By John Tully-Jackson
Ross Fisher is no stranger to second place and they don’t get any easier.

The Englishman led going into the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and didn’t disgrace himself with a 69, only to undone by a blistering six under back nine as Tommy Fleetwood won his second Falcon Trophy.

“Hats off to Tommy. I don’t feel like I’ve lost a tournament. Tommy’s gone out there and shot 65 and he’s won it, so all credit to Tommy.”

Fisher is no stranger to contention, with eight top-10 finishes last season. He’s also not unfamiliar with the bridesmaid tag. Back to back silvers in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and Italian Open in October ’17 summed up a ‘not quite but nearly’ year.

The world No.31 is not afraid to going low in the final round either, only to be pipped to the post. At the Dunhill he set a new course record at the famous Old Course at St Andrews with a final round 61 as he piled the pressure on eventual winner Tyrrell Hatton.

The 2014 Tshwane Open champion started fast with an eagle at the 2nd and two more birdies on the front nine but followed it up with a frustrating two bogey/one birdie homeward nine as Fleetwood seize the initiative and held on to win by two. 

“It was always going to be tricky. But yeah, to get out, 4-under par, was flying and in control. Unfortunately hit a poor tee shot on 10 but managed to salvage a great six in the end holing a 20-, 25-footer there, and then yeah, felt like I was hitting good shots but it was just very tricky to get close to the pins. 

“The wind was strong. It was gusty, it was left-to-right, it was helping, it was into. It was tricky, and then obviously 15 was disappointing. Thought I hit a better shot than that. Just unfortunately just didn’t push it enough.

“And then just tried to suck it up and play three good quality holes. Managed to birdie 16 and then needed a good drive off the last, which I didn’t get. Tried my best and unfortunately came up short.”

The five-time European Tour winner’s final nine was his first over par of the tournament, and his final round 69 his worst of the week following two 67s and a 65 Saturday. But Fisher doesn’t feel like he stumbled at the final hurdle, the case was simply that Fleetwood’s six-under-par back nine was too much to contend with.

“Then I knew, I think I was 20 (under par), I think I glanced and I saw Tommy had got it to 20 and I had a good chance from 14 for birdie which just slid by. Then obviously bogeying 15, I knew I’m going to have to have a strong finish, obviously after I birdie to get it to 20.

“I think Tommy was 21, and then I think just before I holed my putt on 17 for par, sort of saw the leaderboard flash up with a birdie 4. So I knew I needed to hole it, but gave myself a decent chance with the second shot. Hit the shot how I wanted to, waited for the wind to drift it and trying to chip-in from that distance, always going to be tricky but gave it a go and unfortunately didn’t come out how I wanted it to.”