Shane Lowry found water on the 18th hole as he missed out on the Dubai Invitational title to Nacho Elvira in a dramatic final round.
Lowry held a one-shot lead heading to the final hole, but a wayward bunker shot flew past the flag and rolled into the lake on the far side of the green.
A hole behind, overnight leader Elvira made a birdie putt on the 17th to join Lowry on 10 under while the Irishman toiled.
While Lowry had to settle for a double bogey on the final hole and dropped back to eight under, Elvira secured the par he needed to win the third title of his career.
Rory McIlroy was one of five players involved in a tie for the lead midway down the back nine, along with Elvira, Lowry, England’s Marcus Armitage and New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier, but the challengers fell away one by one.
A hole ahead of his Ryder Cup team-mate, McIlroy required a birdie to tie for the lead but, in a foreshadowing of Lowry’s fate, he overhit from the same bunker and his chance slipped away.
For Masters champion McIlroy, he was left to rue a slow start but soon put himself in contention with five birdies in a row.
That left him with a shot of winning, but a wayward tee shot on the 18th left him in deep rough and he could only find the bunker with his recovery, and that ended his hopes.
“I was just trying to get the most out of what I had. I didn’t have the greats starts and I wasn’t really focused on winning, I was just trying to piece it together with good swings,” McIlroy told Sky Sports.
“It was still a good first week back and I learnt a lot about my game. I wasn’t very sharp, but I’m hopefully I’m a bit sharper now going into next week.”
