The DP World Tour communicated this Thursday, January 5, the entry list for the first tournament of the calendar year, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. If only one member of the world top 20 is present in the United Arab Emirates as well as the defending champion, the Belgian Thomas Pieters (photo), seven French golfers (perhaps eight) are also making the trip, as are twelve players having evolved on the LIV Golf in 2022…
L.V.
For this first Rolex Series of the 2022-23 season of DP World Tour, we could have expected a slightly higher plateau. Especially since the endowment is attractive. $9 million! However, only a member of the world’s top 20 is at the start. This is Irish Shane Lowry (20th), winner of theAbu Dhabi HSBC Championship in 2019.
They are nine in all to point at the start of the year among the world’s top 50. In addition to Lowry, we thus find Tommy Fleetwood (23e), Tyrrell Hatton (26e), Sepp Straka (27e), Ryan Fox (28e), Seamus Power (29th), the title holder, Thomas Pieters (37e), Alex Noren (39th) and Adrian Meronk (48e).
Romain Langasque has requested an invitation
Seven French people are also registered: Victor Perez, Antoine Rozner, Matthew Pavon, Julian Brown, Julian Warrior, Victor Dubuisson et Alexander Levy. The latter benefiting here from a medical exemption. what about Romain Langasque, yet 48th in the 2022 Race? The Azurean admitted to us having ” forgot to register but immediately asked for an invitation. Will he be in the field? Nothing is less sure ! Eleventh of the Road to Mallorca 2022, Robin Sciot-Siegrist is currently 5th reserve.
Disputed on the Yas Links Abu Dhabi (since last year), this 2023 edition of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship will also see the presence of twelve players who have operated on a regular or occasional basis (such as the Spaniards Pablo Larrazabal et Adrian Otaegui) on the LIFE Golf. Let’s quote the English Lee Westwood et Ian Poulter or Swedish Henrik Stensonthe Austrian Bernd Wiesberger and the American Patrick Reedcompeting last September at the Cazoo Open de France.
Hero, new title sponsor of the Dubai Desert Classic
Absent for this “European” recovery, Rory McIlroy, the current world No. 1, will nevertheless be at the start for the second Rolex Series of the season in Dubai (January 26-29). A tournament also richly endowed, 9 million dollars, and whose new title sponsor is none other than the motorcycle manufacturer, Hero MotorCorp. Omnipresent in the world of golf, the Indian brand is a partner of three tournaments on the European Tour calendar in 2023: the Hero Cup (13-15 January), the Hero Dubaï Desert Classic and the Hero Indian Open (February 23-26).
Photo : Getty Images
