DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Nacho Elvira benefited from dramatic final-hole errors by Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry to win the Dubai Invitational on Sunday by one stroke and declare his third title on the European Tour.
Elvira, ranked a hundred and ninetieth, did what the 2 Ryder Cup stars could not do: she averted bother on the 18th, made a simple par, and shot a 69 to complete her first match of 2026 at 10 beneath.
A couple of minutes earlier, Lowry was on his method to make his closing header when it fell from the middle of the green right into a greenside bunker and was coated in water from the sand. He hit a double-bogey six within the spherical of 69 and was again inside two strokes.
Earlier, McIlroy arrived on the 18th tee with a one-stroke lead over Lowry, however he hit the driveway into the tough, put his method right into a bunker and was unable to get again up. McIlroy and Lowry tied for third place.
Daniel Hillier (New Zealand) shot a 65 to take second place with 9 beneath par.
“It means the world,” mentioned Elvira, whose spouse and youngsters ran onto the inexperienced to have a good time with the Spaniard. “Once I instructed you on Tuesday that I’d win, I by no means believed it.
“It doesn’t matter what occurs after this, nothing can examine.”
Lowry was searching for his first European Tour title since September 2022 and his first win since April 2024, when he and shut pal McIlroy gained the Zurich Traditional in New Orleans.
Elvira began the ultimate spherical within the lead and held a three-stroke benefit at 11 beneath after birdieing the seventh. He then had back-to-back bogeys beginning on the eighth gap, and on the par-5 tenth he put his second shot into the water to avoid wasting par and keep in contact with Lowry, McIlroy and lots of of his challengers.
About an hour earlier than the tip, Hillier, McIlroy, Lowry, Marcus Armitage and Elvira shared the lead at 9 beneath, with Lowry sinking a 30-foot birdie on the fifteenth to take the only real lead. He could not dangle on.
