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Rickie Fowler produced two moments of magic as he held off late charges from Thomas Pieters, Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson to win his second European Tour title at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
The World Number Six had held a three-shot lead at the turn but while he made seven straight pars on the back nine, McIlroy came home in 31 with an eagle at the last and Stenson came back in 32 to sit one shot behind the leader in the clubhouse.
Fowler was not to be outdone, however, and he chipped in on the 17th to open up a two-shot lead and a par up the last was enough to keep him at 16 under and hand him a one-shot victory over Pieters, who birdied the final hole.
The 27 year old had earlier holed from a bunker for an eagle on the eighth immediately after a double bogey on the seventh had seen his advantage cut to one on a dramatic final day at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
The victory follows Fowler's triumph at last season's Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open and makes him just the second American to win this event after Chris DiMarco, who claimed the inaugural title in 2006.
Stenson showed no ill effects from his recent knee surgery as he came close to completing the set of Gulf State wins after his previous victories at The Commercialbank Qatar Masters, the Dubai Desert Classic, and the DP World Tour Championship.
It was another close call for McIlroy who had to make do with a share of third after finishing second here in four of the last five years while Pieters missed out on a third European Tour title after claiming two wins in three weeks last summer.
World Number One Jordan Spieth finished with a 68 to lead the group at 11 under alongside Byeong-hun An, Alejandro Cañizares, Branden Grace, Joost Luiten and Marcel Siem.
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Abu Dhabi International Airport - 41°F
