Nacho Elvira outlasts McIlroy, Lowry to win Dubai Invitational... Final Results

  DP World Tour : Dubai Invitational Leaderboard

Spanish veteran Nacho Elvira with his wife and 2 girls waiting anxiously, emerged from a 5 player logjam, holding his nerve after making 3 bogey's around the turn to make a two putt par at the 18th for 69 -10 which was just enough for the win, after it looked like Rory and Shane Lowry were going to battle it out.

However after making 5 birdies in a row, Rory made a bogey 5 at the 18th from the back bunker, later Lowry who'd been in the lead all week, went long at the same hole, then splashed his bunker shot out and watched as it ran right off the green into the pond, resulting in a double bogey 6, and a T3 with Rory at -8.   more to follow,,,,,,

Nacho Elvira came out on top with a nerveless display during a roller coaster final round to claim his third DP World Tour title at the 2026 Dubai Invitational

No less than five players shared the lead on a chaotic Sunday at Dubai Creek Resort, where overnight leader Elvira cruised into a three-shot lead following a third birdie of the day at the seventh.

He left the door ajar when finishing his front nine with successive bogeys as Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Daniel Hillier and Marcus Armitage joined the Spaniard at the summit at -9 down the final stretch.

Lowry made his move with a birdie at the 15th, only to double bogey the last and spectacularly fall out of contention.

Hillier was the clubhouse leader at -9 but Elvira carded his first birdie of the back nine at the 17th to earn a one-shot lead down the last and calmly rolled a final par for a brilliant victory.

"It means the world," the 38-year-old said. "If you told me on Tuesday that I'd be winning this tournament I'd have never believed you.

"It's a dream come true, especially having the family here. I've always dreamed to have my kids walking up to me with a win and anything that happens after this, nothing compares to this.

"I knew at some point it was going to be difficult, especially with the great players playing in front of me. I somehow managed to make a par on ten, managed somehow to make a par on 11 and I guess I calmed down a little after this and stayed patient.

"To be honest with you, I wasn't nervous until the very last putt - the one-footer I had for the win. I knew what I needed to do, I knew I needed to be patient.

"I think there are so many positives from this week and I couldn't be more happier."

Frenchman Julien Guerrier bounced back from a double bogey at the second with seven birdies to sit in a share of third at -8 alongside Spain's David Puig, McIlroy and Lowry.

Armitage double-bogeyed the last to join Matt Wallace and Dane Thorbjørn Olesen at -6 while France's Antoine Rozner and South African duo Thriston Lawrence and Dylan Frittelli were one shot further back -5 to wrap up the top ten.

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Bryan Angus (edit)

Taylor, Conners, Svensson, in contention on windy Waialae.... 54 hole results

   PGA Tour : Sony Open Tee Times Leaderboard 

The wind was the story as the field headed out on Saturday on the venerable par 70 Waialae CC gusting at 25mph NE, so scoring would be difficult, ball striking at a premium.

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The best of the bunch turned out to be American Davis Riley who managed his ball well in the wind and birdied 4 of his last 7 holes for -3 67 to get to -12, two shots clear of the field with another windy Sunday ahead.

Riley is ranked #101 with 2 wins in his PGA Tour career said " The biggest thing in this wind is to hit your start lines and control your curvature and that's what I did, I hit some really good hold  shots against the wind."

England's Harry Hall 66, Americans Chris Gotterup 68, and Kevin Roy 69 are all in at -10 T2.

Nick Taylor had this to say after his T5 E 70 -9. " I grinded it out and gave myself a chance for tomorrow, that's all you can kind of give yourself.

Fellow Canadian Corey Conners, noted for his superb ball striking, got in with an outside chance by posting the day's best -5 65 -8 T8 " I like it when the wind blows here, I think it really puts a premium on ball striking. You really have to be able to control your ball, I hit some really  good shots today"

Adam Svensson who regained his Tour card via Q School is also T8 65,70 67 -8, so let's see how he finishes what has been a good start to his 2026 season.

Other Canadians

Taylor Pendrith T20 69 68 68 -5

Sudarshan Yellamaraju T32 67 67 72 -4

Bryan Angus

Taylor leads group T1 windy Sony Open, 36 hole results...TEE TIMES

   PGA Tour : Sony Open Tee Times Leaderboard 

Those who have travelled to the islands of Hawaii know there is rarely a day that goes by without at least a breeze as the westerly trade winds usually blow across the blue Pacific Ocean towards the America's.

