GOLF – NACHO Elvira came out on top after a roller coaster final round to claim his third DP World Tour title at the 2026 Dubai Invitational.
No less than five players shared the lead on a chaotic day yesterday at Dubai Creek Resort, where overnight leader Elvira cruised into a three-shot lead following a third birdie of the day at the seventh.
He left the door ajar when finishing his front nine with successive bogeys as Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Daniel Hillier, and Marcus Armitage joined the Spaniard at the summit at nine-under down the final stretch.
Lowry made his move with a birdie at the 15th, only to double bogey the last and spectacularly fall out of contention.
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 10-under with his final round 69.
Frenchman Julien Guerrier bounced back from a double bogey at the second with seven birdies to sit one shot behind Hillier in a share of third at eight-under alongside Spain’s David Puig, McIlroy and Lowry.
Armitage double-bogeyed the last to join Matt Wallace and Dane Thorbjorn 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 10.
“Feels unusual – 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,” said Elvira.
“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’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.”
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