71 70 74 68,
284 R Jacquelin (Fra) 69 72 73 70, J Hansen (Den) 73 66 71 74, S Norris (RSA) 72 69 72 71,
285 W Ormsby (Aus) 67 69 77 72, M Schwab (Aut) 69 72 69 75, H Tanihara (Jpn) 67 74 71 73,
286 A Chesters (Eng) 72 69 72 73, S Gallacher (Sco) 68 72 76 70,
287 M Southgate (Eng) 71 70 77 69, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 67 74 75 71,
289 M Warren (Sco) 70 71 76 72, K Kitayama (USA) 71 69 75 74,
291 N Bertasio (Ita) 68 71 78 74,
