McIlroy finds water at 18 as Hovland wins in Dubai

Rory McIlroy blew his chance to win the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic, bogeying his last hole to miss out on a play-off place.

Standing on the tee at par 5 18th McIlroy was in a share for the lead, but he found water meaning he had to take a drop shot. He signed for a six - a round of 71 - meaning he fell back to 11 under par, one behind Viktor Hovland and Richard Bland.

Hovland had been six behind over night but he shot 66 to get himself in the reckoning, and then took the title on the first extra hole.

He played it superbly and sealed victory, his first in a Rolex Series event, with a two-foot birdie putt.

"This is pretty wild, I didn't really think this was possible going into today," Hovland told Sky Sports in an interview which, by chance, was conducted by Bland's coach – and TV presenter – Tim Barter.

"I knew I had to shoot a real low number but a lot of things had to go my way. I’m thankful that it did.

"I was fuming after the three-putt on 15. I felt that was it. I just had to try to finish off well and I rolled a really long one in on 16 and then, on 17, hey, we got a shot.

"I’m pumping right now. It’s a bit surreal."

The 24-year-old began his round way off the pace but, on a day of tension and drama, he put himself among the contenders with four birdies on his front nine.

His hopes took a knock as he bogeyed the 15th but he then surged into a share of the lead on 11 under with stunning back-to-back efforts on his next two holes.

He first holed a 35-foot birdie putt at the 16th and then eagled the par-four 17th after a brilliant tee shot onto the green.

This coincided with third-round leader Justin Harding all but seeing his hopes disappear with a triple-bogey at the 11th.

McIlroy was still looking strong, however. Two