Retief Goosen happy with his finish in Abu Dhabi

The US Open winner boosts his confidence with a strong finish at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

ABU DHABI // Retief Goosen, the winner of two US Opens, surged out of an eight-way tie for 15th place to finish joint-third in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship after equalling the best score of the tournament - a 64 from his fellow South African Charl Schwartzel.

His confidence boosted by birdies at his first three holes, Goosen went on to rattle in another five to draw level with Rory McIlroy in the battle to finish second to Martin Kaymer.

It took a closing surge by McIlroy to prevent Goosen from claiming a share of the runners-up prize but Goosen was as buoyant as anybody afterwards.

"My game got a little better as the week went on and hopefully I can take this improving form to Doha [for next month's Qatar Masters] and win there.

"But I know I need four solid rounds to win and I've been a little inconsistent lately. That's something I have to work on."

Goosen set his stall out for a winning aggregate of 15-under par over the four days and fell one shot short of that target. To find himself 10 shots off the pace astonished him. "Martin is killing us all here," he said.

McIlroy knew early in his final round that he was not going to catch Kaymer but he endorsed his comments of the previous day by abandoning his recent tendency to complete events in casual mode.

Aware that Goosen had bridged their seven-shot overnight gap, the Northern Irishman responded to the challenge and improved his level par score at the turn to three-under par with birdies at the 10th, 11th and 15th to reopen a two-shot margin which looked like being three until he squandered a four-footer at the last.

"After the first couple of holes I was just trying to consolidate second place," McIlroy said. "And I'm very happy to have done so. I don't think there is anybody in the world who could have topped Martin this week.

"He's been just incredible all week - up to world No 2 and deservedly so. He's playing some great golf at the moment and was in total control of his ball out there. Only one bogey all week, that's very impressive."

His own game impressed him, too. "Finishing second in a great tournament like this with such a great field is a huge positive and a great starting point for the season," he said. "Hopefully I can keep progressing and get my game to where I want it to be."

McIlroy was proud to lead a Northern Ireland domination of the consolation prizes with his compatriots Graeme McDowell and Gareth Maybin sharing third and fifth places respectively.

England's David Lynn had occupied third place going into the final round but was unable to improve on his 12-under par position and finished level with Maybin, who shot a 69.

Spain's Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Italy's Francesco Molinari were both rewarded for closing 66s with jumps up the leaderboard to seventh and joint-eighth.