Marc Warren could not contain his delight in holding a 40-footer birdie putt that earned him a cool £91,000 to wrap-up a share of fifth at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Warren was staring at missing out on a top-10 finish in the $US 8m Rolex Series event until he birdied the par-3 16th and then holed his monster birdie at the 72nd hole.
The Glaswegian’s finish helped celebrate the start of his 15th European Tour season and also securing his best finish by 21 places in 14 prior Abu Dhabi showings.
Warren earned a prize cheque for £stg 223,000 to take him straight into joint fifth of the 2021 Race to Dubai.
Marc Warren looking pretty pleased with himself after holing a 40-foot birdie putt at the last hole in Abu Dhabi. (Photo – European Tour)
He said: “Very, very happy to have birdied two of the last three holes in a tough finish.
“My attitude was really good today as I stayed patient”.
Warren went into the final round alongside double Abu Dhabi winner, Tommy Fleetwood and just three off the lead but never having finished higher than 21st in 2009.
The Scot, and reigning Austrian Open champ, dipped out of contention with a bogey at the third and was still at one-over for his round after a birdie on eight but a bogey on 11.
He said: “I knew trying to win was going to be a massive ask with the players in the last couple of groups.
“My main goal at the start of the day was to try and stay as patient as I possibly could, whether I made a good or bad start.”
And it was playing alongside Fleetwood, also a former European No. 1 and a hero of the 2018 Ryder Cup that Warren attributed to his calmness over his final putt.
Warren said: “I made a couple of good up and downs in the middle of the back nine and it was great to then get a reward with those two late birdies.
“When I saw the draw on Saturday night, I knew Tommy is such a calm guy and good fun to chat with on the way round. He’s a world-class player and I was comfortable with the pairing.
“I was tying not to force anything. Both Tyrrell and Rory are serial winners so I was just trying to get as good a finish as I could.
“I was trying to take care of my own mental side of it out there and I was pleased how I did that.”
The effort should see Warren jump 55 places on the World Rankings to around 155th in the world.
The Scottish trio of Bob MacIntyre (70), Scott Jamieson (70) and Stephen Gallacher (72) all finished joint 16th on six-under par.
MacIntyre said: “I would have taken top-20 at the start of the week.
“I had it going early today but even at the last, and coming out of a bunker, it was a pure bunker shot but it’s golf and I will try again next week.
“I’m looking forward to going to Dubai because the more I play, the better I start playing. I haven’t touched a club for some six weeks, also next week is another huge event so looking forward to getting going.”
David Drysdale posted a final day 73 to finish at four-under, two better than Calum Hill (70), with Grant Forrest ending up on level-par after a closing 76.
