Victor Perez produced late fireworks in the final round to win the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in dramatic fashion.
The Frenchman held a narrow one-shot lead in the closing stages on Sunday afternoon before holing out from a bunker at the 17th for a birdie to stretch his advantage to two.
And even though he ran into trouble at the 18th, a bogey there was enough to secure a one-shot win as he closed with a 66 to finish the tournament on 18 under par.
Min Woo Lee needed an eagle at the last to force a playoff and came agonisingly close to getting it as his approach finished two feet from the cup.
The Australian finished in a tie for second alongside Sebastian Söderberg on 17 under, while 51-year-old Pádraig Harrington was another shot back in fourth place on a record-breaking day at Yas Links Abu Dhabi.
South African George Coetzee finished on seven under (T38) after a final-round 74.
Early starter Sami Välimäki shot a course-record 62 with a bogey-free round that consisted of an eagle and eight birdies.
Two players made a hole-in-one, with Dan Bradbury winning a new Genesis G70 Shooting Brake 2.0 Sport at the 17th and Tyrrell Hatton taking advantage of the par-three 13th with a pitching wedge.
Perez got off to a stunning start on day four, reeling off six birdies in the first 11 holes to reach the summit before dropping his first shot of the day at the 14th.
That opened the door for the chasing pack, with Lee joining him at the top of the leaderboard, but Perez bounced back with a 13-foot birdie at the 15th before pitching his tricky bunker shot at the 17th on to the green and spinning it in for a miracle birdie.
The shot of his life!@v_perez2 leads by two with one to play.#ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/D9NGAuyBLv
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 22, 2023
He found a bunker off the 18th tee before getting into more trouble but managed to escape with a bogey there to win by one for his third DP World Tour title.
– Report from DP World Tour website
