DiMarco on the mark in the desert
Chris DiMarco ended a four-year drought without a win by holding off the concerted challenge of Henrik Stenson to win the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship by one shot.
The American, playing in his first European Tour event outside the majors and World Golf Championships, kept his nerve in a tense final round to record a five-under 67 and 20 under for the tournament, and pip the Swede.
Sergio Garcia was third on 18 under, just failing to quite make up ground given away over the first two days.
The Spaniard carded a six-under-par 66 but could only watch on from the sidelines and hope the leaders would falter.
Beginning the day a shot behind Stenson, DiMarco had leapfrogged the Ryder Cup hopeful by the second hole, having birdied the first and then following it up with a brilliant 35-foot putt for eagle.
Stenson was unable to summon up the form he displayed yesterday, when his round began with five successive birdies and ended with a new course record.
Playing in the last group with DiMarco, he manfully clung on and needed to find two shots at the turn, which became three after DiMarco birdied the 11th.
Stenson, though, sunk magnificently from the bunker to haul his rival back in, but after a series of pars for both men, DiMarco birdied the 16th to give him a two-shot cushion.
The 37-year-old, who used his wife Amy as a stand-in caddie, held his nerve, parring the next two holes, and Stenson’s birdie at the last merely trimmed the margin of victory.
Success in the United Arab Emirates capital earned DiMarco £188,000 and his first title since winning the 2002 Phoenix Open.
The raft of low scores and birdie blitz carded on Saturday were not in danger of being repeated on a day more like the first two, with the wind once again a prominent factor.
Argentinian Ricardo Gonzalez took fourth place, his big hitting throughout the week proving to be a great help on a long course, on 17 under par.
Five birdies were offset by four bogeys in Miguel Angel Jimenez’s round of 71, a score which left the Spaniard five shots off the winner’s score.
Fifth place, though, was a fine return for Jimenez, who had played some of his best golf in a while.
Colin Montgomerie’s challenge never got off the ground and he wound up seven shots adrift, level with India’s Jyoti Randhawa on 13 under.
The world number 10 had hoped to shoot successive 65s to give himself a chance of victory but an inconsistent round of 70 undermined that.
Montgomerie suggested he was kicking for home with four birdies in five holes just after the turn, only to drop shots on successive holes.
His playing partner, Vijay Singh, was also out of touch and the Fijian world number two wound up at 11 under, tied with Charl Schwartzel, the South African who had led after round two.
