This Abu Dhabi HSBC series this week marks the 42nd anniversary of the 2025 season, the fourth Rolex TOLEX series, and the first DP World.
It’s an important week for players competing in the finals of the premier race in Dubai (seasonal standards) and it’s a very big week for the prize fund.
It happens, as it happens with the Finale next week, the DP World Tour Championship, in the UAE and is important because the form in the desert of the Middle East is often repeated in all courses and nations.
The host structure, YAS links, is also an important feature because it is, as the name suggests, something of a link creation.
And it’s the design and form of Kyle Phillips in his lessons that has proved important in the previous three visits.
Class and race in Dubai position will be important again this week, but who comes out on top?
Let’s take a look at the top contenders, rate them out of 10, and see who comes out on top.
1. Rory McIlroy
Race to Dubai situation? 1 st. (10)
Category? He won this year’s kings (5th major victory) and this great performance. Enough said. (10)
Form? He won the Irish Open but failed to break the top 15 on his first start from the other side of the Ryder Cup. (7)
Middle Eastern form? He won the Dubai Desert Classic and three DP World Tour Championships. (10)
Event Form? He has three top-three finishes in nine of his 13 starts, but is undefeated. (9)
Course form? T12 in lungi in 2022 after a slow start and third last year. (8)
Kyle Phillips did? Nothing more than yas links. (5)
Total: 59/70
2. Tommy Fleetwood
Race to Dubai situation? 26. (5)
Category? This year’s winner of the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour and the all-time top three in the majors. (9)
Form? He won the Indian Championship last time out. (10)
Middle Eastern form? He is a 2024 Dubai runner-up winner and two-time winner of the DP World Tour Championship. (8)
Event Form? He won it back to back in 2017/18 and was second in 2020. (10)
Course form? Finished outside the top 30 in his first round, the first round leader was set for sixth last year. (6)
Kyle Phillips did? Fourth at the Grove in 2016. (6)
Total: 54/70
3. Tyrrell Hatton
Race to Dubai situation? 2nd. (9)
Category? The fourth arrest this year is open. (6)
Form? Fifth at Wentworth and second in the Dunhill Links Championship and Ryder Cup side. (8)
Middle Eastern form? Winner of this year’s Dubai Desert Classic and two-time runner-up in the DP World Tour Championship. (7)
Event Form? Winner in 2021. (9)
Course form? He finished sixth, seventh and second with a final round average of 65.33. (9)
Kyle Phillips did? Ninth at the Grove and good rounds at Kingsbarns as a three-time winner (and three-time runner-up) in the Dunhill Links Championship. (9)
Total: 57/70
4. Robert Macintyre
Race to Dubai situation? 6th. (7)
Category? Two-time winner on the PGA Tour in 2024. (7)
Form? Winner of the Dunhill Links Championship last time out. (10)
Middle Eastern form? Top 10 10s from 25 segments are not the best for this company. (4)
Event Form? Best of T16 from 5 starts. (2)
Course form? MC-20-19 Progress But Needs More. (2)
Kyle Phillips did? He had a 66 at Kingbarns when he won last time out. (6)
Total: 38/70
5. Marco Penge
Race to Dubai situation? 2nd. (9)
Category? 3 time winner on the DP World tour this year. (6)
Form? Open De Espana winner last time out. (9)
Middle Eastern form? Poor (one cut made, then only T35 started, six times). (0)
Event Form? Redraw. (5)
Course form? Redraw. (5)
Kyle Phillips did? T43 at the PGA National Oaks, Prague in 2024 however he will go down at Kingbarns. (1)
Total: 35/70
6. Alex nonen
Race to Dubai situation? 8th. (7)
Category? BMW PGA time winner. (8)
Form? He won the British Masters in late August and the BMW PGA Championship in mid-September. (8)
Middle Eastern form? Second at the 2015 Dubai Desert Classic and again at the 2022 DP World Tour Championship. (7)
Event Form? Not one top 10 in the past. (4)
Course form? His fifth finish is only in 2023. (7)
Kyle Phillips did? Highlights: Winner at the Grove and Pga Sweden National, and multiple low scores at Kingbarns including second and third at Dunhill Links Championship. (10)
Total: 51/70
7. Matt Fitzpatrick
Race to Dubai situation? 15th. (6)
Category? 2022 US Open Champion. (9)
Form? Three top six finishes in his last four starts. (6)
Middle Eastern form? Winner of the 2016 and 2020 DP World Tour Championship. (9)
Event Form? The third in 2018 and the second in 2020. (8)
Course form? Redraw. (5)
Kyle Phillips did? There is nothing more to talk about. (3)
Total: 46/70
HSBC Championship Lines
1. MCLORROY 59
2. HATTON 57
3. FLEETWOOD 54
4. Noren 51
5. Fitzpatrick 46
6. Macintyre 38
7. Penge 35
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