Victor Perez (France) won his first Rolex Series victory with a bizarre bunker shot.
Perez made 8 birdies and bogey in the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (total prize money of $9 million), the first event of the DP World Tour Rolex Series season held at Abu Dhabi Links Yas (par 72) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the 23rd (Korean time). He tied the two together and shot a 6-under-par 66.
Perez, who recorded a final total of 18 under par 270 strokes, beat the tie for second place by one stroke and rose to the top. On the DP World Tour, he won his first victory in the Rolex Series, a major tournament. 안전놀이터
Perez jumped into the race for the championship, demonstrating an excellent shot feeling that day. After 1st and 2nd holes in the first half, he caught birdies twice in a row on holes 6 and 7, fiercely chasing the competitor, and then recorded consecutive birdies in the 10th and 11th holes in the second half. The first bogey came out in the 14th hole (par 4) in the second half, but he caught a birdie in the 15th hole (par 4) and succeeded in bounce back and did not miss the opportunity.
The highlight was the 17th hole (par 3). Perez, who was leading by one shot in a tie for second place, hit a tee shot into a bunker around the green. The bunker in front of the green was higher than the green, leaving about 20m to the hole. The green was not even, so the difficulty level was quite high.
Perez tried a bunker shot with power, and the ball that came out at once flew past the pin about 3m. However, an amazing scene was created here. The ball slightly hit my slope on the green, and on the contrary, it rolled again and was sucked into the hole. Perez, who saw this, enjoyed the joy of doing a ‘chest bump’ ceremony with his caddy.
Perez, who took a two stroke lead with this bunker shot, won the championship despite bogeying at the 18th hole (par 5). The winning prize is 1.53 million dollars (approximately 1.887 billion Korean won). Had I finished runner-up, I would have been satisfied with $990,000. It was a bunker shot that gave Perez $540,000 (665.82 million won) and a third win on the DP World Tour.
The British Telegraph said, “It’s a miracle bunker shot,” and “He tried a good backspin using the slope behind the pin. When a brave play was needed, he was determined.” The US Golf Channel also introduced Perez’s bunker shot as “a shot of a lifetime.”
Perez said, “I had a really good off-season. I worked really hard.” “The bunker shot was not as difficult as I thought. I rode the wind and it was downhill to the hole, but it was flat. It was a bit thin,” he recalled.
