Martin Kaymer emphatically defended his title at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. The German finished eight shots clear of second placed Rory McIlroy and climbed to second on the Official World Golf Ranking.
Kaymer began the final round five shots clear of McIlroy and never looked threatened as he cruised through the last 18 holes with a flawless 66. The 26-year-old didn't record a bogey in his last 60 holes and suffered just one bogey during the four rounds.
Kaymer played near perfect golf from start to finish in Abu Dhabi and his winning total of 24-under-par was a tournament record - An incredible effort given the course at Abu Dhabi Golf Club was playing tougher than ever before for this year's event.
It was the third time the young German has won this title. He is an amazing 80-under-par for his last 16 rounds in the tournament - level 67s. It was Kaymer's ninth European Tour victory in just his 100th start on the circuit.
"It's just the perfect course for me," he said. "It was more difficult, but I hit a lot of fairways and my putting was amazing. It was just one of those weeks when everything goes my way. There was not a lot to improve this week."
Another Northern Irish player, Gareth Maybin was tied for fifth in Abu Dhabi with England's David Lynn.
Abu Dhabi HSBC Abu Dhabi Golf Club, Abu Dhabi Jan 20-23, purse €2,000,000, par 72
1 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 67 65 66 66 264 €334,398 2 Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71 67 65 69 272 €222,932 T3 Retief Goosen (RSA) 70 71 69 64 274 €112,960 T3 Graeme McDowell (NIR) 66 70 71 67 274 €112,960 T5 Gareth Maybin (NIR) 71 67 69 69 276 €77,647 T5 David Lynn (Eng) 69 68 67 72 276 €77,647 7 Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 71 73 67 66 277 €60,191 T8 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 71 72 69 66 278 €45,076 T8 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 72 68 71 67 278 €45,076 T8 Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 64 71 71 72 278 €45,076
