Hansen dropped only a single shot in 72 holes over the Fire Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates – a bogey five on the 15th in his third round – as he claimed his second European Tour title to add to his 2020 Joburg Open triumph.
The 31-year-old started the final round tied for the lead with Laporta but he birdied the opening hole to move clear at the top of the leaderboard and never relinquished his advantage, adding three more birdies to his scorecard on the seventh, tenth and 13th holes to finish on 23 under par.
His playing partner Laporta birdied the seventh, 11th and 13th holes but rolled his birdie chance agonisingly past the cup on the last to finish one short in a tie for second with Wiesberger, who had set the clubhouse target of 22 under par with a round of 65.
Hansen needed a victory to secure his place in next week’s season-ending Rolex Series event, the DP World Tour Championship on the neighbouring Earth Course, rising 42 places from 85th position to 43rd on the Race to Dubai Rankings in parnership with Rolex.
He also extended Denmark’s success in 2021, joining compatriots Rasmus Højgaard (Omega European Masters) Nicolai Højgaard (DS Automobiles Italian Open) and Jeff Winther (Mallorca Golf Open) as a winner on the European Tour this year, while Marcus Helligkilde topped the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca rankings.
Englishman Andy Sullivan produced a remarkable finish – picking up seven shots in his final six holes, including an eagle on the last – in a round of 65 to finish three back on 20 under par, which looked to have secured his spot in the all-important top 54 on the Race to Dubai and qualify for the DP World Tour Championship.
However, Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond also eagled the last for a round of 67 to join him on that mark, which meant Sullivan dropped to 55th position and missed out by one Race to Dubai point, and ultimately, by one place.
Player Quotes
Joachim B. Hansen: “It means a lot, especially with family and friends here this time. There was no one there in Joburg. When I saw Jeff Winther win in Mallorca, I was very jealous because he had the family and friends celebrating with him and I really wanted all of that so I’m really glad I get to experience that.
“The first two rounds were some of the best of my life. Yesterday wasn’t great, and I have really struggled to find the middle of the club on my woods. I didn’t drive it well, but my putter helped today, I putted a lot better than yesterday. That kept me in the game.
“I’ve heard that before about me looking calm, but no way. I said to my caddie down the last Adam ‘I’m struggling here mate, we need to talk about something else’ because I was thinking too far ahead and that was hard.
“I didn’t expect it at all. I just wanted to have a nice week with the family with a good tournament and the lovely weather down here, it turns out with a good nine under start and stayed in contention all week and it’s nice to come out on top.
“I spoke to my coach about it, when you don’t chase it or expect to win, you win. I think that’s what’s happened this week.
“I’m very proud of myself to get it done because I wasn’t playing great out there. But I managed to keep the ball in play and give myself some good chances and I’m lucky Francesco or no one else managed to hole any putts. I was emotional because my family is here and I wanted to win with them by my side, that’s special.
“It’s very nice going into next week. I’ve played very nice in the last few weeks and have been really close to playing really good, which I did this week. So I’m just going to take next week as a bonus week and try to enjoy it.
“It’s four wins, some season for Danish golf. I hope it inspires lots of golfers back home.”
Francesco Laporta: “I played really good, made only two mistakes in four rounds so I’m pretty happy about my game. I shot one shot less than last year, I shot 23 under to finish second. My game is in good shape for next week.
“I was feeling so good on 18, I was telling myself ‘you can do this’, and I knew I needed a birdie for a play off. But then I shanked my three-wood. There was a lot of pressure on that shot and I felt it. I made a mistake but I’m sure next time I will be more prepared.
“The putt was turning to the hole and then stopped. It was a really good putt, it was tough to read, left to right and right to left double break, so it was a tough putt and I knew that. I just wanted to give it a chance to get to the hole and it was almost perfect.
“It sounds a bit crazy going into the DP World Tour Championship because a few months ago I was struggling to get my card, then I played solid at the Italian Open and Wentworth. The goal was to play the Race to Dubai finale and now I’m 35th so I have a good chance to finish in the top 25 for next week.
