Don’t miss Steve Palmer’s top tips for the Abu Dhabi Championship, available to Racing Post+ subscribers.
Subscribers can access Steve’s previews via our Tipping package. Click here to join today and use promo code PALMER10 to get the first month for just £10.
Steve’s outright recommendations have provided a profit of 179.1 points from 1,203 points staked, providing a profit on investment of 14.9 percent
Where is the Abu Dhabi Championship being held?
Yas Links, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
When does the Abu Dhabi Championship start?
By 3.20am on Thursday
Abu Dhabi Championship course details
CourseYas Links, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesPrize money$9m ($1.5m to the winner)Field72CutNo cutLength7,425 yardsPar72Course make-upFour par-fives; ten par-fours; four par-threes
Course typeDesertCourse records72 holes 264 Paul Waring (2024) 18 holes 61 Paul Waring (2024)
Course overview
Abu Dhabi GC hosted the Abu Dhabi Championship for 16 years, but Yas Links took over in 2022. The event was previously staged in January. The Kyle Phillips design, opened in 2010, has eight holes running directly along the coastline of the Arabian Gulf. Fescue grass rough adds to the ‘desert links’ feel, although the fairways are paspalum. Phillips also designed Kingsbarns and the Dundonald Links in Scotland, The Grove in London, Verdura in Sicily and Bernardus in the Netherlands. Yas Links closes with a 646-yard par-five.
What will it take to win the Abu Dhabi Championship?
Links-lovers enjoy the Yas Links assignment, with fast-running fairways and firm greens. In calm conditions like those forecast this week, the targets off the tee are generous and birdies plentiful. Thomas Pieters and Victor Perez, two powerful Europeans, won the first two events at Yas Links.
Who is taking part?
Rory McIlroy has jetted to Abu Dhabi and will headline the field at Yas LinksCredit: Getty Images
Masters champion Rory McIlroy is the highest-ranked player in the Abu Dhabi field. His Ryder Cup colleague Tommy Fleetwood is also in attendance, along with several other members of the triumphant European team.
Highest-ranked players in field (world ranking in brackets)
Rory McIlroy (2), Tommy Fleetwood (5), Robert MacIntyre (7), Ludvig Aberg (15), Alex Noren (17)
Abu Dhabi Championship weather forecast
Sunny, warm and calm, with temperatures peaking at 32C.
Abu Dhabi Championship key stat
The three Yas Links champions finished in the top 20 for greens in regulation.
Read Steve’s World Wide Technology Championship lowdown next:
World Wide Technology Championship: El Cardonal course guide, start time, odds and how to watch
Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing and sports betting.
