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Danny Willett wins Dubai Desert Classic with closing birdie

With a 15-foot birdie on the final hole of the tournament, Danny Willett won the Omega Dubai Desert Classic by a shot over Andy Sullivan and Rafa Cabrera-Bello.

Willett shot 3-under 69 at Emirates Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates, good enough to hang on to the one-shot edge he had over the Spaniard to start the final round.

The Englishman came to the final hole needing the birdie to avoid a playoff after both Sullivan and Cabrera-Bello made 4 on the closing par 5 to post 18-under 270. Willett holed a left-to-right swinger and delivered a fist pump knowing he had won for the fourth time on the European Tour.

"You'd love to win by five or six every time you win, but when you win in that fashion, it does feel that little bit extra special," Willett said after the round.

The win will move Willett inside the top 15 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

For Sullivan, it's his second consecutive Dubai tournament where he finished runner-up. Sullivan lost out on the 2015 season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai to Rory McIlroy, this week's defending champion.

Byeong-hun An, the reigning BMW PGA champion, shot 7-under 65 on Sunday to surge into a tie for fourth place with Alvaro Quiros. McIlroy matched An with 65, which turned out to be the score of the day, and finished in a tie for sixth with Henrik Stenson.


Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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