Driving force as top names line up in Abu Dhabi

Dubai: The field at this year’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is littered with A-list players throughout the colossal players list of 138 who are teeing off at the Abu Dhabi Golf Course on Wednesday.

While Rory McIlroy has opted not to play in the UAE capital this year as he pursues more titles in the United States, two of the top names in America have travelled over for an event that has now been elevated to one of eight tournaments which are part of the Rolex Series — the European Tours premier competitions, with a prize fund of $7 million (Dh25.71 million).

Dustin Johnson, the 2016 US Open champion and 2017 Abu Dhabi runner-up, is returning along with hottest property Brooks Koepka, who has claimed the 2017 and 2018 US Opens and last year’s PGA Championship.

Johnson, the world No. 3, has a full trophy cabinet but has yet to win on the Europe Tour. With two chances in the next three weeks (including the Omega Dubai Desert Classic), he fancies his chances to end that duck.

“It would definitely mean a lot. I would like to win over here,” he said. “I haven’t played too many events over here but I want to win every tournament I play in. It’s definitely a goal of mine this week to put myself in position to have a chance to win.”

There will also be plenty of European Ryder Cuppers in contention over the week, with the tournament finishing on a Saturday this year rather than the traditional Sunday.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood, the 2017 Race to Dubai winner, will begin the defence of the title in the company of world No. 2 Koepka and three-time European Tour winner Tyrrell Hatton.

Fleetwood is looking to make it three Abu Dhabi titles in a row, and comes into the season having missed out on last year’s Race to Dubai title to Francesco Molinari at the final event in Dubai.

Former world No. 1 and 2016 British Open champ Henrik Stenson has appeared at every edition of this tournament, and he tees off alongside world No. 3 Johnson and 2010 British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen.

Thorbjorn Olesen and Ian Poulter, two of the 2018 European Ryder Cup heroes, will be playing partners along with two-time tour winner Eddie Pepperell.

Another Ryder Cup legend, Lee Westwood, will be going for his second Rolex Series title in the space of two months and tee off with Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello and Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat. Westwood, who won the Nedbank Golf Challenge last year to end a five-year title drought, can’t wait to get going.

“Obviously the way I finished off last year, I’m looking forward to getting going this year as quickly as possible,” he said. “Sort of in the same vein of form. This is always a good place to start the year. Conditions are perfect and it’s a good run of tournaments in pretty much guaranteed weather, and the golf courses are in brilliant condition.”

Of course the field would not be complete without three-time winner and course record-holder Martin Kaymer. The German former world No. 1, who has won the US Open, PGA Championship and has been on the winning European side three times in the Ryder Cup, has a loyal following out in Abu Dhabi and is never short of drama. Along with the highs of his three wins in four years on the National Course between 2008 and 2011, the German also has a few lows. He finished as runner-up in 2009 missing out on a perfect run of four straight triumphs by the narrowest of margins. He also famously blew a 10-stroke lead on the final day in 2015 to gift the title to the relatively unknown Gary Stal.

Selected tee times

Tee Time Players

07.20 L Johnston D Horsey J Walters

07.20 R Karlsson R McEvoy J Luiten

07.30 L Oosthuizen H Stenson D Johnson

07.40 T Fleetwood B Koepka T Hatton

08.00 L Bjerregaard S Lowry R Fisher

08.10 B Wiesberger JM Olazabal T Bjorn

08.30 J Smith F Zanotti J Wang

11.45 G Fdez-Castaño G Forrest M Southgate

11.55 E Pepperell I Poulter T Olesen

12.05 R Cabrera Bello L Westwood K Aphibarnrat