Hatton closes fast, finishes solo second at Abu Dhabi Championship

Legion XIII star Tyrrell Hatton made a big move in Sunday’s final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, shooting a bogey-free 8-under 64 to finish solo second in the first event of the DP World Tour playoffs.

Hatton finished at 22 under, two strokes behind winner Paul Waring, who birdied the last two holes after Hatton tied for the lead with a birdie at the par-5 18th at Yas Links.

It was the second time this week that Hatton shot 64; on Thursday, he opened with a 64 that included 10 birdies. On Sunday, he was 2 under through eight holes before reeling off three consecutive birdies to put the heat on fellow Englishman Waring.

Hatton was making his first DP World Tour start since winning the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last month in Scotland. That victory came two weeks after Hatton concluded his first LIV Golf season, in which he finished fourth in the individual standings while winning the individual tournament title in Nashville.

Thanks to his second-place finish in Abu Dhabi, Hatton jumped 16 spots in the Race to Dubai rankings and will enter next week’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship in sixth place in points. Hatton’s career-best finish in the Race to Dubai is fourth in 2016.

Hatton has twice finished as the tournament runner-up at the Tour Championship, most recently in 2022 when he tied for second, two strokes behind Jon Rahm, now the Legion XIII captain, who helped lure Hatton to LIV Golf as his teammate.

Two other LIV Golf players are expected to compete at the Tour Championship, which is limited to the top 50 in the standings. Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann is currently 33rd, while Cleeks GC’s Adrian Meronk is 43rd.

Niemann shot a final-round 69 on Sunday to tie for 23rd in Abu Dhabi at 15 under. Meronk also shot 69 after shooting 64 in the third round to tie for 37th at 12 under.