Well, it seems that the launch of the DP World Tour in 2024 is going to be smooth sailing, just like the Sentry last week on the PGA Tour. In Dubai, just like in Hawaii. The preparation of the Dubai Creek Resort is benevolent and not much wind is expected. The Dubai Invitational is at the mercy of the players. At least, that’s what those who have been able to play it since Monday in the practice rounds say.
It is a course with tradition, all the tradition that can be had in Dubai, of course. It is the second oldest in the country after the Emirates Golf Club and, in a way, it has fallen a bit short for the times. It is, for example, about 340 meters shorter than the Emirates. In addition, although they assure from the club that they have worked to leave the rough a little longer than usual, the reality is that the bermuda grass has not taken root. The grass is soft and does not penalize too much.
The great defense of the course are the greens, their design. They are small and very undulating. If they manage to make them very hard during the week, they can still fight against the scorecards. On Monday and Tuesday they were rather receptive, although today, Wednesday, a tightening was already noticeable. They were faster and harder. That will be the key for the result to be closer to -20 than -30. Getting to -20 is practically not disputed.
If the wind blows, it can get very spicy, precisely because the greens are small and there is a lot of water in play. However, according to forecasts, it is barely going to exceed a breeze. It is not expected to exceed 15 kilometers per hour. Nothing serious.
To all this, we must add that the tournament is played in a ProAm format, so they cannot set impossible flags to facilitate the game of amateurs, and it is a four-day event without a cut, so all players will be under less pressure than usual. Ready to see a good number of birdies.
By the way, there are two curiosities in the starts of holes 15 and 17. Both have an internal out of bounds. In the case of 15, it is delimited by the 13th fairway, which runs parallel, while in 17 the out of bounds is on the 10th green and the 11th tee. This can cause some upset during the week. We’ll see.
Let’s remember that there are five Spaniards in contention in this first test of the year. The starting signal will be given by Adrián Otaegui at 5.41, Spanish peninsular time. Later, Pablo Larrazábal, Nacho Elvira, Adri Arnaus and Jorge Campillo will start. In addition to the Spaniards, we have Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Ryan Fox, Adrian Meronk or Nicolai Hojgaard. From the Ryder Cup team there are three players, in addition to captain Luke Donald, as well as his assistants Thomas Bjorn and Francesco Molinari.
