Shubankar Sharma finishes 16th, McIlroy grabs record 4th title in Dubai

India’s Shubhankar Sharma carded a five-under total that gave him a tied 16th finish, his best position here, at the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday.

Sharma, who previous best finish was a tied 22nd in 2021, played solidly on a course that had a challenging rough and penalised small errors. He shot 2-under 70, and like his earlier rounds, it could have been a little better.

It was a good start to the season for Sharma, with five birdies against three bogeys, two of which came late at the 15th and 16th holes. The win fetched him over a hundred points on the Race to Dubai Standings and over 100,000 Euros in earnings.

Describing the week and the start to the season, Sharma, who had rounds of 72-71-70-70, said, “I would say it is very positive and very gritty. I wasn’t feeling too well at the start of the week. So, I had to be patient with the body and the game.

“I thought I managed myself, and I know there wasn’t a very deep (low) round, but this golf course isn’t the easiest – Rory did shoot nine under but he seemed to be playing a different golf course.

“This week, I had four decent rounds of par or better. Every round could have been better by a couple of shots, but that’s golfing for the first week.

“After knocking off the rust of December I’m quite happy with this week. Hopefully, this will get better,” said Sharma.

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy (70) stood firm over the final nine as his main rivals Adrian Meronk (71) and Cameron Young (74) fell over the final round, with the World No. 2 maintaining his love affair with the tournament.

He successfully defended the title and won it for a record fourth time, eclipsing the previous best of three by Ernie Els.

A week after seeing his one-shot lead turn into a 1-shot loss on the 72nd hole, McIlroy played the steadiest of back nines, and from being 10 behind after 36 holes, he was first past the line.