Hovland beats Bland in play-off to win in Dubai after McIlroy suffers final hole meltdown

Viktor Hovland won the Dubai Desert Classic following a play-off victory over 48-year-old Englishman Richard Bland.

The 24-year-old Norwegian was barely in the picture when made a bogey on the 15th hole at the Emirates Golf Club, but he finished birdie, eagle, birdie to sign for a 66 and post the target at 12 under.

Bland joined him in the clubhouse with a birdie-birdie finish of his own in a 68, with two-time champion Rory McIlroy finding water on the last to fall out of the play-off.

Hovland made a two-putt birdie on the first trip back up the 18th and when Bland failed to get up and down after finding a tricky lie with his second, it was the younger man who was left holding the Dallah trophy.

McIlroy had a chance to win the tournament outright if he could find a birdie at the closing par five, but his second shot with a fairway wood from 267 yards out found the water in front of the green and the Northern Irishman was unable to get up and down for a par to join the playoff, with his 15-foot putt grazing the edge of the cup to send him out of contention.

He signed for a 71 to finish third on 11 under, three shots clear of Justin Harding, Erik van Rooyen, Tyrrell Hatton, Sam Horsfield and Adrian Meronk.

For Hovland, victory marked his third win in five starts after back-to-back wins in November and December at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba and Hero World Challenge, and he now moves up to him up to third in the world rankings with Collin Morikawa and Jon Rahm firmly in his sights.

Speaking after his latest win, Hovland said: “I have quite a lot to prove to be able to beat those guys [Rahm and Morikawa], but this is a good start and we’ll see what happens. This is pretty wild. I didn’t really think this was possible going in today. I knew I had to shoot a really low number, but a lot of things had to go my way and thankful that it did. I was fuming after the three-putt on 15 and thought that was it. I knew I just had to try to finish off well and get a nice position for the week. I rolled a really long one on 16, and then on 17, and hey, we got a shot.”

Viktor Hovland’s winning gear
Driver: Ping G425 LST (9°)
Fairway wood: TaylorMade SIM (14.5°)
Hybrid: Ping G425 (19°)
Irons: Ping i210 (4-PW)
Wedges: Ping Glide Forged Pro (50°, 56°), Ping Prototype (60°)
Putter: Ping PLD Prototype ‘Hovi’
Ball: Titleist Pro V1

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