Nacho Elvira captures Dubai title after Shane Lowry chips into water, doubles last

When Shane Lowry’s tee ball at the par-4 finishing hole Sunday at Dubai Creek left the clubface, Lowry led the Dubai Invitational by a shot. Lowry’s closest pursuer, Nacho Elvira, was in the group behind, facing a 7-footer for birdie. At worst, it seemed, Lowry would find himself in a playoff. Instead, Lowry lost by two. Elvira would roll in that putt at the penultimate hole to tie Lowry at 10 under. He’d then watch up ahead as Lowry fell apart, tugging a 149-yard approach from the second cut into the left greenside bunker and then shockingly, blasting out through the fairway and into, fittingly, the creek. Lowry’s double bogey would drop him into a tie for third with Julien Gurrier, David Puig and Rory McIlroy, who used five straight birdies midway through his final round to briefly tie for the lead with four other names. Daniel Hillier’s round of the day, a 6-under 65 gave him solo second, a shot behind Elvira, who for the third time in the 38-year-old Spaniard’s DP World Tour career was a winner. “I always dream of my kids walking up to me with a win,” said Elvira, a father of two. “Anything that
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