Erik van Rooyen finished in a share of 12^th on Sunday after a closing two-under-par 70 took him to five-under-par in the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

He was five shots behind the winner, Thomas Pieters of Belgium, who held on for the win with a closing level-par 72. Pieters was one stroke clear of Rafa Cabrera Bello of Spain, and of India’s Shubhankar Sharma, with Victor Dubuisson of France and Viktor Hovland of Norway in a share of fourth.

Amongst those sharing 12^th with Van Rooyen were Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry. Van Rooyen made three birdies and dropped a shot on the par-three 17^th, where he hit his tee shot into a greenside bunker and was unable to get up and down to save par.

Dean Burmester was the next best pf the South Africans, his closing three-under-par 69 taking him to three-under for the tournament and a share of 25^th. Burmester shared that position with Justin Harding, who closed with a two-over 74. Charl Schwartzel battled to a four-over 76 in the final round and had to settle for a share of 39^th. Justin Walters finished in a share of 48^th on one-over, with Daniel van Tonder’s closing 77 seeing him finish in a share of 68^th. Brandon Stone also had a closing five-over to finish in a share of 72^nd.

It was Pieters’ sixth win on the DP World Tour, and his first in a Rolex Series tournament. It was a steady display all day from the big Belgian, who made a birdie on the eighth and a bogey on the 11^th, but kept his card clean with all pars for the rest.