– The DP World Tour Championship kicks off this Thursday at the Earth course in Jumeirah, the course designed by Greg Norman that opened its doors precisely for the first edition of this Dubai Final in 2009. Therefore, it is the 17th edition of the tournament. In theory, there will be a DP World Tour Championship until 2035, following the extension of the agreement between the European circuit and DP World announced last Monday.
DP World firma hasta 2035 como patrocinador principal del DP World Tour
– The top 50 in the Race to Dubai are participating, with the only absence of Viktor Hovland covered by Brandon Robinson Thompson, ranked 51st. Additionally, Shane Lowry and Ludvig Aberg are present, invited due to their status as members of the European team for the 2025 Ryder Cup. They are eligible for the cheque, but not to earn points, so even if they win, they will not have access to the top 10 bonus of the Race.
– Among the 50 qualifiers, there are four Spaniards: Ángel Ayora, Eugenio Chacarra, Nacho Elvira, and Jorge Campillo.
Todas las cuentas de los cuatro españoles en la Final de Dubai
– In the previous 16 years of the DP World Tour Championship, there have been ten different winners: Lee Westwood, Robert Karlsson, Álvaro Quirós, Henrik Stenson, Danny Willett, Matt Fitzpatrick, Colin Morikawa, Jon Rahm, Nicolai Hojgaard, and Rory McIlroy. That is, three Englishmen, two Spaniards, two Swedes, one American, one Dane, and one Northern Irishman. Only Rahm and Rory have won it three times, and Fitzpatrick and Stenson have two victories each.
– At the same time, it is the 52nd Rolex Series event in the history of the DP World Tour. They started in 2017 with eight tournaments per season, dropped to four in 2020 and 2021, and have stabilized at five in the last four years. Tyrrell Hatton is on the verge of becoming the sole biggest winner of this type of tournament. He currently has five wins, like Jon Rahm. It wouldn’t be a bad week for a second Spanish player to join the list of Rolex Series champions. We have four chances.
– Rory McIlroy has several records in his sights. If he wins the Dubai Final, he will achieve them all: most victories in the DP World Tour Championship (it would be 4 ahead of Rahm), most wins in the Rolex Series (it would be 5 tying with Hatton and Rahm), and second with the most victories in the Race to Dubai (it would be seven, just one behind Colin Montgomerie).
– The only ones who can prevent Rory McIlroy’s victory in the Race to Dubai are Marco Penge and Tyrrell Hatton. Penge has been bedridden on Monday and Tuesday due to a feverish condition. He only played nine holes on Wednesday. It is his first time playing the Dubai Final.
Sólo hay cinco maneras de impedir que Rory McIlroy gane la séptima
– McIlroy won last year’s Dubai Final with a score of -15, the second highest in history after Robert Karlsson‘s -14 in the second edition. It seems the Swede’s record is safe. If anything, the record of another Swede, Henrik Stenson, who won with the lowest score ever (-25) in 2013, could fall. It seems this year the winner will be much closer to Stenson than to Karlsson. There is significantly less rough than last year, although it is somewhat uneven in places. It can be very bad or perfect. Few should be made.
– The tournament distributes 10 million dollars in prizes, the highest purse of the year in the DP World Tour. Additionally, the top ten in the Race to Dubai will pocket a total of six million more, with two for the first and 150,000 for the tenth.
– If someone matches or surpasses the course record held by Justin Rose (62 strokes), they will receive an additional cheque of 100,000 dollars courtesy of Nexo. Perhaps this could be the year to reach that figure. We’ll see. It’s ten under par. A serious matter.
– The first to make a hole-in-one on the 17th will win a BMW i7 xDrive 60 Business Excellence. The first to make a hole-in-one on the 13th will receive 1,000,000 Skywards Airmiles.
– There are eight European players from the Ryder Cup at Bethpage: McIlroy, Rose, Hatton, Fitzpatrick, Aberg, Lowry, Fleetwood, McIntyre, and Rasmus Hojgaard. Only Rahm, Hovland, and Straka are missing. Additionally, vice-captain Alex Noren is present.