On Friday the breeze was a wind 25kph NE and it blew all day for both the early and late waves.

Nick Taylor, of Canada, reacts on the 18th green during the first round of the Sony Open golf event at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Defending champion Nick Taylor followed his opening -8 62 in calm conditions with -1 69 in the worst of the afternoon wind and that was good enough to maintain his lead after 36 holes, joined now by 4 others.

Davis Riley 64, Kevin Roy, SH Kim 68, and the most regally named, Adrien Dumont de Chassart 67.

" The wind was strong and with some gusts, Taylor said. A lot of the holes were relatively crosswind, so it was tough to get yardages correctly. Sometimes it would hurt,, sometimes it would help. Almost had to time your shots correctly and get a little bit of luck too."

Canadians

The cut fell at -1, with AJ Ewart the only Canadian to miss it 72 71 +3

Sudarshan Yellamaraju T14 67 67 -6

Adam Svensson T22 65 70 -5

Taylor Pendrith T36 69 68 -3

Corey Conners T36 70 67 -3

The wind is expected to continue NE - E on the weekend 20- 28kph so expect scoring to be difficult.

Bryan Angus

Lowry and Elvira lead at windy Dubai Invitational ..36 hole results

 DP World Tour : Dubai Invitational Leaderboard

The Dubai Resort course had the reputation of being an easy test for the leading professionals as long as they are in the fairways.... or the wind blows.

Well the wind is up from yesterday, and so are the scores, where anything under par is good today. For example Rory McIlroy had an opening effortless 66, is +2 today through 14 holes.

His best friend and playing partner Shane Lowry is -2 and at -4 has the lead, but this field is bunched mid way through round 2..

Shane Lowry and Nacho Elvira produced brilliant rounds of 68 in windy conditions to share a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the 2026 Dubai Invitational.

The Irishman began the day three shots behind good friend and career Grand Slam champion Rory McIlroy, but some stunning iron play and clutch putting saw him overhaul his playing partner at Dubai Creek Resort.

Lowry is aiming to secure his first DP World Tour title since winning the 2022 BMW PGA Championship and he showcased his quality with five birdies and two bogeys.

Spaniard Elvira surged into contention thanks to four birdies in his final six holes for a matching 68 - the best rounds of the day - to get to -5

“Very happy. It was hard. It was tricky,” said Lowry. “If I play golf like that for the rest of the season in that frame of mind, I’ll be pretty good.

“The first tournament of the year you don’t know what to expect. So going out there in the last group now on Saturday is nice, and keep it going and we’ll see what happens.”

McIlroy regained his overnight one-shot advantage when he birdied the third to reach -6

That lead was briefly extended to two when Antoine Rozner's early birdie burst was offset by a double-bogey, but McIlroy dropped a shot at the sixth.

A skewed chip left a difficult par putt for McIlroy to save par at the ninth and when it slid by, he was in a two-way tie for the lead at -4

Lowry opened with birdie-birdie for the second day running and despite a bogey at the fifth, he picked up the shot at the very next hole. A bogey at the ninth saw him slip back one, but he responded immediately with a lovely birdie putt at the tenth to rejoin the lead.

None of the trio could jump ahead on their own as they reached the turn, which saw Marcus Armitage increase the leadership group to four.

However, by the time McIlroy and Lowry finished the 14th hole, the latter was in the solo lead.

Armitage dropped a shot at the ninth - his last - and McIlroy found the water at the 14th as the trio slipped back to -3

That left Lowry on his own at the top. He was briefly joined by Elvira and McIlroy when the latter rolled in a 46-foot putt at the 16th for birdie, but Lowry followed suit from 31 feet to maintain his one-shot lead at -5.

McIlroy found the water for the fourth time at the 17th as he finished with back-to-back bogeys to sit three behind the joint leaders.

Armitage and Spain's David Puig were tied for third at -3 while McIlroy, Lawrence, Rozner and Spain's Angel Ayora were one shot further back at -2

American Ryggs Johnston recorded the first hole-in-one of 2026 when his aced the 218-yard par-three eighth with a six iron.

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Bryan Angus (edit)

Taylor 62 leads Sony Open..18 hole results.. TEE TIMES

  PGA Tour : Sony Open Tee Times Leaderboard

Nick Taylor has kicked off his 2026 season and the defence of his Sony Open title in style !

