Nacho Elvira comes out on top after rollercoaster final round at Dubai Invitational

No less than five players shared the lead on a chaotic afternoon at Dubai Creek Resort, where overnight leader Elvira cruised into a three-shot lead following a third birdie of the day at the seventh.

He left the door ajar when finishing his front nine with successive bogeys as Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Daniel Hillier and Marcus Armitage joined the Spaniard at the summit at nine under down the final stretch.

Lowry made his move with a birdie at the 15th, only to double-bogey the last and spectacularly fall out of contention.

Hillier was the clubhouse leader at nine under, but Elvira carded his first birdie of the back nine at the 17th to earn a one-shot lead down the last and calmly rolled a final par for a brilliant victory.

"It means the world," the 38-year-old said.

"If you told me on Tuesday that I'd be winning this tournament, I'd have never believed you. It's a dream come true, especially having the family here. I've always dreamed to have my kids walking up to me with a win and anything that happens after this, nothing compares to this.

"I knew at some point it was going to be difficult, especially with the great players playing in front of me. I somehow managed to make a par on ten, managed somehow to make a par on 11 and I guess I calmed down a little after this and stayed patient.

"To be honest with you, I wasn't nervous until the very last putt - the one-footer I had for the win. I knew what I needed to do, I knew I needed to be patient.

"I think there are so many positives from this week and I couldn't be more happier."

Elvira opened with a birdie to maintain his two-shot overnight lead at nine under, but it was reduced to nil when Lowry birdied three of his first four holes.

The Spaniard became the first man to reach double figures with a birdie at the fourth and when he birdied the seventh, he led by three at 11 under.

Lowry had bogeyed the latter hole to slip back to eight under alongside Armitage, who had birdied the first and seventh to reach that mark, before Elvira twitched at the top.

Bogeys at the eighth and ninth saw him drop to nine under and he was joined by Armitage after the Englishman's birdie at the tenth.

McIlroy seemed out of contention after two dropped shots and gain during his opening seven holes, but he surged into co-leadership after five straight birdies from the ninth.

Hillier, who had eagled the 13th, joined the party at nine under after his fourth birdie of the day at the 15th.

Lowry made it a five-way tie for the lead with a birdie at the 13th before Armitage dropped back one with a bogey at the 14th.

The Irishman jumped ahead on his own with a 27-foot birdie putt at the 15th before Hillier set the clubhouse target of nine under following a flawless 65.

The World Number 26 was inches from increasing his lead to two shots at his 16th, while McIlroy almost holed out from a greenside bunker to birdie the last, but two-putted to fall back to eight under.

Elvira still had the final two holes to play and piled the pressure on Lowry with birdie at the penultimate hole to rejoin the lead at ten under.

Just as the Spaniard drained his seven-foot birdie putt, Lowry's bunker shot flew the fianl green and into the water to card a stunning double bogey.

That meant Elvira only needed a par on the 72nd hole for victory and he showed nerves of steel to do just that from one foot.

Frenchman Julien Guerrier bounced back from a double bogey at the second with seven birdies to sit in a share of third at eight under alongside Spain's David Puig, McIlroy and Lowry.

Armitage double-bogeyed the last to join Matt Wallace and Dane Thorbjørn Olesen at six under, while France's Antoine Rozner and South African duo Thriston Lawrence and Dylan Frittelli were one shot further back to wrap up the top ten.