Gary Stal produced a thrilling final round comeback to stun Martin Kaymer and the world of golf with a sensational victory in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

The US Open Champion led by six shots overnight and most people at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club believed it would be a mere formality for the German to win the prestigious title for the fourth time. But as Kaymer stuttered, Stal grew strong to produce an unlikely triumph.

The 22 year old Frenchmen, who moves to third in The Race to Dubai as the result of his maiden win, carded seven birdies on the final day to sign for a 65 and finish at 19 under par, a stroke clear of Rory McIlroy, who finished runner-up for the fourth time in five years.

Kaymer, who lead by six shots entering the final round, eventually finished in third place after his final round 75, most of the trouble coming through an uncharacteristic double bogey six at the ninth, and an even more damaging triple bogey seven at the 13th.

Earlier in the round the German had led by as many as ten strokes thanks to three birdies in his first four holes, however, he was unable to keep up his imperious form of the previous three days, allowing Stal, who hails from Decines just outside Lyon in south eastern France, to take the title.

Meanwhile, rounding out the top five, Victor Dubuisson posted a 67 to finish at 16 under par and in a tie for fourth alongside Belgium’s Thomas Pieters.

QUOTES

Gary Stal (-19)

“It was a crazy day but obviously I’m very happy to win this tournament. It’s unbelievable to win, because when I saw the leaderboard on the fifth hole, I saw Martin Kaymer on 24 under par and I thought to myself then it’s not possible to win. But when I saw my name on the leaderboard on the 16th green, I saw everything had changed, and then it was possible.

“For the four days, my attitude stayed the same. I told myself at the beginning of the tournament that I wouldn’t get upset, and it paid off. Because I thought if I could putt well, if I could play shot by shot, it would pay dividends. Therefore, I just kept playing the same way, with the same attitude. But it’s an incredible feeling.”

Rory McIlroy (-18)

“Going out today, my goal today was to finish second. I didn’t think I was going to get close to winning the golf tournament. I think Martin was ten ahead at one point. You think from there, there’s only one winner, but just shows you, funny things can happen in this game. If you just sort of plug away and stay patient, your time will come I guess.  But it was just a little too late for me today.

“I’ll stay here, stay out in the Middle East and practice and get my game in shape for Dubai. It feels very good.  I feel like it’s been a great week because I feel like there’s a couple of things to work on and hopefully that will make me perform even better in a couple weeks’ time.”

Martin Kaymer (-17)

“I’m surprised and a little shocked. I don’t really know how to put it into words. It was very, very surprising today. I started off well but then hit a couple bad tee shots and it cost me a double bogey and a triple bogey. I do miss fairways, but usually you get away with it okay, you don’t make double or triple bogey. But that is what happened today. Another thing was I didn’t make many putts. I missed a lot of putts and therefore it was very difficult for me to make birdies.

“The positive is I was playing really good golf after the winter break but it’s tough to say that after that round. I certainly was shocked.”

Final scores:

269 G Stal  (Fra) 68 69 67 65,
270 R McIlroy  (Nir) 67 66 71 66,
271 M Kaymer (Ger) 64 67 65 75,
272 T Pieters  (Bel) 65 67 70 70, V Dubuisson  (Fra) 69 72 64 67,
274 T Hatton (Eng) 66 71 70 67, B Wiesberger  (Aut) 72 65 66 71, J Morrison  (Eng) 68 67 72 67,
275 J Donaldson (Wal) 73 67 65 70, C Schwartzel  (RSA) 71 68 65 71, R Fisher (Eng) 71 69 69 66,
276 S Webster (Eng) 73 67 67 69, J Rose (Eng) 73 69 69 65, A Cañizares  (Esp) 69 70 71 66, O Fisher  (Eng) 69 70 70 67, E Els (RSA) 70 72 69 65, A Wall (Eng) 70 71 66 69, B An (Kor) 67 75 65 69, M Madsen (Den) 68 69 69 70,
277 D Van Der Walt (RSA) 70 70 65 72, B Grace  (RSA) 66 74 67 70, M Jiménez (Esp) 72 67 67 71, A Levy (Fra) 66 70 67 74, P Lawrie (Sco) 68 73 67 69, N Fasth (Swe) 69 70 68 70,
278 R Green (Aus) 68 68 71 71, A Hansen (Den) 68 73 68 69, M Kieffer (Ger) 70 71 68 69, E Pepperell (Eng) 70 68 68 72, N Colsaerts  (Bel) 68 71 72 67,
279 Y Yang (Kor) 70 70 69 70, P Uihlein  (USA) 67 68 70 74, R Jacquelin (Fra) 69 71 69 70, S Hend (Aus) 70 70 70 69, M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 69 69 71 70, M Fraser (Aus) 72 68 67 72,
280 J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 70 71 70 69, G Bourdy (Fra) 66 74 66 74, R Rock (Eng) 69 73 70 68, O Wilson (Eng) 71 71 66 72, R Sterne  (RSA) 71 70 70 69, G Coetzee (RSA) 68 73 68 71, E Grillo (Arg) 70 70 68 72, A Noren  (Swe) 67 75 68 70,
281 K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 72 67 72 70, R Karlsson (Swe) 67 71 69 74, S Hansen (Den) 69 69 70 73, A Johnston (Eng) 73 68 70 70, K Broberg (Swe) 69 71 70 71,
282 M Ilonen  (Fin) 66 75 68 73, S Benson (Eng) 69 73 67 73, T Olesen (Den) 72 69 73 68, A Lahiri (Ind) 72 68 72 70, B Dredge (Wal) 72 70 70 70,
283 D McGrane (Irl) 71 69 71 72, R Bland (Eng) 69 73 72 69,
284 M Nixon (Eng) 68 71 74 71, D Willett  (Eng) 70 71 71 72, A Sullivan (Eng) 71 71 67 75, O Farr (Wal) 73 69 72 70, R Paratore (Ita) 70 69 73 72, C Lee (Sco) 73 68 70 73,
285 J Campillo (Esp) 72 70 77 66, J Carlsson (Swe) 70 72 71 72, J Singh (Ind) 68 73 71 73,
286 S Khan (Eng) 73 67 72 74, R Fowler  (USA) 67 75 73 71, D Drysdale (Sco) 70 71 74 71,
288 J Kruger (RSA) 74 68 72 74,
289 D Fichardt (RSA) 69 73 77 70, G Tian-Lang (Chn) 70 69 78 72,
290 J Palmer (Eng) 71 71 76 72,