With a barrage of pinpoint irons, a hot putter and birdies on 3 of the par 3's he got out early before the trade wind arrived in the afternoon on the Waialae CC and posted a bogey free -8 62 to take the lead along with American Kevin Roy.

Nick won here last year with a long chip in on the 72nd to force a playoff in which he was victorious.

Considering how much the guys on the DP World Tour play in the Fall, the Canadian has been on holiday for 4 months since the Tour Championship August 24, 2025. He did make a short trip to Mexico then accepted an invitation from Gary Player to compete in the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa.

" I think we got lucky with the weather, I was expecting more wind. I hit it great, but this course fits my eye"

Four players are T3 with 63 including last year's surprise star American Chris Gotterup who won the Genesis Open in Scotland, then was right in contention at the Open.

Vijay Singh is 62 now, he used a life time money exemption, made 2 double bogey's and still shot -2 68.

Other Canadians

Adam Svensson T10 -5 65

Sudarshan Yellamaraju T29 -3 67

Taylor Pendrith T59 -1 69

Corey Conners T80  E 70

AJ Ewart T101 +2  72

Bryan Angus

Roger Sloan 2nd place The Bahamas Golf Classic... Full results

 Korn Ferry Tour : The Bahamas Golf Classic....Results

Canada's Roger Sloan lost his PGA Tour card in 2024, however he has begun his 2026 season on the Korn Ferry Tour in style after finishing at #131 on the points list here in 2025.

He co-led this windy Bahamas Golf Classic after 36 holes in his 160th appearance on this tour, and he finished strong with a chip in eagle and a birdie in his last 4 holes to finish 64 65 68 67 -24 for 2nd place, his best finish since winning the 2023 Utah Championship.

Ironically he was the 10th alternative this week, and has won on this tour twice.

The winner was a bogey free Taylor Dickson with a career best 67 62 67 65 -27, his 3rd career win on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Dickson was demoted after a poor 2025 year on the PGA Tour finishing 174th after 26 starts.

Other Canadians

Ben Silverman T51 68 68 68 71 -13

Myles Creighton and Drew Nesbitt both M/C

Next week the field remains in the Bahamas with the Great Abaco Classic which Canadian Sudarshan Yellamaraju won last year paving his way to the PGA Tour this year.

Bryan Angus

Rory has the lead Dubai Invitational....Full 18 hole results

DP World Tour : Dubai Invitational Leaderboard

 Rory McIlroy is off to a fast start to his DP World Tour 2026 season posting a 31,35 -5 66 early this morning at this version of the Dubai Invitational, to hold the clubhouse lead with the late wave currently on course.

Players commented that the Dubai Creek Resort course was "easy, or quite gettable" as long as you keep it in the fairways.

Rory McIlroy declared his opening round of 66 as a "nice way to start the year" as he held a one-shot lead at the 2026 Dubai Invitational.

The World Number Two made a rapid start with seven birdies and a bogey after ten holes to send a daunting message to the rest of the field as he led by three shots at -6

His momentum stalled as he carded a dropped shot and seven pars to close his first round of the year in 66 and take the clubhouse lead at -5.

Matt Wallace rolled in four straight birdies around the turn to surge ahead at -7, but two dropped shots and a double bogey saw him slip down the leaderboard.

Scotland's Connor Syme 67 and Spaniard David Puig 67 were McIlroy's closest rivals at -4

"It was good. I got off to a great start, played a very good first nine," McIlroy said. 

"Then the wind got up a little bit and felt like that front nine, which was our second nine, was the trickier one.

"I made a silly bogey on three and then didn't capitalise on the par-five after that.

"So I felt like I left a few out on that side, but I played a really good nine holes of golf. Overall, a nice way to start the year."

Wallace endured a roller coaster card of an eagle, six birdies, three dropped shots and a double bogey to finish to sit in a T5 at -3, Lindell double bogeyed the last in his 68, while French pair Guerrier and Antoine Rozner and Spaniard Angel Ayora were also at -3.

There was a minute's silence held at 1.30pm local time for the 40 victims of the Crans-Montana fire during New Year celebrations, which included rising Italian talent Emanuele Galeppini, who was about to start his tenure as Junior Captain at Dubai Creek Resort.

Black ribbons were worn by players, caddies and DP World Tour staff as a mark of respect.

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Bryan Angus

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