Fleetwood wins for Frankie as Lowry claims third in India

A sluggish spell around the turn proved costly for Shane Lowry as Tommy Fleetwood found his putting touch and shot a sparkling 65 to claim the DP World India Championship.

Three strokes behind Japan's Keita Nakajima overnight, Lowry made three birdies in his first eight holes to keep the leaders in his sights.

A loose long iron tee shot into the trees at the ninth cost him a shot and after failing to convert a good chance at the 10th, his title hopes faded when he missed a three and a half footer for birdie at the 11th.

In the end, he birdied the 14th and 18th to close with a four-under 68 and share third with Thriston Lawrence and Alex Fitzpatrick on 18-under.

But that left him four shots behind an impressive Fleetwood, who putted beautifully and made eight birdies in a 65 to win by two strokes from Nakajima on 22 under to move from 94th to 25th in the Race to Dubai.

Like Lowry, Fleetwood was guaranteed his place in the final two Playoff events as a member of the winning European Ryder Cup team.

But he was determined to put a shine on his season with a DP World Tour win and give his son Frankie a chance to run onto the 18th green and make a wish come true.

"So we were at home last week and we were driving the buggy," Fleetwood explained. "And he just said randomly, do you know what you've never done? You've never won a tournament, and I've been able to run onto the 18th green.

"I was like, I'm writing that down. I had that written down all week… All day today, I had it in my mind. Could I put myself in a position where I can actually make that moment happen?

"It's just one of those little things that means a lot to me. It means so much to me. That was really cool. That's what I wanted to do all day.

While Daniel Hiller raced ahead on 20-under after making seven birdies in his first ten holes, the New Zealander double bogeyed the 14th, dropping four shots in his last five holes as he faded to ninth and Fleetwood made four birdies in a row from the seventh to go two clear of Nakajima on 20 under.

The Japanese star birdied the 12th to close the gap, but Fleetwood made a key 12-footer for birdie at the 14th to go two ahead again before both men finished birdie-par.

After struggling to get over the line in the US before claiming the Tour Championship and the FedExCup last month, Fleetwood has now converted his last two chances into wins.

"Maybe things are starting to even out a little bit," Fleetwood said.
Rory McIlroy shot 71 to finish 26th on 11-under and modestly stretched his lead over Marco Penge at the top of the Race to Dubai.

Making it to the DP World Tour is the goal for Royal Dublin's Max Kennedy, but he may have to do it via the Q-School after he failed to secure one of 45 spots in the HotelPlanner Tour's provisional field for the season-ending Rolex Grand Final in Mallorca.

The Dubliner was sitting in the hot seat at 45th in the Road To Mallorca standings heading into the penultimate counting Hangzhou Open in China, but finished tied 49th to fall two spots to 47th.

While he double bogeyed the last and shot 71 to finish on four-over, he would likely have needed a closing 65 to secure his place in Mallorca and battle to finish in the top 20 in the standings, who will be awarded DP World Tour cards.

Despite missing the cut in China, Galway's Liam Nolan fell just six spots to 43rd in the rankings and will be joined now in Mallorca by three players who came from outside the top 45 at the penultimate event.

Spain's Sebastian Garcia beat Austria's Max Steinlechner and Peru's Julian Perico after a playoff to claim his maiden win and move to seventh overall.

Perico had the consolation of a 40-place jump to 27th while Spain's Victor Pastor took the 45th and final spot thanks to his tie for sixth.

In Japan, Naoyuki Kataoka beat compatriot Satoshi Hara with a par on the first playoff hole to win the Japan Open Golf Championship and place in  The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale.

It was also a good day in Korea for Sei Young Kim, who claimed her 13th LPGA Tour win in the BMW Ladies Championship.

The Korean broke the 72-hole tournament scoring record when she closed with a 67 to win her first title for four years by four strokes from Japan's Nasa Hataoka on 24-under, as Leona Maguire finished 56th on four under after a 71.

In the US, it was a tough week for Kildare's Lauren Walsh as she failed to get through the LPGA Qualifying Series Qualifying Stage at  Plantation Golf and Country Club in Florida.

Hampered by a first round 81, when she made a sextuple bogey 10 at the 17th on the Bobcat Course, the Co Kildare star finished tied for 164th on 11-over, 14 shots outside the top 45 and ties advanced to December's Final Stage.

Douglas' Sara Byrne opted not to travel and focus instead on the Ladies European Tour.