Tommy Fleetwood defended himself as his Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship playoff move stirred controversy. During the final round, Fleetwood made Aaron Rai wait on the 18th hole. The English golfer's gamesmanship during the playoff round at the DP World Tour event became a matter of question for several golf pundits.Explaining his actions, Tommy Fleetwood stated his urgent need to use the washroom and hence left early after he finished his previous shot. He said:“I am not gonna accuse anybody of meaning anything by it. I can just say from my point of view. I just played with Aaron for 36 holes. We're unbelievably close and we're unbelievably supportive of each other in our careers. I was desperate for the toilet and then as soon as I finished, I ran to the tee, and that was how it happened…I think everybody knows, I would hope that everybody knows I wouldn't do anything like that…So, I don't know how it was written.”“It's hard to comment on something or defend yourself on something that you don't know in what form it was said or written…that's what happened. We walked off the 18th. I was desperate to go to the toilet,” Tommy Fleetwood added.Fleetwood lost the HSBC Championship to Aaron Rai, who won the event by beating the former in a playoff round and took the tournament title home. In 2025, Fleetwood won the Tour Championship and the DP World India Championship with 18 under and 22 under, respectively.How did Tommy Fleetwood and Aaron Rai perform at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship?Tommy Fleetwood and Aaron Rai gave each other tough competition at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Fleetwood scored 25 under at the DP World Tour event after four rounds. He opened with a 64, dropping four birdies on the front nine and four birdies on the back nine. Next, he went on to score a 66 with four birdies on the front nine and three birdies on the back nine.Tommy Fleetwood scored 67 in the third round of the event with one birdie, along with an eagle on the front nine, and dropped two birdies on the back nine. In the last round, the golfer scored 66 with four birdies in total. He dropped an eagle on the second hole of the final round at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.Aaron Rai secured 25 under in total at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship after the tournament. He fired 66 in the opening round of the tournament with five birdies on the front nine and three birdies on the back nine. In the next round, he shot 64 with five birdies in total.In the third round, he scored 66 with five birdies on the front nine and two birdies on the back nine. The last round saw 67 after carding seven birdies.