LOWRY RUES UNTIMELY DOUBLE AS ELVIRA WINS IN DUBAI

Spain’s Nacho Elvira came out on top to win the Dubai Invitational at Dubai Creek Resort where Ireland’s Shane Lowry was left to rue an untimely double bogey on the final hole. (Photo: Getty Images/DP World Tour)

---

By Paul Gallagher 

Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy were both in the mix at the Dubai Invitational, but it was Lowry who left with the sourest taste after an untimely double bogey on the final hole cost him his chance of a first individual win since 2022.

It really was a painful conclusion for the Offaly man who led at Dubai Creek on 10 under when playing his 72nd hole. However, when is greenside bunker shot kept on rolling and into the water hazard, his race was run.

Lowry’s misfortune opened the door for Spain’s Nacho Elvira who had a roller coaster final round before claiming his third DP World Tour win with a closing 69 for a 10 under winning total.          

For Lowry it was a spectacular fall after his approach found the back bunker on 18. From there he splashed out but the ball kept rolling and eventually trickled into the water hazard. He got up and down for a double bogey six. A closing 69 meant he dropped back into a share of third on eight under alongside Julien Guerrier (France), David Puig (Spain) and compatriot Rory McIlroy, who closed with a 68.     

On a chaotic final day when five players shared the lead at one stage, it looked as though McIlroy was going to pick up where he left off in 2025. The Holywood star rattled off five birdies on the spin from the ninth to get into contention. However, his effort came up just short as New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier – with a closing 65 – was Elvira’s closest challenger in second on nine under.

McIlroy was fairly pragmatic after his round: “I was just trying to sort of get the most out of what I had. Obviously as you say, I didn't get off to the greatest of starts. I hit a couple good tee shots, good iron shot into the eighth hole, a couple good shots into nine, converted that. Hit some really good shots after that. Converted some putts.

“But yeah, I wasn't really focused on winning the tournament. I was just trying to piece it together and make some good swings and try to hit a few more fairways, which I did for the most part. Would have been nice to hit the fairway at the last to give myself a chance for birdie there.

“Overall it was a good first week back. I felt like I learned a lot of stuff about my game. I wasn't very sharp, but hopefully I'm a little bit sharper going into next week than I was going into this week, I guess,” added the Grand Slam winner.

Elvira was the overnight leader and cruised into a three-shot lead following a third birdie of the day at the seventh but bogeyed eight and nine as McIlroy, Lowry, Hillier and England’s Marcus Armitage joined him at the top.

After Lowry’s demise, Hillier was the clubhouse leader at nine under, but Elvira carded his first birdie of the back nine at the 17th to earn a one-shot lead down the last and calmly rolled in for a final par to seal a brilliant victory, getting to ten under with his final round 69.

Armitage double-bogeyed the last to join Matt Wallace and Dane Thorbjørn Olesen at six under, while Antoine Rozner of France and South African duo Thriston Lawrence and Dylan Frittelli were one shot further back to wrap up the top ten.

Elvira was delighted to get over the line: “Feels unusual. I mean, I've always been a slow starter at the beginning of the season. So, to get a win at the beginning of the season like this is unusual, and on a course like this, I love it. When we came here two years ago, I fell in love with it. I think it's a fantastic course, a fantastic venue, and I couldn't be more happy to be honest.”

“I've been in this position before and I feel like I've always tried to hold on to the score. And this time I knew that Shane and Rory were behind and some of the good players. I felt like I wanted to push a little bit to keep going and keep being aggressive, you know, I think I tried to do that.

“And then all of a sudden, I lost a little bit of way on eight and nine. Hit a terrible shot on 10. Managed to make the putt and I think that was a turning point mentally and stayed patient through the rest of the round.

“I'm going to keep playing these next few weeks and keep trying to build on the momentum that I have right now and hopefully we can put ourselves throughout the year in more situations like this.”

Tom McKibbin and Pádraig Harrington both closed with 70 to be tied 38th (+5) and 46th (+8) respectively.  

Final scores

274 N ELVIRA (ESP) 69 68 68 69,

 275 D HILLIER (NZL) 69 72 69 65,

 276 J GUERRIER (FRA) 68 76 66 66, D PUIG (ESP) 67 72 70 67, R MCILROY (NIR) 66 74 68 68, S LOWRY (IRL) 69 68 70 69,

 278 M WALLACE (ENG) 68 73 69 68, T OLESEN (DEN) 73 70 66 69, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 69 70 68 71,

 279 T LAWRENCE (RSA) 69 71 72 67, A ROZNER (FRA) 68 72 70 69, D FRITTELLI (RSA) 70 71 66 72,

 280 M SIEM (GER) 72 69 73 66, A AYORA (ESP) 68 72 73 67,

 281 O LINDELL (FIN) 68 78 71 64, A OTAEGUI (UAE) 75 72 68 66, E CHACARRA (ESP) 69 75 68 69, J KRUYSWIJK (RSA) 70 73 66 72,

 282 R NEERGAARD-PETERSEN (DEN) 71 73 70 68,

 283 G FORREST (SCO) 71 70 72 70, J SCHAPER (RSA) 69 73 70 71, S NORRIS (RSA) 72 71 68 72, E FERGUSON (SCO) 72 70 68 73, J LUITEN (NED) 72 70 68 73,

 284 T FLEETWOOD (ENG) 69 78 66 71,

 285 P REED (USA) 69 74 70 72,

 286 P WARING (ENG) 72 71 73 70, J LAGERGREN (SWE) 71 74 71 70, R FOX (NZL) 72 72 71 71,

 287 J OLESEN (DEN) 78 70 73 66, D BRADBURY (ENG) 70 75 72 70, C SYME (SCO) 67 74 70 76,

 288 J LEE (KOR) 73 72 75 68, N NORGAARD (DEN) 76 76 66 70, G MIGLIOZZI (ITA) 72 74 72 70, F LACROIX (FRA) 71 74 70 73, R JOHNSTON (USA) 70 72 71 75,

 289 M MANASSERO (ITA) 71 78 72 68, T MCKIBBIN (NIR) 74 73 72 70, A HIDALGO (ESP) 72 77 67 73, D GAVINS (ENG) 74 72 70 73,

 290 A DEL REY (ESP) 76 76 70 68, D VAN DRIEL (NED) 74 74 69 73, M COUVRA (FRA) 72 73 71 74,

 291 D WILLETT (ENG) 70 74 71 76,

 292 P HARRINGTON (IRL) 72 75 75 70,

 293 N VON DELLINGSHAUSEN (GER) 75 77 73 68, R HOSHINO (JPN) 74 76 73 70, Y KATSURAGAWA (JPN) 70 76 76 71, F MOLINARI (ITA) 71 76 72 74, C HILL (SCO) 70 74 71 78,

 295 N HOJGAARD (DEN) 74 78 69 74, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 73 74 74 74,

 297 J VEERMAN (USA) 75 79 72 71, P LARRAZBAL (ESP) 69 81 75 72,

 299 O STRYDOM (RSA) 80 73 74 72,

 301 D RAVETTO (FRA) 75 79 73 74,

 306 D NAIDOO (RSA) 75 79 77 75,

 **

 OUT A WU (CHN) 74 RT, R MANSELL (ENG) RT,