Victor Perez won his first Rolex Series title at the 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in dramatic fashion to fire himself up the European Ryder Cup Rankings and into the automatic qualification places on the European Points List.
In fact, the Frenchman’s triumph saw him climb 19 places on the European Points List into second position with 1,173.07 points.
The three-time DP World Tour winner also gained 19 places on the World Points List where he currently sits in sixth position with 41.17 points.
It was an amazing battle throughout the afternoon with Perez producing fireworks at the 17th hole when he holed his bunker shot for birdie to take a one shot lead down the 18th hole at Yas Links Abu Dhabi.
The greatest shot of @v_perez2's life 🤯#ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/M5romSG5Dx
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 22, 2023
A closing bogey was enough to claim victory and edge closer to a Ryder Cup debut at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club under European Captain Luke Donald.
"I got off to a good start, and I was just focusing on me and trying to do the best I can because I knew you can't control what everybody else is doing, and I was just trying to plod along.
"But Seb (Söderberg) played fantastic and was right there and never gave me an opening. I'm delighted to finish on top. It was a crazy finish, but I feel like I'm used to that now. Hopefully I can make it a little easier for the next one.
"It's a great year ahead. There's a lot of big things coming up. I've had a really good off-season. I've worked really hard."
Meanwhile, Jon Rahm continued his immense form with his second victory in as many starts in 2023 at The American Express on the PGA TOUR.
The two-time Ryder Cup Europe player now has four victories in his last six starts and maintains his place at the top of both the European and World Points Lists.
The Spaniard was tied with PGA TOUR rookie Davis Thompson with three holes remaining of their final round before firing a birdie at the 16th hole. Rahm then produced a clutch approach from the fairway bunker at 18, playing it to within 15 feet, and when Thompson failed to chip in for birdie Rahm was left with two putts for victory.
Rounds of 64-64-65-68 see Rahm’s scoring average this season on the PGA TOUR at a staggering 66.30.
"I think today was about as comfortable as I've been in a long time on the golf course, tee to green," said Rahm.
"Every time I felt like this in the past, I've ended up going on to win, just because it takes a lot of pressure off a lot of parts of my game, knowing that basically I'm going to hit the shot that I'm envisioning. And that's a really unique zone to put yourself in."
As it stands Rahm (1,850.00 points), Perez (1,173.07 points) and Rory McIlroy (1,021.50 points) would claim the three automatic qualifying spots on the European Points List, with Viktor Hovland (56.33 points), Alex Noren (47.53 points) and Shane Lowry (45.18 points) currently sitting in the top three positions on the World Points List.
The 2023 Ryder Cup will take place between Sept. 25 – Oct. 1 at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, Rome, Italy.
