Sunday, 20 January 2013

Donaldson banishes January blues in Abu Dhabi

For most, January is a blue month full of money troubles after the Christmas outlay – not so Jamie Donaldson.

The Welshman held off Justin Rose with a final round 68 on Sunday to land himself the prestigious Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship – and more than £280,000 in prize money.

It follows on from his maiden European Tour win at the Irish Open last June.

The Pontypridd-born 37-year-old admits that he surprised himself with his victory, saying: “I played the course in the pro-am on Wednesday and thought it was way too difficult. To be holding the trophy just five days later feels mad.”

He trailed Englishman Rose by two going in to the final day, but produced an exceptional display to overturn the deficit and also finish one shot ahead of Dane Thorbjorn Oleson in the gorgeous Middle Eastern sun.

Rose had the chance to level and force a sudden-death play-off, but a missed 12-foot putt on the final hole put paid to his hopes.

Donaldson’s victory follows on from the 2012 event, where his close friend Robert Rock triumphed in a shootout against golfing heavyweights Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

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