Hojgaard recovers to win in Ras al-Khaimah

Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard recovered from a mid-round stumble to win the Ras al-Khaimah Championship by four strokes on Sunday, his second title on the DP World Tour.

The 20-year-old Hojgaard led by three shots overnight but found himself trailing Jordan Smith by two on the back nine after a double-bogey and bogey in the space of four holes.

Hojgaard showed resilience to bounce back with a birdie and eagle before closing out victory with birdies on 17 and 18 as he finished on 24-under after a final round of 68.

"It's very sweet. It's been such a tough grind today. I got off to a good start and then I struggled quite a bit," said Hojgaard.

"I had to dig deep out there, the turning point was on 13 where I saw that Jordan Smith made a run and was two up, and I stepped up with a clutch finish so I'm really happy."

Hojgaard's first win came at last year's Italian Open. He and twin brother Rasmus now have five titles between them on the circuit formerly called the European Tour.

Smith's runner-up finish came a week after he tied for ninth at the Dubai Desert Classic. China's Li Haotong was among a group of four players another three strokes behind.

LEADING FINAL ROUND SCORES

264 - Nicolai Hoejgaard (DEN) 67-65-64-68

268 - Jordan Smith 71-64-67-66

271 - Li Haotong (CHN) 74-66-68-63, Adrian Otaegui (ESP) 71-63-70-67, Matthieu Pavon (FRA) 68-69-68-66, Lukas Nemecz (AUT) 70-66-69-66

272 - Tapio Pulkkanen (FIN) 68-68-64-72, David Law 66-64-69-73

273 - Shaun Norris (RSA) 68-68-68-69, Thomas Detry (BEL) 66-69-67-71, Oliver Bekker (RSA) 70-65-66-72

274 - Johannes Veerman (USA) 66-70-66-72

275 - Daniel van Tonder (RSA) 73-68-69-65, Robert MacIntyre 69-67-66-73, Matthew Jordan 69-69-68-69, Julien Guerrier (FRA) 71-69-66-69, Julien Brun (FRA) 71-66-71-67