Lowry held a three-shot lead over night but was four behind early on in the back nine, before three birdies over the closing seven holes saw him claw his way back to the top of the leaderboard and win for the first time since 2015.

Sterne, who made the turn in a blistering 31 for a six-shot swing, will be left to rue his failure to make a single birdie over the closing nine holes as mistakes at the 14th and 16th holes cost him the title.

Heading into Saturday's final round, Lowry - a 4/7 favourite - looked sure to be hard to reel in, but Sterne set about that task with birdies at each of the first three holes before adding another at the fifth.

Lowry birdied the first and fourth holes, but bogeys at the third and fifth meant his lead had quickly evaporated as a head-to-head between two players who had not won for some time ensued.

And it was Sterne who looked to be coping best, another birdie at the ninth handing him a three-shot lead which became four when Lowry made a further mistake at the 11th.

To his credit, the 31-year-old kept his title hopes alive with birdies at the 12th and 13th holes as mistakes began to creep into Sterne's game; first, he three-putted for bogey at the 14th, before a clumsy bunker shot cost him another shot at the 16th.

Lowry's putter had kept him in the argument and did so again at the 17th as he saved par, but it was his three-wood which struck the decisive blow as he found the par-five 18th in two and made a simple birdie.

With Sterne only able to par after a wayward second, Lowry returned to the top of the leaderboard, where he'd been from a course-record 62 in the opening round until his playing partner on Sunday made his charge.

It's a fourth European Tour win for Lowry, a decade on from his first, as an amateur, in the Irish Open.

He's done it!🏆🇮🇪 @ShaneLowryGolf wins the @ADGolfChamps! #ADGolfChamps #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/qXG1nWhBVC
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 19, 2019

Luiten best of the rest

Joost Luiten eagled the last to leapfrog Louis Oosthuizen into third place, the latter having bounced back from a disappointing third round to post a closing 66 and finish fourth. Luiten's 65 was the best round of the day and included a hole-out eagle at the tough ninth hole.

Soren Kjeldsen birdied two of the final three holes to move into fifth with Paul Waring ratting home in a back-nine 32 for sixth place, outscoring playing partner Brooks Koepka. The American made three birdies in a round of 70 to tie for ninth, short of the top-three he required to have a chance to return to world number one.

Ian Poulter blew a top-five finish when running up a triple-bogey at the troublesome 16th but birdied the last to finish alongside Waring and Pablo Larrazabal, the latter having produced a gorgeous approach to 18, a driver from the fairway which set up a two-putt birdie.

Like Oosthuizen, Tom Lewis was an each-way selection on these pages prior to the tournament and almost made up for a third-round 75 with a final-round 67 which saw him six-under through 11, but one-over to the clubhouse. He tied for ninth with Koepka to complete the top 10.

Third round report

Shane Lowry leads the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship by three shots heading into the final round as he seeks to end his trophy drought.

More than three years have passed since Lowry won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and as the decade anniversary of his Irish Open success as an amateur, a fifth trophy is finally within his grasp.

The 31-year-old began Friday's third round with a one-shot lead and while he was joined by several players when bogeying the fourth, but birdies at the sixth, seventh and eighth holes saw him move clear once more.

Lowry added further birdies at the 12th and 15th, two par-threes he has birdied on each day, and while dropping a shot after finding sand at the 16th, a closing birdie for a round of 67 saw his advantage returned to three.

Leader by 3.
Third round 67.
Posing for pictures.

Shane Lowry can do no wrong at the moment. pic.twitter.com/v4z2EcrnxW
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 18, 2019

Louis Oosthuizen had entered the final 36 holes as favourite, but a nightmare 75 saw him fall outside the top 10 as South African compatriot Richard Sterne emerged as the main danger.

It's approaching six years since Sterne's sixth European Tour title and while he made his first bogey of the week in round three, an eagle at the 10th helped towards a round of 69 and clear second place.

Ian Poulter also made a timely eagle, this one coming at the 18th to move him into solo third in an event where he's been runner-up in the past.

Despite arriving in the Middle East on a long-haul flight from Hawaii on the eve of the first round, Poulter broke 70 for the third day in succession thanks to a closing three and sits five back.

