Paul Waring rose to the top of the leaderboard at the 2024 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Sunday when he successfully fended off a murderers' row of pursuers to claim a late-season victory. Firing a final-round 66 at Yas Links, the 39-year-old reached 24 under for the tournament to finish two strokes clear of Tyrrell Hatton and three clear of Rory McIlroy.
With the victory, Waring jumps to fifth in the Race to Dubai standings ahead of next week's deciding DP World Tour Championship. Not only will he have an outside chance to track down McIlroy in the season-long race, he has almost certainly secured himself a PGA Tour card for 2025 checking in third among those not otherwise exempt for the circuit across the pond. (The top 10 punch their tickets to the PGA Tour.)
"It's my second win. I've been knocking on the door a few times. I had a few seconds. I've been in and around a few times," Waring said. "To get over the line again is fantastic, and to control it the way I have as well, especially today, I thought I might have let it slip yesterday.
"But to keep a lead yesterday the way I was playing, I knew I wouldn't have two days in a row playing like that. Today, I always felt -- I felt like I had another gear that I needed. I was hitting into the middle of a lot of greens, not taking too much on. My caddie wasn't really in my ear about the leaderboard, but I knew he was looking at it. I wasn't. He was just kind of managing me on the way around. He was absolutely fantastic today. Alex was great."
Carding a course-record 61 on Friday, Waring went into the weekend in Abu Dhabi in possession of a five-stroke lead. His advantage was cut to just one after Saturday's play as the Englishman backtracked with an over-par round and his pursuers pounced at the opportunity.
The pressure only mounted from there as McIlroy got off to a dream start in the final round playing his first six holes in 4 under to close the gap. Stalling in the middle of his round, the four-time major champion reentered the equation by carding five back-nine birdies to post a closing 64 and a tournament total of 21 under.
Waring pressed on with four birdies across his first 10 holes as Hatton became his biggest threat up ahead. The fiery Englishman finished in a flurry with birdies on Nos. 17-18. He clipped McIlroy's clubhouse lead by one to tie Waring, who still had two holes remaining. Waring made the most of those opportunities as an unlikely birdie on the 71st hole provided enough cushion for Waring to walk down the par-5 finisher with the lead in his corner.
"Massive," Waring said of his birdie on No. 17. "I'm not that emotional, anyway, on golf courses. I tend not to fist-pump, and I tend not to get up and down, and I tend to stay quite steady. ... The one on 17, I could just see it tracking in the whole way and just knew I was going to hole it. As soon as it left the blade, I knew it was in. So, yeah, it was a big moment -- big, big moment."
Waring's win comes at an ideal time as he nabs not only a Rolex Series event but also propels himself onto the outskirts of contention for the Race to Dubai. The veteran will need another monumental effort if he wants to surprise again as McIlroy enters the DP World Tour Championship with a healthy lead over Thirston Lawrence in second as well as Rasmus Højgaard and Billy Horschel, who round out the top five.
The Northern Irishman eyes his third straight European crown and the sixth of his career to go along with three FedEx Cup titles.
"I wanted to birdie the last, anyway, but I know that birdie, even if it isn't to win the tournament this week, it obviously gives me that little bit extra of a cushion going into next week," McIlroy said. "Every shot counts at this moment in time, and I was glad to make the four at the last and at least give myself half a chance at this tournament this week but also give myself a little bit more of a cushion going into Dubai next week as well."