This week, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship takes place, a DP World Tour tournament reserved for the top 70 in the Race to Dubai plus the invited golfers from the Ryder Cup at Bethpage. A total of 72 players will participate. The event starts on Thursday and ends on Sunday. There is no cut. The venue is the Yas Links in Abu Dhabi, next to the Ferrari theme park. It is the penultimate tournament of the season, and therefore, there is a lot at stake, mainly the qualification for the Final in Dubai for those who have not yet secured their place in Jumeirah.
Here we will tell you the essential calculations you need to know regarding the seven Spanish players competing this week:
– Rafa Cabrera Bello. Arrives in Abu Dhabi ranked 70th in the Race to Dubai. Therefore, he needs a good week at Yas Links to make it to the Final in Dubai. The top 50 in the ranking qualify. It is expected that he will drop to 51st, as Viktor Hovland is not expected to participate. The 51st position is marked by Todd Clements, and Rafa is more than 200 points behind, already counting what Clements would earn if he finishes last (as it is a no-cut tournament, everyone scores, and this must be considered). Mathematically, Rafa would need to finish 8th alone to have any chance of making it to Dubai, although it would be very unlikely. Conversely, if he finishes 6th alone, he would have a good chance of being in the Final. The calculations are always approximate because they depend on what others score (this clarification applies to all cases).
– Manu Elvira. Arrives in Abu Dhabi ranked 68th in the Race to Dubai. His situation is very similar to Rafa’s, although slightly better. He is about 190 points behind Clements. He would need to finish 9th alone to have any chance of being in Dubai, while a 7th alone would practically guarantee it.
– Alex del Rey. Arrives in Abu Dhabi ranked 57th in the Race to Dubai. He is just over 100 points behind Clements. Mathematically, he needs to finish at least 22nd alone, although that is unlikely to be enough. He would practically secure it with a 12th alone.
– Nacho Elvira. Arrives in Abu Dhabi ranked 46th in the Race to Dubai. There are no calculations that work for the Cantabrian. He needs to score as much as possible to avoid being overtaken by six players, which would leave him out of the Final. It is not easy for that to happen. He would have to play very poorly, and then many things would have to go against him.
– Jorge Campillo. Arrives in Abu Dhabi ranked 44th. His situation is even better than Nacho’s. Eight different golfers would have to overtake him. It is almost impossible. However, the more he scores, the better. Interestingly, a second place alone would put both of them in the fight for PGA Tour cards.
– Eugenio Chacarra. Arrives in Abu Dhabi ranked 32nd in the Race to Dubai. His main goal is the PGA Tour card. Right now, the tenth card would go to Jordan Smith. He is about 730 points behind the Englishman. The calculation here is very simple. With a second place alone, he would be fully in the fight for the cards. It would not guarantee it, but it would set him on the right path. Being third alone would not be enough to get into the top ten.
– Ángel Ayora. Arrives in Abu Dhabi ranked 24th, and his situation is similar to Chacarra’s, although slightly better. The Malagueño can secure that tenth place with a 3rd alone, at least mathematically, depending on what others do. A second place alone would set the goal quite well. It cannot be said that it would guarantee it, but it would certainly be close. A victory for Ayora or Chacarra would practically guarantee them the PGA Tour card.
– A curiosity: All the players in Abu Dhabi, except for Aberg and Lowry, invited as Ryder Cup players, have mathematical chances today of winning the Race to Dubai. All means all. Remember that in these two weeks, up to 3,500 points can be earned, 1,500 for the victory in Abu Dhabi, and 2,000 for the triumph in Dubai.
