DUBAI (ALETIHAD)

Nacho Elvira came out on top with a nerveless display during a rollercoaster final round to claim his third DP World Tour title at the 2026 Dubai Invitational.

No fewer than five players shared the lead on a chaotic Sunday at Dubai Creek Resort, where overnight leader Elvira cruised into a three-shot lead following a third birdie of the day at the seventh.

He left the door ajar when finishing his front nine with successive bogeys as Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Daniel Hillier and Marcus Armitage joined the Spaniard at the summit at nine under down the final stretch. Lowry made his move with a birdie at the 15th, only to double bogey the last and spectacularly fall out of contention.

Hillier was the clubhouse leader at nine under, but Elvira carded his first birdie of the back nine at the 17th to earn a one-shot lead down the last and calmly rolled a final par for a brilliant victory. “It means the world,” the 38-year-old said. “If you told me on Tuesday that I’d be winning this tournament, I’d have never believed you.

“To be honest with you, I wasn’t nervous until the very last putt – the one-footer I had for the win. I knew what I needed to do, I knew I needed to be patient.” 

Elvira opened with a birdie to maintain his two-shot overnight lead at nine under, Lowry birdied three of his first four holes to draw level. 

The Spaniard became the first man to reach double figures with birdies on fourth and seventh as he led by three.

Lowry had bogeyed the latter hole to slip back to eight under alongside Armitage, before Elvira twitched at the top.

Bogeys at the eighth and ninth saw him drop to nine under, and he was joined by Armitage after the Englishman’s birdie at the 10th.

McIlroy seemed out of contention after two dropped shots during his opening seven holes, but he surged into co-leadership after five straight birdies from the ninth. Hillier, who had eagled the 13th, joined the party at nine under after his fourth birdie of the day at the 15th.

Lowry made it a five-way tie for the lead with a birdie at the 13th before Armitage dropped back one with a bogey at the 14th. The Irishman jumped ahead on his own with a 27-foot birdie putt at the 15th before Hillier set the clubhouse target of nine under following a flawless 65.

McIlroy almost holed out from a greenside bunker to birdie the last, but two-putted to fall back to eight under.

Two holes to play, Elvira birdied the penultimate hole to rejoin the lead at 10-under. Just as the Spaniard drained his seven-foot birdie putt, Lowry’s bunker shot met with water, and he clocked a double bogey.

Elvira only needed a par on the 72nd hole for victory, and he showed nerves of steel to do just that from one foot.