Tommy Fleetwood came into Sunday's round at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship trailing the leaders by two strokes. After nine holes of 1-under golf in Round 4, he still trailed by two. Then the back nine happened. And on the back nine, Fleetwood made six remarkable birdies, no bogeys and won this event for the second consecutive year.
He took the tournament by two over Ross Fisher and four over Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick, and he did it with a flurry of cutting shots into the wind and long, winding birdie putts. He was as flawless as a golfer can be on a course in the Middle East that was bathed with whipping winds throughout the day. His 7-under 65 was tied for the best round of the day, and he did it with the tournament in the balance.
The back nine started and ended with birdies, and there were four others in between those two. A few of them were downright silly, like this one at the par-4 16th hole.
Then he got up and down on No. 18 from a preposterous spot to seal the deal.
"When putts were going in like 15 and 16, you just feel like, could this be my day again," said Fleetwood. "Then No. 18, I mean, forget the second shot, the up-and-down was one of the best up-and-downs I ever made. So happy days."
Despite the fact that he had McIlroy, Ross Fisher and Thomas Pieters closing in behind him on both the course and the leaderboard, Fleetwood never wavered. You could sense that Fleetwood was grabbing the tournament just like he did last year with a 31 on the back nine for his second European Tour win. This time, it was his fourth.
Fleetwood is a different player than he was last year. He's a star now. He might be a superstar. He'll be ranked No. 12 in the world starting on Monday. It's always tough to follow up a career (which 2017 was for him) with another one. He's off to a pretty good start, though.
"I feel a lot more emotional, actually, than last year," said Fleetwood. "I don't know why. I just really wanted to win this one. I had the year of my life last year. I know everybody has been talking about it, and just backing it up is the next big thing. So to keep it going ... and to defend, it's a weird feeling coming to defend a trophy because it's yours and you don't want to give it away. So keeping a hold of it for another year is very nice."
On Thursday and Friday, Fleetwood realized some of the spoils of that monster 2017. He got paired for the first two rounds with McIlroy and world No. 1 Dustin Johnson. It was an experience for him, he said, but then he went out and got the best of both of them all week.
"I think during my career, I think I'm going to struggle to find a better three ball, really," he said. "Doesn't matter how long I play. That might be the best one I get. Yeah, it's great. All you can do is concentrate on your own game and that's kind of what you always do is you set out to play the best you can.
"But yeah, these two, I don't know what I'll do in my career and nobody knows what the future holds but I think these two might be going down in the history books, so it will be nice to tell them that I played these two in a three-ball."
McIlroy returned the admiration on Sunday.
"It's incredible," said McIlroy of Fleetwood's 65. "He had a great year last year, won the Race to Dubai, No. 1 in Europe and then to just keep going. This week, defending champion, to put that round of golf together out there today, I mean, 65 in those conditions is seriously impressive." Grade: A+
Rory McIlroy (T3): There wasn't really anything McIlroy could do on Sunday, barring a complete disaster, to sully the week he'd had. His 70 in Round 4 was a mild disappointment, especially since he only made three bogeys during the entire week. But the week as a whole was a fantastic return for someone who hadn't played in over 100 days. He picked up largely where he's left off at this tournament in the past.
McIlroy will return at the Dubai Desert Classic next week.
"It's just a matter of dust myself off and sort of looking back on this week," said McIlroy. "I think it's been a huge success for me, even though I didn't win today. I felt like I got a lot out of it, and yeah, I'm excited to get back at it again next week. I just wanted to get back on the golf course and play again. I've done that, and I've played pretty well. Felt like I did everything I wanted to do." Grade: A
Dustin Johnson (T9): I tabbed D.J. as my winner this week, and he scored exactly the same through three rounds as he did in 2017. Two problems. First, Johnson shot a 70 on Sunday this year, and last year he shot a 68. The second problem was a bigger one. Last year, 17 under won the tournament, and Johnson finished second. This year, 22 under won it, and he had no chance.
Ultimately, he was undone by a Thursday when he shot 72 in easy scoring conditions. He said on Sunday that he only had one good day on the week (his 64 on Friday). Still, it was a solid week for D.J. Grade: B
Henrik Stenson (8th): He also shot a 7-under 65 on Sunday (to match Fleetwood), but the moment of the week with Stenson came when he was asked by Chris Solomon if he has trouble getting his 3-wood into other countries. Grade: B+
Thomas Pieters (T5): The Belgian had a disappointing Sunday capped with an even-par 72. You could feel it wobbling on Saturday when he only made one birdie on the back. Then it nearly came undone on Sunday with three bogeys and a double. Please, let his final round cloud your judgement, though, and I will purchase all of your outstanding stock. Grade: A