Rahm pips Hatton & McIlroy to Abu Dhabi title

Key points

• Jon Rahm won the Abu Dhabi Championship by two shots after a final-round 67.
• Tyrrell Hatton finished second on 21 under, with Rory McIlroy third on 19 under.
• McIlroy moved to second in the Race To Dubai standings behind Eugenio Chacarra.

Jon Rahm shot a final-round 67 to win the Abu Dhabi Championship by two strokes over England's Tyrrell Hatton. The Spaniard finished on 23 under, with Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy another two shots back in third on 19 under.

It was Rahm's first victory since he announced his departure from LIV Golf and his first win at a DP World Tour event in four years. He was playing his first tournament since the birth of his fourth child last month.

How the final round unfolded

Rahm took a one-shot lead into Sunday after a third-round 66. Hatton and McIlroy, along with Italy's Francesco Laporta, kept the chase going into the back nine.

Laporta, who led after the second round, made the turn level with Rahm but dropped four shots in two holes and finished fourth, six shots back. Hatton briefly cut the gap to one on the 15th, but Rahm matched his birdie moments later. McIlroy's three-under 69 sealed his 11th top-three finish at the event.

It means a lot. It's been quite a while to play well in the DP World Tour

— Jon Rahm

Race To Dubai standings

McIlroy's third place lifted him to second in the Race To Dubai standings, ahead of Patrick Reed and behind Spain's Eugenio Chacarra, as he seeks a record-equalling eighth season title. Chacarra finished on 11 under in a tie for 22nd, while Reed ended on four under.

Rahm's win kept him in contention for the season finale in Dubai, where he could go back-to-back.