The playoffs begin on the DP World Tour on Thursday when the 70 leading players on the season so far head out to the desert for the Abu Dhabi Championship, an event elevated to a Rolex Series one with a huge prize pool.
Victor Perez won this tournament last year and he has made it through to attempt to make a successful defence of the title but given the change in slot in the calendar he is going to have a bumper quality field to beat.
Recent Winners
2023 – Victor Perez
2022 – Thomas Pieters
2021 – Tyrrell Hatton
2020 – Lee Westwood
2019 – Shane Lowry
2018 – Tommy Fleetwood
2017 – Tommy Fleetwood
2016 – Rickie Fowler
2015 – Gary Stal
2014 – Pablo Larrazabal
The Course
We are at the Yas Links Club in Abu Dhabi this week. This is the third time that the tournament has been held here and although there is a links feel to it as the name would suggest, the two winners so far have been big hitters who can get streaky with the putter which might be significant. The track is a par 72 which measures 7,425 yards but you have to consider that the dry air and firmness of the track will ensure that the course doesn’t play to a full yardage.
The course is a links track but unlike what you would see in Scotland the breeze isn’t as regular and as such we are looking at a low scoring week here. There is freedom to get it out there off the tee and the greens are fairly receptive. The only snag for players if the wind doesn’t blow is the undulations on the contours of the fairways. Water is in play on a few holes but long game specialists who have a decent putter are likely to shine here.
The Field
The top 70 in the Race to Dubai rankings are eligible to play this week but not everyone has taken up their invitation which means that a few players from outside the top 70 are in. At the end of the week only the leading 50 in the standings will make it through to the tour final. Players who aren’t here include Billy Horschel, Ludvig Aberg and Jon Rahm but there are plenty of serious talents who have a tee time this week.
The European charge this week will be spearheaded by the likes of Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and of course the defending champion Victor Perez while some of the international runners include Joaquin Niemann, Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee and Thriston Lawrence. Andy Sullivan starts the week ranked number 50 but the likes of Bernd Wiesberger, Matthieu Pavon, Aaron Rai and Nicolai Hojgaard are in need of big weeks if they are to make it through to next week.
Market Leaders
Rory McIlroy has a wonderful record in this tournament without ever winning it. He has been second four times and third on another four occasions and has another top five too but they were all on the previous course. He has only teed it up once here which was two years ago when he finished T12. McIlroy hasn’t played since the Dunhill Links so it might be that he is here to protect his number one ranking ahead of the DP World Tour Championship next week. At 9/2 I can leave him be.
Tyrrell Hatton won that Dunhill Links title last month and he is 15/2 to follow it up with this tournament too. He wouldn’t be the most popular winner within the DP World Tour given that he has left to LIV Golf but he comes here in decent form and as a very good links player he should really like his chances this week. Hatton won this tournament at the previous course in 2021 and in the two stagings here he has gone T6-T7. He has no Race to Dubai hopes so he could be a strong contender here.
You can get 9/1 on Tommy Fleetwood to continue his fine record in this tournament with another win in it. He has won this tournament twice in the past but they were on the previous course. He hasn’t really got much of a record on this one having gone T48-T38 but he does come in here with three top three finishes in his last four DP World Tour starts so he is in decent form and we know he can play links golf but I’d like to see a spin from him here before I commit to a single figure price.
Joaquin Niemann is another LIV Golf player who has made it into the field who can concentrate purely on winning the tournament because he has no Race to Dubai hopes. He is 12/1 to do just that. Niemann plays this tournament for the first time this week but you would be wrong to suggest that he doesn’t have the credentials to go well in it. He was T4 in Dubai earlier in the year and if he isn’t too rusty on arrival we should expect the Chilean to go very well here.
Main Bets
Thorbjorn Olesen arrives here in decent form and he is no stranger to winning in this part of the world. He won the Ras Al Khaimah Championship right at the beginning of the year and he also has a win in the Dunhill Links Championship to his name so that bodes well as well. He certainly ticks the form box too with four top 12 finishes in his last five starts including finishing second at the Open de France last month. Olesen is the sort of aggressive iron player that should go very well here and he feels like an obvious main bet.
Nicolai Hojgaard needs a big week here if he is going to be able to go to Dubai next week to defend the DP World Tour Championship title and someone that motivated has to be in my team this week. Hojgaard has twice won in this part of the world so there is something about the dry air that agrees with him and he was in the top 10 here last year so the course certainly isn’t one which causes any issues. Hojgaard was in the top 10 in Korea last time out and if he starts well here he should be right in the mix.
Outsiders
Ewen Ferguson is a big price this week. He is a player who has won the Qatar Masters so we know that he can win in these conditions. The question mark would be whether the field might be too hot for him but he is a player on the up in the game and has already won this season so someone who has won already this term automatically feels big at a three figure price. He was T11 in Dubai earlier in the year and enjoyed another top 10 finish in Qatar so he is someone who rises to the occasion in this part of the world. I’ll pay to see how well he goes here.
Daniel Brown has caught my eye in the links events this season and while this isn’t the pure links test that some of the ones in Scotland and surrounding areas are, the credentials needed to go well here are similar. Brown obviously showed at The Open that he can compete with the best players in the world and he can tame the tougher conditions when they come along. Brown has finished fourth at the Irish Open and third in Andalucia in the last couple of months so he is in good form and if the breeze can catch some out Brown could easily overperform his price.
Tips
Back T.Olesen to win Abu Dhabi Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with William Hill (1/5 1-7)
Back him here:
Back N.Hojgaard to win Abu Dhabi Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 36.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-8)
Back him here:
Back E.Ferguson to win Abu Dhabi Championship (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with Paddy Power (1/5 1-7)
Back D.Brown to win Abu Dhabi Championship (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 151.00 with Paddy Power (1/5 1-7)
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