Sunday 18 January 2015 21:12, UK
Gary Stal took advantage of an astonishing meltdown from Martin Kaymer to claim his maiden professional victory after an enthralling final round at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
There was no indication of the incredible drama to come when Kaymer, who led by six shots overnight, birdied three of the first four holes to extend his advantage to 10 strokes over the field.
But the expected procession to victory for the German unravelled in spectacular fashion as he double-bogeyed the ninth and ran up a triple-bogey seven at the 13th to gift the lead to the unheralded Frenchman.
Stal had piled the pressure on the German with a sparkling run of six birdies in eight holes, and he held his nerve down the stretch to close out a flawless seven-under 65 - the joint-low round of the day - and earn a thrilling one-stroke victory over Rory McIlroy.
The world No 1 finally found some form on the greens as he carded a seven-birdie 66 to finish on eight under, but he came up a shot behind the winner for the third time after his splash-out for eagle at the last shaved the edge of the cup.
His resulting birdie meant Stal needed only a par at the last to clinch the title, and the 22-year-old calmly played the par-five as a three-shot hole and two-putted from the fringe to collect the lucrative first prize of 380,000 euros.
Downcast
Kaymer looked understandably downcast as he limped in with a three-over 75 to finish third, two behind the champion, while Victor Dubuisson and Thomas Pieters were one stroke further adrift.
After the three-time champion had got off to a flying start, Stal appeared to be winning the race for second when he picked up shots at the fourth and sixth before reeling off four consecutive birdies around the turn.
Kaymer’s bogey at the sixth – his first dropped shot since the 12th hole in the first round - looked to be only a temporary blip, but the German was forced to take a penalty drop at the ninth after driving into the scrub and he was unable to stave off a double-bogey six.
Worse was to follow for the reigning US Open champion at the 13th, where another errant drive ended under a bush and he eventually holed out for an ugly seven which saw him relinquish his lead to Stal, who then went two clear when he drained a 25-foot putt for birdie at the 16th.
Meanwhile, McIlroy had ignited a belated challenge with three consecutive birdies from the eighth, and he suddenly found himself within a shot of the lead when he also converted fine approaches to the 13th and 15th holes.
But further birdie attempts at 16 and 17 had slightly too much pace to take the break, and he was unable to find the eagle he required at the last to have a chance to force a play-off after he blocked his aggressive second shot.
Assured
Stal was a model of assurance as he made a cast-iron par at the difficult 17th and avoided trouble coming down the last, where he lagged to within a foot from 20 feet to leave himself the simplest of tap-ins to cap the most memorable day of his career.
"It was a crazy day but obviously I'm very happy to win this tournament," Stal said. "It's unbelievable to win, because when I saw the leaderboard on the fifth hole, I saw Martin Kaymer on 24 under par and I thought to myself then it's not possible to win.
"But when I saw my name on the leaderboard on the 16th green, I saw everything had changed, and then it was possible. So I played very good today and I'm very happy to win.
“For the four days, my attitude has stayed the same. I've told myself at the beginning of the tournament that I wouldn't get upset, and it paid off. I thought if I could putt well, if I could play shot by shot, it would pay dividends."
Kaymer closed with five pars to claim outright third ahead of Dubuisson, who kept a bogey off his card to hand in a commendable 67, while young Belgian Thomas Pieters (70) was out of touch with his putter down the stretch as he parred the last eight holes to join Dubuisson on 16 under.
English pair James Morrison and Tyrrell Hatton both carded five-under 67s to earn a tie for sixth along with Bernd Wiesberger, while Jamie Donaldson failed to build on three straight birdies from the seventh as he parred every hole on the inward half to remain 13 under.
Stal's 65 matched the earlier efforts of former US Open champions Justin Rose and Ernie Els, who both vaulted to 12 under with flawless seven-birdie rounds.
