Lucas Herbert has finished his lucrative golfing week in the Middle East with a second straight top-three finish - and two cheques worth a total of $A1.3 million.
On a day when LIV Golf's Abraham Ancer came out on top in his duel with the PGA Tour's Cameron Young in the Saudi International, Australian Herbert finished third, just as he had done six days earlier at the Dubai Desert Classic.
The Bendigo player's excellent efforts at the Royal Greens course in King Abdullah Economic City earned him $US315,000 on Sunday to go along with the $US563,400 he'd picked up in Monday in Dubai.
But though Herbert finished powerfully with seven birdies in a five-under 65 - his fourth straight round in the 60s over the week - to end up at 15 under in total, he was always playing a support role in the group behind the Ancer-Young duel once he'd double-bogeyed the second hole with a six.
Just as in Dubai, the irresistible sub-plot to the Ancer-Young showdown was that it pitted luminaries from the warring LIV and PGA tours against other.
In Dubai, the PGA Tour's standard bearer Rory McIlroy held off the challenge of LIV's Patrick Reed - but on Sunday, the tables were turned as Ancer struck back for the Saudi 'rebel' tour by always seeming to have the better of Young.
The Mexican Ancer finished off his exceptional week, in which he'd led since shooting a seven-under 63 on the opening day, by book-ending it with a two-under round that was enough to hold off the challenge of American Young by two shots.
In all, the 31-year-old 2018 Australian Open champ Ancer shot 63, 66, 64 and 68 as he finished on 19-under-par, equalling the tournament record set by Dustin Johnson in 2019.
"That was my first ever wire-to-wire win," smiled Ancer, who never really gave his pursuers much of a hope in the Asian Tour's flagship event as he dropped only two shots all week despite having to play in often tricky windy conditions.
"He played some really nice golf," an admiring Young said of Ancer.
"With the wind blowing as hard as it was, to make just two bogeys was tremendous control of your golf ball showed just a lot of mental toughness."
Leading the rest of the substantial Australian contingent, Marc Leishman, with a final-round 66, and Travis Smyth, who shot a 65, both finished joint-sixth on 12 under.
