Daniel Gavins holed an enormous putt at the 18th to win his second DP World Tour title in memorable fashion as the Ras Al Khaimah Championship reached a dramatic conclusion.
The 31-year-old held a two-shot lead as he headed to the 18th tee but found the water twice at the last to seriously dent his chances of winning the title.
But with nearest challenger Alexander Björk finishing his round with a bogey up ahead, Gavins had a double-bogey putt from around 30 feet at the 18th to set the new target at 17 under par.
WOW! 🤯
After finding the water twice, @DanielGavins makes a 26ft putt for the clubhouse lead! #RakGolfChamps pic.twitter.com/8VeJh7CuSd
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 5, 2023
And he duly holed it to limit the damage to two dropped shots, but there were still twists and turns to come as third-round leader Zander Lombard gave himself an eagle chance on the last to potentially force a playoff.
But the South African narrowly missed his putt from 24 feet to hand Gavins a second title to add to the ISPS Handa World Invitational crown he won in 2021.
Gavins closed with a roller-coaster 69 that contained eight birdies – including five in a row from the 2nd hole – as well as three bogeys and a closing double-bogey, to win by one shot.
Björk and Lombard were in a tie for second on 16 under, with Adrian Meronk and Thorbjørn Olesen another stroke further back.
“I feel speechless, to be honest. I just want to quickly thank my mum and dad – I forgot to thank them last time when I won!” Gavins said.
“They’ve been great for me and they’ve supported me throughout my career, so massive thanks to those two, and especially my girlfriend as well.”
Speaking about his double-bogey on the 18th, the Englishman added: “I’ve been struggling off the tee for the last two weeks and it’s not a very nice tee shot to have, even with a two-shot lead.
“It was a difficult hole to get through and fortunately I holed a 30-footer.
“To be fair, I thought I was holing that for the playoff! I didn’t realise Björk had made a bogey.
“I thought I had [given the tournament away]. I put two in the water and thought ‘Well that’s one way to end the tournament really’.
“When I sunk the putt and then went to the back of the green and saw that I was actually winning still, it was kind of a big shock!”
– Report from DP World Tour website