Former champion Pablo Larrrazabal lies fourth on 11-under, six off the lead, with Thomas Pieters a further shot back in a share of fifth and world number two Brooks Koepka eight adrift in a share of ninth.

Koepka needs to finish no worse than third for a chance to return to the top of the rankings, although that will depend on Justin Rose's performance on the PGA Tour.

Big finish from Ian Poulter! He moves four back.#ADGolfChamps #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/wWaTe49Bem
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 18, 2019

Second round report

Louis Oosthuizen moved within one of leader Shane Lowry after 36 holes of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Lowry carded a course-record 62 on Wednesday but had to fight back in round two, after bogeys at the second and third holes.

Birdies at the fifth, seventh, 12th and 15th - the latter trio taking his par-three score for the week to an impressive five-under - saw him claw his way to a round of 70 and 12-under-par.

"I'm really happy with that," said Lowry. "I knew today was going to be a bit of a weird day after shooting such a low score yesterday.

"I just tried to go out and play like I played. To be honest, right from the start, I really feel like I played pretty well today. I think I gave myself a lot of chances.

"Some of the shots early on were pretty horrendous. I battled back and hit some really nice shots out there and hit some in close and made some birdies. I was happy with myself."

Oosthuizen moved serenely into a share of the lead with three birdies from the fourth to the eighth, but bogeys at the par-five 10th and the short par-four 11th stopped him in his tracks.

He rallied with birdies at 13, 14 and 18 to add a round of 68 to his opening 65 and sits just one adrift of the Irishman, good news for followers of our pre-tournament staking plan.

Richard Sterne, Oosthuizen's fellow South African, also moved to 11-under with a birdie at the ninth, his final hole, in a round of 68.

Delighted with Oosthuizen so far. He's putting beautifully and it's basically two bad swings which have cost him four shots. Very hopeful he'll be right there at the death and some nice insurance with Lewis.
— Ben Coley (@BenColeyGolf) January 17, 2019

Lee Westwood was another to shoot 68 on Thursday, moving to 10-under and holding the clubhouse lead for much of the day, with Ian Poulter's round of 69 lifting him to nine-under and three back.

Scottish fans had much to enjoy with Scott Jamieson firing a blemish-free 66 as compatriot Grant Forrest went one better in a round of 65 which lifted him inside the top 10.

A closing bogey saw Brooks Koepka fall five off the pace, Dustin Johnson is eight back while defending champion Tommy Fleetwood birdied the final hole to make the cut.

Up-and-down to make the cut...

The pressure was on the two-time #ADGolfChamps defending champion on the final hole. pic.twitter.com/Gt90LuEMW0
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 17, 2019

First round report

Lowry carded 10 birdies and no bogeys to set a daunting clubhouse target of 10 under par, with France's Mike Lorenzo-Vera and the South African pair of Louis Oosthuizen and Richard Sterne his nearest challengers on seven under.

Oosthuizen leads the way from our Ben Coley's pre-event tips as the 25/1 shot will start day two just three shots back, while Martin Kaymer, who was another tip at 50/1, is just one short further back on six-under.

World number two Brooks Koepka, who can return to the top of the rankings with a victory this week, is five shots off the pace following a 67, with defending champion Tommy Fleetwood two shots further back in pursuit of a third straight win in the £5.4 million event at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

Lowry has not played competitively since finishing 10th alongside Paul Dunne in the World Cup in Melbourne in November, but reaped the rewards of a lengthy spell of practice at the start of the new year.

"I had a lovely break at Christmas," said Lowry, whose 62 equalled the record set by Henrik Stenson in the inaugural edition of the event in 2006. "I was home for the whole lot of it and I came out here with my family and rented a house in Dubai.

"We've had it since the third of January. Myself and Paul Dunne are sharing the house and we're practising together and we've been playing a lot together over at the Els Club in Dubai, and we got some great work done.

"I feel good about my game. It's probably the best pre-season I've ever done, and it showed today. I'm just hoping I can keep going.

"I didn't hit as many fairways as I would have liked, but I was hitting everything close and managed to hole a couple of putts as well. It was one of those days where it just felt comfortable.

"But look, I just want to enjoy it because it's a great day and I think it equals my best round I've ever had, so enjoy it and then get out tomorrow and see what I can do."