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DP World Tour Championship: Collin Morikawa seals double glory in Dubai finale

The Open champion surged through the field to score a three-shot win and also capture the season-long Race to Dubai

Collin Morikawa produced a stunning late surge to land a glorious trophy double at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

The 24-year-old's closing 66 saw him post 17-under 271 and win the tournament by three shots ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick and Alexander Bjork in second.

And in doing so he became the first American golfer to be crowned Race to Dubai champion.

He looked to be stuck in second gear in Sunday's early play as overnight leader Rory McIlroy threatened to win the event for a third time.

But when Morikawa hit the accelerator, McIlroy crumbled.
The Californian came alive down the stretch and birdied five of his final seven holes to leave the field behind.
As McIlroy became aware of Morikawa's charge, he tried to push too hard and suffered bogeys at 15, 16 and 18 to drop to tied sixth.
That was one back from Dane Nicolai Hojgaard and Scotland's Robert MacIntyre, who posted 13-under to finish in a tie for fourth.
It's been a sensational year for Morikawa. He won the Open Championship in July, the WGC-Workday Championship in February and played a starring role in the United States' crushing Ryder Cup win over Europe.

Morikawa, who topped the Race to Dubai standings coming into this week, eventually finished over 2,000 points ahead of compatriot Billy Horschel, who won the BMW PGA Championship in September.

Jon Rahm was third on the season-long points race, with English duo Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton rounding out the top five.

Morikawa - I just needed a spark

A jubilant Morikawa said: "It feels so good. I would be lying to you if I said I wasn't watching what Matt Fitzpatrick was doing today. Boy, did he put on a run. Props to him. Made a lot of birdies early on.
"But it's 18 holes. All I needed to do was catch a spark. I feel great right now. Winning the DP World Tour Championship, coming here last year, my first time to Dubai, is really special.
"Starting off with six pars, especially with some birdie holes, wasn't fun. I felt like I was hitting some good shots and I wasn't getting the breaks I needed. The putts weren't dropping and I just told myself, when I looked at the leaderboard after nine, that I was still in there and I was still two or three back at that point and I just needed one spark.
"After parring ten and 11, I told myself, you shouldn't have done that; I knew something had to change. And 12, got a great break, thinning my second shot, made the putt, and that got the momentum started.
"I just kept telling myself to focus and I was excited for this moment. I was telling everyone, the nerves are there but I'm excited. I channelled that nervous energy into excitement and I wanted to keep hitting good shot after good shot and no matter where my ball is going to be, just going to find a way to somehow put it in the hole and putts started dropping, and that's always fun.
"Look, the way my head is wired, I'm always looking for what's next, but I'm going to try to enjoy this one. This one is special; it's at the end of the year. I've got one more event left, but I'm going to try to enjoy this one as much as I can."
Morikawa will defend his Open crown at St Andrews in 2022.

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