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Victor Perez survived a tense final round after a final-round 6-under 66 to win the HSBC Championship in Abu Dhabi by one shot.
The Dundee-based Frenchman started the day with a strong battle against co-leaders Sean Lowry, Francesco Molinari and Lee Min-woo.
Australian Lee remained in contention as former Open champion Lowry and Molinari retired and managed to equalize after Perez dropped the ball on the 14th hole at Yas Links.
A shot in his life!@v_perez2 Leading by one to two.#AD Golf Championship | #Rolex series pic.twitter.com/D9NGAuyBLv
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 22, 2023
Perez, a runner-up here in 2020, made an impressive immediate birdie on the 15th hole, then holed out a bunker shot on the 17th to take the lead again for a two-shot lead.
It looked invulnerable until he found another bunker and a restricted area on the 18th hole, but he made bogey and finished with an 18-under overall victory.
Lee and Swede Sebastian Soderbergh shot 68 and 67 respectively to tie for second, while Padraig Harrington became the oldest DP World Tour winner at 51. Finished with a 67 and shot 16 under par, ranking fourth personally.
An emotional Perez called his birdie on the 17th the “greatest” of his life.
The dramatic finish didn’t exactly match his victory at the Dutch Open in May, where he needed a playoff before winning on the fourth extra hole, but admitted he hopes for a more routine victory next time.
“It was probably the greatest shot I’ve ever played,” Perez said of his birdie on the 17th hole.
“I got off to a good start and I tried to just focus on myself and do my best because I knew I couldn’t control what other people were doing. I tried to take my time, but Seb played great and he always is there.
“I’m happy to be at the top because it was a crazy ending, but I think I’m used to it now! Hopefully I can make the next one a little easier.
“It’s been a great year. Lots of big things going on. I had a really good offseason and I worked really hard.”
Molinari struggled to cement his overnight tie for the lead with a 71 to tie for fifth, while Lowry erred on the back nine and made three bogeys and a double bogey to fall to . No. 28.
Tyrell Hatton finished seventh with an impressive final-round 65.
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