“So now that’s my third goal, first was to keep my card, second was to play the DP World Tour Championship and third one to finish top 25 so I’m ten spots away and need a good week.”
Final scores
265 J HANSEN (DEN) 63 67 67 68,
266 B WIESBERGER (AUT) 67 66 68 65, F LAPORTA (ITA) 66 64 67 69,
268 A SULLIVAN (ENG) 65 71 67 65, J JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 70 68 63 67, M LEE (AUS) 67 67 66 68, A ROZNER (FRA) 65 64 69 70,
269 T OLESEN (DEN) 67 68 68 66, S CROCKER (USA) 67 66 69 67, P HARRINGTON (IRL) 68 67 67 67, A MERONK (POL) 72 67 63 67, K SAMOOJA (FIN) 67 64 68 70,
270 S JAMIESON (SCO) 69 65 70 66, P WARING (ENG) 65 67 70 68, M KAYMER (GER) 69 67 65 69, T FLEETWOOD (ENG) 66 66 68 70,
271 M KIEFFER (GER) 68 71 66 66, E MOLINARI (ITA) 69 66 67 69,
272 A BJ?RK (SWE) 69 67 69 67, M PAVON (FRA) 69 67 69 67, A CA?IZARES (ESP) 69 70 66 67, D VAN TONDER (RSA) 69 66 69 68, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 68 69 67 68,
273 M KINHULT (SWE) 72 66 71 64, J SMITH (ENG) 69 68 71 65, V PEREZ (FRA) 70 68 70 65, Z LOMBARD (RSA) 66 69 70 68, R MACINTYRE (SCO) 68 68 69 68, M KORHONEN (FIN) 68 70 66 69, C WOOD (ENG) 71 68 65 69,
274 A CHESTERS (ENG) 68 66 74 66, J SCRIVENER (AUS) 67 70 69 68, R ROUSSEL (FRA) 69 64 72 69, J GUERRIER (FRA) 67 70 68 69, S SODERBERG (SWE) 69 68 68 69, R LANGASQUE (FRA) 69 68 68 69, C SHINKWIN (ENG) 66 69 69 70, J CATLIN (USA) 69 67 68 70, F ZANOTTI (PAR) 69 69 66 70, D COUPLAND (ENG) 67 69 67 71, M JORDAN (ENG) 69 67 67 71, N COLSAERTS (BEL) 70 69 64 71, P CASEY (ENG) 68 68 66 72,
275 D GAVINS (ENG) 69 70 70 66, T PULKKANEN (FIN) 70 67 70 68, G MIGLIOZZI (ITA) 68 68 70 69, J SENIOR (ENG) 70 66 70 69, D BURMESTER (RSA) 65 68 71 71, S HORSFIELD (ENG) 67 67 69 72, M LORENZO-VERA (FRA) 67 70 66 72,
276 K BROBERG (SWE) 67 72 70 67, G FORREST (SCO) 69 65 73 69, O FARR (WAL) 69 66 70 71, N LEMKE (SWE) 67 67 69 73,
277 J CALDWELL (NIR) 71 67 71 68, A QUIROS (ESP) 67 71 70 69, J HARDING (RSA) 70 69 69 69, N ELVIRA (ESP) 69 69 68 71,
278 M KAWAMURA (JPN) 69 67 73 69, D FICHARDT (RSA) 66 71 70 71,
279 D LAW (SCO) 70 69 69 71, S GALLACHER (SCO) 70 69 67 73,
281 J CAMPILLO (ESP) 71 64 76 70,
282 J MORRISON (ENG) 68 70 75 69, H PORTEOUS (RSA) 69 70 72 71, S V?LIM?KI (FIN) 71 68 70 73, J LAGERGREN (SWE) 70 66 72 74,
283 J STALTER (FRA) 71 68 75 69,
286 J WINTHER (DEN) 72 66 71 77,
