Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship Special Report Sunday

Today's Headlines:

• Donaldson victorious in the Desert; Rose comes up short

• Howell suffers heartbreaking four-putt to throw away chance of first win in 7 years

I have to admit that half-way through this final round I was looking ahead to writing my blog with stories in my head about David Howell winning for the first time in 7 years. He had hit the top of the leaderboard with 5 birdies and 6 pars in his first 11 holes to be 13-under and 1 ahead of Justin Rose, but unfortunately disaster struck the former Ryder Cup man in the shape of a shocking four-putt at the 13^th hole. The treble-bogey seven followed a bogey four and took the former HSBC Champions winner out of contention, but a top-ten finish will give him more confidence ahead of the upcoming Qatar Masters and Dubai Desert Classic, events he has finished in 2^nd and 1^st positions respectively.

Following the exits of both world number one Rory McIlroy and world number two Tiger Woods Justin Rose assumed the mantle of star player in the field and he held the lead by two shots coming into the final round and the new, mature Rose was expected to see the job out. A birdie at the par five second hole consolidated his lead early on, but a bogey at the fifth coupled with Howell's early birdies saw the 2012 Ryder Cup hero fall one behind. Going into the back nine the chasing pack had Howell in their sights, but Rose struggled to get a run together to re-establish his lead and birdies at the 11^th, 14^th and 15^th following two on the front nine gave Welshman Jamie Donaldson a two-shot lead at 15-under-par. Donaldson was looking to replicate his good friend Robert Rock's achievement from 12 months ago.

Donaldson's pars at the 16^th and 17^th saw him take a 2-shot lead to the 72^nd hole, his drive found the left hand rough forcing him to lay up. His approach to the green spun back away from the hole which was positioned towards the back left of the green, leaving himself two putts to almost certainly win for the second time. But it was a tricky two-putt, and the Irish Open champion's first putt ran some six feet above the hole. With both Thorbjorn Olesen and Justin Rose tied at 13-under back in the fairway it was vital that he didn't give any hope to his two nearest challengers. However he started the putt just slightly outside the right edge and it didn't come back, meaning a bogey six and he posted a 14-under-par total of 274 and giving both Olesen and Rose one last chance to either overtake him or tie. Both contenders had to lay up and give themselves a chance of a birdie to tie Donaldson.

A week that started with everyone talking about Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods and featured the unveiling of Europe's new Ryder Cup captain has ended with another European Tour star of the future upstaging the best golfers in the world. Donaldson's first win, with respect to Rock, was the Irish Open in front of 100,000 fans and not the Italian Open. He has consistently knocked on the door for wins every season and when it mattered most he performed and converted his opportunity into a massive win, he will now certainly qualify for The Masters via his world ranking and a place in the WGC-Accenture Match Play, WGC-Cadillac Championship, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and WGC-HSBC Champions. The Welshman stands on the verge of joining an illustrious band of British golfers at the top level of the game, competing for the biggest titles in the game, and it is a fact that he already can claim to have won two of golf's top titles in the Irish Open over a Major Championship course and the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship against a truly world-class field.

The European Tour's Middle East Swing now moves to Doha in Qatar, and Justin Rose will have another opportunity to get that first win of the year. He will be joined by Louis Oosthuizen, Jason Dufner, Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els, Martin Kaymer, Peter Hanson, Paul Lawrie and Matteo Manassero among others in another world-class field. Watch for a full preview on Monday evening of the second week of the Middle East Swing and the Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour as the tour moves towards the first World Golf Championship of the year next month.

I hope you have enjoyed my series of special reports about the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, be sure to look out for special reports on the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, the entire Florida Swing (February 25-March 26) and The Masters at www.hooperstargolfer.blogspot.co.uk