Aaron Rai always seems to be holding the best cards when he goes head to head with Tommy Fleetwood.
The two Englishmen played together in the last group out in the final round of the 2018 Hong Kong Open. Rai, chasing a first DP World Tour title, was leading by six strokes and hung on for a narrow one-shot victory while Fleetwood carded a 73 to fall outside the top 10.
Two years later the pair were locked together after 72 holes at the Renaissance Club in the Scottish Open before Rai emerged triumphant in extra holes.
And now the Wolverhampton man has completed the hat trick over his compatriot, winning the 2025 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship after the duo were yet again tied in regulation play before Rai’s 10-foot birdie at the first playoff hole secured victory.
Rai, 30, had started the final round with a one-stroke lead over Fleetwood and the Dane Nicolai Højgaard. Fleetwood made a birdie-eagle start on Sunday, Rai responded with four birdies in a row from the fourth, and they were locked together through 13 holes.
When Rai missed a 3-foot par putt at 14 he yet again slipped behind but bounced back with birdies at 16 and 17 to force extra holes after both players posted 25-under 263.
“I made a really good up and down on 15, which certainly gave me confidence. It was an important moment.”
Aaron Rai
It is Rai’s third DP World Tour victory and his most significant. The Scottish Open win had, like this most recent one, the shine of being a Rolex Series event but this field was stronger, with Højgaard eventually sharing third alongside Rory McIlroy, who posted a final-round 10-under-par 62.
Rai was quick to direct credit towards his caddie, Jason Timmis, when recalling his missed tiddler at 14. “He was great as we walked down the 15th,” he said. “It had been a little bit of a shock to the system on 14. But he was great, just telling me to stay present, to focus on playing the next shot and try to finish strong. I made a really good up and down on 15, which certainly gave me confidence. It was an important moment.”
Rai struggled to put the win into context after that, but it has the potential to be a significant moment in his career because while he was just shy of the European Ryder Cup team this year he undoubtedly has it in him to make the step up in 2027.
Gently spoken yet fiercely hard working, Rai has at least three golfing habits that he retains in order to remind himself of his humble origins: he wears two gloves because it reminds him of his fondness for doing so as a child, uses a castle tee peg for the same reason, and has covers on his irons.
He told GGP a few years ago: “My dad didn’t really have the money for my golf but he would save up for the best equipment he could afford. He would clean those clubs to keep them in the best condition and then put the covers on to protect them. I don’t want to ever forget that.”
McIlroy’s round allowed him to edge a little farther ahead in the Race to Dubai although his nearest challenger in the seasonal rankings, England’s Marco Penge, had a fine day himself, carding a 63 to finish in a share of ninth.
The pair will face off in this week’s DP World Tour Championship on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, where McIlroy is the defending champion.
The last spot in that finale was secured by another Englishman, Matthew Jordan. With a bogey-free round of 66, he grabbed a share of 15th and rose to 50th in the Race to Dubai.
Matt Cooper