Europe’s biggest names leave the Middle-East and head to the United States to prepare to kick-start their 2025 PGA Tour seasons with the first Signature Event in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am taking place in just two weeks time.
That leaves this week’s Ras Al Khaimah Championship with one of the first true DP World Tour fields of the season.
Ras Al Khaimah sits just two hours north of Dubai and this week’s venue, the Al Hamra Golf Course, will offer much of what we saw last week in the desert.
Elevated from the Challenge Tour in 2022, this year marks the fourth playing of the event as part of the DP World Tour’s schedule.
This week's host, the Al Hamra Golf Course, has hosted each of the previous three playings of this event and has hosted a DP World Tour event a total of five times.
The Field
As previously mentioned, the PGA Tour regulars who have spent time on the DP World Tour last week and since the fall head to the United States to start their 2025 campaigns.
That leaves us with our first glimpse of a true DP World Tour field for the 2025 season.
Defending champion Thorbjorn Olesen looks to make it back-to-back victories in the desert as he helps headline the field this week.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox and England’s Paul Warring, winners of Rolex Series Events within the last two seasons, will join Olesen this week.
Other notable names teeing it up this week include former Major champions Padraig Harrington and Jimmy Walker.
John Parry, Johannes Veerman, Elvis Smylie, Ryggs Johnston and Shaun Norris, winners on the DP World Tour already this season, will look for their second victory of the year this week.
LIV will also be well represented with the likes of Patrick Reed, David Puig and Thomas Pieters also competing this week.
Daniel Gavins, the 2023 winner, joins Olesen as former winners of this event teeing it up this week.
The Course
This week’s venue, Al Hamra Golf Course in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE plays as a par 72 at 7,400 yards.
It was designed by the infamous Peter Harradine and will be played for the fifth time on the DP World Tour this week.
This venue has hosted the first three installments of this event but also hosted the Ras Al Khaimah Golf Challenge on the Challenge Tour in 2016 and 2017 and also hosted the Challenge Tour Grand Final in 2018.
It’s best described as your typical desert track with wide fairways that offer minimal deterrence for bombers off the tee.
Water does come into play on eight holes to offer a bit of defense however.
This course can be attacked in different ways. The likes of Nicolai Hojgaard and Ryan Fox, the 2021 winner and runner-up respectively, used their distance to take on the course.
The previous two winners, Olesen and Gavens, used an accurate approach off the tee to claim his title.
The greens are a Sea Isle Paspalum, a grass type not often used on the DP World Tour so strong putters will see a leg up this week.
The back nine is much more challenging than the front nine, especially at the turn.Â
The hardest two holes on the course at the last four events held here on the DP World Tour have been the tenth and 12th. The six hardest holes on the entire course come following the par five eighth.
The Weather
As of the time of writing this, there of course is a zero-percent chance of precipitation across all four days this week. Temperatures will range from 74-to-76 degrees across all four days. Winds will begin on Thursday at the highest at 12 miles-per-hour before decreasing to ten miles-per-hour for Friday and Saturday. Winds will settle to eight miles-per-hour for Sunday. In all, a great four days for some desert golf.
Key Stats
Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (SG: TTG)
Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)
Average Driving Distance
Par Five Average Scoring
Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)
Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)
Betting Card
David Puig (+3300)
Puig is always a guy that catches my eye in any tournament he plays in. He is the former Arizona State University standout that left college golf early to go play on the LIV Tour. Since joining LIV, he’s been coming into his own as a professional golfer. He played a hand-ful of DP World Tour events towards the end of the season last year. He placed T12th at the Andalucia Masters, T4th at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and T3rd at the Open de Espana. He finished last season fourth on LIV in total birdies, fifth in both putting average and average driving distance, 24th in scrambling and 50th in GIR%.
Daniel Hillier (+4000)
Hillier held the 56-hole lead last week at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic before being topped in the final round by Tyrrell Hatton to settle for a second place finish. The Kiwi has also placed T24th this season at the Nedbank Golf Challenge and T23rd at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open. He also placed T23rd at this event a season ago. He is currently 13th on Tour in SG: TTG, 18th in SG: APP, 23rd in average driving distance, 25th in GIR%, 29th in par five average scoring and 49th in SG: PUTT.
Angel Ayora (+5000)
One of the promising young stars of the DP World Tour has found success early on in this DP World Tour season. He placed T6th at the BMW Australian PGA Championship, T23rd at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, T5th at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and T36th at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open. He is currently 11th on Tour in SG: TTG, 15th in average driving distance, 20th in GIR%, 22nd in par five average scoring, 38th in SG: APP and 43rd in SG: PUTT.
Andy Sullivan (+8000)
Sullivan is a name I’ve bet a bunch over the last few years on the DP World Tour. The problem for Sullivan has always been the putter, although he’s proven to be able to spike. That will need to be the case this week if he hopes to compete at this birdie-fest. He is currently 113th on Tour in SG: PUTT. However, he is one of the best pure ball strikers the Tour has to offer. He’s second on Tour in both SG: TTG and SG: APP. He’s also 39th in par five average scoring, 43rd in GIR% and 84th in average driving distance. He did tee it up last week where he made the cut but also placed T7th at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and T14th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
Dylan Frittelli (+25000)
A big number for a three-time DP World tour winner. He is currently 16th on Tour in SG: TTG, 24th in SG: APP, 33rd in average driving distance, 43rd in both par five average scoring and GIR% and 83rd in SG: PUTT. He played this event a season ago where he made the cut. Frittelli also played last week where he placed T10th at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.