Antoine Rozner reels in Andy Sullivan to win Golf in Dubai Championship

Frenchman Antoine Rozner reeled in long-time leader Andy Sullivan on the back nine to land a spectacular maiden European Tour win in the Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World.

Frenchman Antoine Rozner celebrates with the trophy following his victory in the Golf in Dubai Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

Sullivan, who had been out in front since opening with a sensational 11-under-par 61 on the Fire Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, was still there after going out in two-under to reach 23-under.

But, as the Englishman finally started to falter as a front-runner, having landed an English Championship win at Hanbury Manor in August from that position, Rozner timed his run to perfection.

The 27-year-old, who lost to Dane Rasmus Hojgaard in a play-off in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open exactly a year ago, carded an eagle and four birdies as he stormed home in 31.

That saw him sign off with a 64 for a 25-under 263 total, winning by two shots from fellow Frenchman Mike Lorenzo Vera (65), English pair Sullivan (70) and Matt Wallace (68) and Italian Francesco Laporta (65).

“It means a lot,” Rozner told Sky Sports Golf. “It’s been such a strange year on the European Tour and we have been through so much all over the world and being able to get it done today in such nice fashion - eight-under - is great.

“We knew we had to take it super deep if we wanted to win and that’s what we did. It’s amazing.

“I’m going to be honest, the first time I saw I was in the lead was on the 18th green as I didn’t really look at the leaderboards and I told Darren (his caddie) that I didn’t want to know what was going on, which I think was a good thing.

“I just kept being aggressive and I think in the end that paid off.”

Rozner, who had already secured a spot in next week’s DP World Tour Championship on the Earth Course at the same venue but has climbed 31 spots to 24th in the Race to Dubai, added: “I knew the game was there. I didn’t know it was that good.

“I’m excited (about next week). It is a good way to finish in the biggest event of the year and I didn’t get to play in a Rolex Series event this year.”

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