DP World Tour : Abu Dhabi Championship
The Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship will launch the DP World Tour Play-Offs next week as the Race to Dubai title challenge heats up, with an elite field set to gather at Yas Links.
Following the climax of the Genesis Championship on Sunday, the top 70 available players on the Race to Dubai Rankings, will tee it up in the first of back-to-back Rolex Series events from November 5-8.
Eugenio Chacarra leads the season-long standings, with Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy and Casey Jarvis his closest pursuers in the battle for the Harry Vardon Trophy.
Aaron Rai, who rounds out the top five, returns to Abu Dhabi for his title defence as one of six Major Champions, alongside Reed, McIlroy, Adam Scott, Jon Rahm and Francesco Molinari.
Chacarra is the sole three-time winner this season and he will hope to add a Rolex Series title to his CV as he bids to become the third Spanish winner of the Race to Dubai after countrymen Jon Rahm and Seve Ballesteros.
Reed, who is bidding to become the second American winner of the Race to Dubai after Collin Morikawa, is one of nine Rolex Series winners in action having won his first earlier this year at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
McIlroy has won the Race to Dubai in each of the past four years and victory this season would see him claim the season-long crown for a record-equalling eighth time.
Past champions Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton will return to the alongside Major Champion Adam Scott.
Fleetwood will be chasing a third Abu Dhabi title, having won back-to-back editions in 2017 and 2018. His first victory featured a chip-in eagle at the tenth as he edged Dustin Johnson and Pablo Larrazábal by one shot, before a closing 65 secured his second title 12 months later.
The Dubai resident and World #6 went on to win the Race to Dubai in 2017 and the inaugural Dubai Invitational in 2024, before claiming the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup last year.
Hatton, the 2021 Abu Dhabi champion, has five Rolex Series titles to his name, including victories at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in 2025.
Scott adds further Major-winning pedigree to the field. The 2013 Masters champion became the first Australian to win the Green Jacket and has recorded more than 30 professional victories worldwide, having also reached World Number One. He will be joined by fellow Masters champion Jon Rahm, who won at Augusta National in 2023 and will make his debut at Yas Links.
Yuto Katsuragawa will also tee it up after securing his place in the Play-Offs with victory at the Genesis Championship in South Korea. joined by Jayden Schaper, Husqvarna British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo champion Joe Dean, and Dubai Invitational winner Nacho Elvira, alongside 2026 PGA Tour winners Kristoffer Reitan and Stefano Mazzoli, and Back Nine winners Thriston Lawrence, Adrian Meronk and Grant Forrest.
Gregorio De Leo is the lone player set for their Rolex Series debut, having earned his playing rights through Qualifying School for the second consecutive time last year.
Four Qualifying School graduates are in the UAE, with Davis Bryant, Daniel Rodrigues and Nathan Kimsey also taking their place, with Italian pair Stefano Mazzoli and Filippo Celli having qualified as graduates of the HotelPlanner Tour's Class of 2025.
Jordan Gumberg is the last man in the field at the close of entries, with players representing 22 nationalities set to tee it up at the penultimate event of the season.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
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