Stenson defends Dubai golf crown

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson has successfully defended his title at the DP World Tour Championship, the season-ending tournament on the European Tour.

Stenson birdied the last two holes on Sunday for a two-under-par 70 in the final round to finish on 16-under 272 in the $US8 million ($A8.65 million) event.

He ended up two strokes clear of three of his Ryder Cup teammates – world No.1 Rory McIlroy (68), seventh-ranked Justin Rose (69) of England and French No.22 Victor Dubuisson (68).

Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello (75) had been leading with three holes to play but crashed with back-to-back double bogeys at 16 and 17 to finish tied ninth on 277.

Australian Wade Ormsby finished well back in the field on 286 – 14 shots behind the Swede.

The victory – Stenson’s first title of the year – is expected to take him back to world No.2 behind McIlroy when the new rankings are released on Monday.

It also assured an $US800,000 ($A865,000) bonus for finishing second in the Race to Dubai.

“It feels great,” said Stenson, whose win in Dubai 12 months ago ensured he became the first man to win the Race to Dubai and FedEx Cup in the same season. “I’m exhausted to say the least.

“It was hot out there and tricky on the back nine. I did not play my best and had a shocking hole on 11 which knocked me back but I did not give up. I just had to dig in there and wait for something to happen.

“I had a couple of close calls this year to get my win and it was not to be. It’s been close but eventually you get something if you stick around and I surely did that.”

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!