Scott Jamieson’s awful start to his final round saw his Abu Dhbai HSBC Championship challenge evaporate as Belgium’s Thomas Pieters took the DP World Tour opener.
The 38-year-old Scot had led from the opening round but four bogeys in the first five holes knocked him out of contention almost immediately. He finished with a five-over 77 for a share of 10th place on six-under.
Hazeltine star storms back with second win in four months
The biggest win of @Thomas_Pieters’ career 🏆#ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/YteW5BIW7A
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 23, 2022
Pieters, the former Ryder Cup player who struggled for form until late last year, was the solid one in the final group – former Abu Dhabi champion Shane Lowry also having a 77.
A par round of 72 was enough for the 29-year-old Belgian to record his sixth European Tour win at ten-under, one ahead of his Hazeltine team mate Rafael Cabrera Bello (70) and India’s Shubhankar Sharma (69).
Two more former European team members, France’s Victor Dubuisson (69) and Viktor Hovland (72) shared fourth.
Jamieson had a one shot advantage over Lowry and Pieters but fell back into a tie with the Belgian at the first when he bunkered his approach and couldn’t get up and down for par. Lowry’s challenge slumped immediately with a triple-bogey seven after he went long into the native area at the back of the green.
Jamieson then missed the green in three at the long second and a five-footer for par. At the fourth he went wide left into rough and missed a 30-footer for par. He missed from six feet for his par at the fifth.
Pieters meanwhile played solid par golf until he hit in to six feet at the short eighth for birdie.
A bogey six at the long 11th knocked him back to par, but the Belgian reverted to solid stuff to hold off any challenger on the way home. In seven straight pars, his longest par save was from just four feet.
Cabrera Bello got level with Pieters at the 14th, but back-to-back bogeys immediately gave the Belgian some breathing room again.
‘I’m glad to be back’
The leader gets hits first birdie of the final round 💪@Thomas_Pieters now leads by 3. #ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/Rgjae4GqSQ
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 23, 2022
The winner admitted he’d “jumped out for a couple of years” until his victory in the Portugal Masters at the tail end of 2021. Now he has his first Rolex Series win, which gets his caddie a gold bib.
“I’m happy I can finally get my caddie one of those,” he said. “We’ve been talking about this for years.
“I was well in control of my ball all day and putting maybe wasn’t there but early on I felt really confident.”
Pieters was Europe’s star at Hazeltine in 2016 with four points from five as a rookie, but after he briefly built on that he slid from view.
“I kind of disappeared for a couple of years. I’m glad to be back,” he said.
“It was my putter for sure. I worked with the guys from Titleist. They analysed that my putting was not so good.
“I wasn’t getting the results. Since they gave me this putter I’ve been using now, everything has been flowing and I’ve been making a lot of putts.
“I feel like I’ve turned the corner and I’m playing really good golf again.”
“Winning a Rolex Series, it’s as good as it gets in Europe I guess. Hopefully this gets me where I want to be. I want to play all of the big tournaments and hopefully this gets me close.”
The final group are underway 💪#ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/2nlr3f6Ewd
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 23, 2022
Jamieson’s consolation is a cheque for £113,000, his biggest haul since 2017, but only a tenth of the winner‘s cheque.
Next best placed Scot was Richie Ramsay, who had a two-under 70 to finish tied 25th. Ewen Ferguson, in his first event as a full-time DP Wold Tour member, had a 69 to finish inside the top 40 at one-under. Connor Syme also had a 69 to finish just outside the top 50.