Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington joins Major champions Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Martin Kaymer, Shane Lowry, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Danny Willett in the world class field, as the prestigious Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship restarts the European Points List this weekend, for players targeting qualification at this year’s Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
McIlroy will return after nearly 3 months to kick off his 2021 campaign.
My opinion: Justin Thomas has made the trip from Hawaii, surrounded by a twitter world full of condemnation after he quietly called himself a "faggot" for missing a 6 foot putt that was picked up on a greenside microphone.
He quickly apologized after the round to anyone he offended, admitting it was in sensitive and improper, however in the squeaky clean world of golf, and the unfiltered world of twitter everybody is having a go. I only wonder if every NBA,NHL,NFL, WFC athlete etal that cursed or defamed an opponent, never mind himself in the heat of a game has been so vilified. Has anyone, now quick to criticize ever heard of "living in glass houses", and if we are so keen to mike up the players, should we not be ready to hear the odd insensitive comment or profanity? Pro golfers are mostly all gentlemen, call the rules against themselves and by in large are a pretty boring lot when it comes to off course shenanigans in comparison to other pro sports.
Justin Thomas fits right into that category, the amount of abuse he has been receiving far out ways the comment, and I trust after somebody in the press tent brings it up one more time this week, we will move on.
World Number Ten Tyrrell Hatton and 2020 DP World Tour Championship champion Matthew Fitzpatrick are the latest international stars confirmed to tee it up in the United Arab Emirates, alongside Ryder Cup heroes Tommy Fleetwood, Ian Poulter, victorious 2018 European Captain Thomas Bjørn and defending champion Lee Westwood.
The qualification process for golf’s greatest team event resumed with the World Points List at the Sentry Tournament of Champions on the PGA TOUR last week, while next week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship will restart the European Points List. The qualification period will conclude at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club, the third Rolex Series event of the season, on Sunday September 12, 2021.
The 12-man European Team will comprise the first four players from the European Points List, followed by the leading five players from the World Points List. Captain Harrington then has three wild card picks to complete his line-up, a decision which will be unveiled in the week after the 2021 BMW PGA Championship.
“I’m excited to return to competitive golf at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship,” said Harrington. “It’s obviously a tournament which has always been incredibly important to the European Tour, especially now forming part of the Rolex Series, so there is no better place for us to restart qualification for our European Points List as players vie to represent Team Europe at The Ryder Cup.”
Fleetwood, who made his Ryder Cup debut at Le Golf National in 2018, currently leads the European Points list while Hatton, who also made his first Ryder Cup appearance in Paris, is currently the first qualifier from the World Points List.
First staged in 2006, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is hosted at the iconic Abu Dhabi Golf Club for the 16th consecutive year from January 21-24, 2021, with a prize fund of US$8 million and 8,000 Race to Dubai points available.
I will post the tee times as soon as they are available.
Bryan Angus (europeantour.com)
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