Though to many golf fans it has passed by in a green-filled blur, two decades ago, the world of golf was a markedly different place. And while the rise of new players, toppling of records and seemingly endless tweaks in equipment have always been relatively commonplace, in the last twenty years we have seen greater debate, discourse and box-office storylines in our beloved sport arguably than ever before. The emergence of divisive new tours, changes in traditional playing formats, unprecedented scrutiny on technology (… the rollback argument, anyone?) and of course, the ascendancy of social media stars and what they mean for the spectating future of golf.
So, when looking back at the 20-year history of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, there is a compelling yet comforting familiarity to this now flagship event. A Middle Eastern icon that has conjured excitement and intrigue with every turn, battled out between the game’s great and the good. From Woods and Mickelson to McIlroy and Westwood (though it is only the latter of that auspicious group who has ever claimed said championship), the field that has swashbuckled in the sands of the UAE capital has always been a bonafide crowd pleaser.
Though now occupying a very different date in the Tour calendar (more on that later), since its original inception as a January fixture, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship has historically provided the biggest names on the DP World Tour a platform to make a powerful statement of intent for the year ahead.
Loved by fans and players in equal measure, the tournament has also always played a vital role in the commercial exposure of the region, as well as being a beautiful advertisement for the ever-burgeoning Middle East golf scene.
Chris DiMarco was the first person to lift the trophy in 2006
In its inaugural event in 2006, the world saw American Chris DiMarco – then World No.11 – lift the prestigious Falcon Trophy in particularly heart-warming fashion, raising it aloft next his wife who had been caddying for him all week.
In the years that followed, the spoils would be battled out by future Ryder Cup cohorts Paul Casey and Martin Kaymer, jousting year after year and denying the rest of the field a look-in for half a decade. It was Kaymer, however, having won his second consecutive Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in 2010, who would use the tournament as the catalyst for his own annus mirabilis; adding two more Tour wins and his very first Major, the PGA Championship, in an astonishing career season. The 2012 event cemented itself in tournament folklore as the relatively unknown (then ranked 121st in the world) Robert Rock would prove immovable on Sunday’s leaderboard, besting his intimidating final day playing partner Tiger Woods (and eventual runner up Rory McIlroy) and claiming the Falcon Trophy. It would prove the single greatest win of Rock’s career. In the years that followed we have been treated to the various victorious charges of Fleetwood and Fowler, Stal, Donaldson and Larrazábal…but none were more welcomed by the Abu Dhabi patrons than that of last month’s Ryder Cup hero, Shane Lowry. The ever-popular Irishman, incredibly then only 75th in the world ranking, lit up Abu Dhabi Golf Club on his opening round – carding a 62 and tying a course record first set by Henrik Stenson in the inaugural 2006 championship.
2019 Shane Lowry
Lowry would then give the gathered crowd a shootout for the ages on the Sunday, having seen his three-shot overnight lead turn into a four-stroke deficit, he rallied spectacularly on the back nine, with a birdie on the 18th proving enough to beat playing partner Richard Sterne by one shot. Lowry’s first victory in four years and one that would set him down a path culminating in a sensational home-soil win at The Open at Royal Portrush later that year.
And of course, ushering us into a new decade was Lee Westwood’s historic 2020 win, immortalising the then 46-year-old Englishman as one of only three golfers in DP World Tour history to win events over four separate decades.
Kaymer hold the record of the most trophies with three to his name. After winning in 2008,2010 and 2011.
However, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship stories that equally endure go beyond the winners’ circle. This is, after all, a sport where the dramatic or glorious are never confined solely to the Sunday afternoon. Who could forget the spectacular three holes-in-one witnessed across the same weekend, on the very same hole in 2012? Where the camped-out masses on Abu Dhabi Golf Club’s par three 12th were treated to aces from both Sergio Garcia and José Manuel Lara on their opening round, before Graeme McDowell completed the unlikeliest of triples on the final day. And in the kind of ‘right place, right time’ story that could only happen in this game, 2013’s tournament saw Etihad pilot Brian Mullen volunteer as caddie for Jason Duffner when his on-the bag-regular, Kevin Baile, was unable to travel. Or perhaps it is the litany of players who’ve fallen foul of golf’s unforgiving rulebook here that sticks in fans collective memories. Whether it’s the 2009 gut-punching instance of Henrik Stenson missing a cut for mistakenly playing a ball that was left out from the previous day’s Pro Am instead of his own, or Padraig Harrington’s eventual disqualification for illegally moving his ball on the green (a keen television viewer phoned officials after seeing Harrington’s hand knock the ball as he took his marker away) in 2011. And, of course, most of the golfing world will recall Tiger Woods making characteristic global headlines for an incorrect ‘free’ drop and subsequent two-stroke penalty on his second round in 2013 – leading to his first ever missed cut in a DP World Tour event.
A year later it was Rory McIlroy hit with a head-scratching rule infraction that cost him two strokes and subsequently the title back in 2014.
As with all great tournaments, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is about moments. Moments of the sublime, and indeed, the ridiculous. The delight and the drama. The nail-biting and near breathless. Moments where mettle is tested and winners are moulded.
All smiles: Tyrrell Hatton with the trophy in 2021.
In 2024, a wholesale and dramatic tournament change was made. The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship was moved from its prior and long-standing January position to early November, where it would herald the start of the brand-new DP World Tour Play-Offs. Formerly the first event of the Rolex series since 2019, the tournament now represents a pivotal end-season point, kicking off a fortnight of UAE-based golf that will decide the DP World Tour Championship and Race to Dubai title. Taking place for the very first time last year, the gripping new format means the top 70 players available on the tour congregate in Abu Dhabi for the first of a two-pronged play-off, with 50 golfers advancing to the DP World Tour Championship at Dubai’s Jumeirah Golf Estates.
“The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship has long been one of the most prestigious and recognisable events on the DP World Tour. For 18 consecutive years, it served as a popular early season stop, attracting some of the world’s top players and shining a spotlight on the UAE as a world-class golfing destination,” said Tom Phillips, Director of the Middle East at the DP World Tour. “The decision we took together with Abu Dhabi Sports Council to move from its traditional January slot to a new November date, alongside the DP World Tour Championship, was one we thought long and hard about. By aligning it, we created a season-ending fortnight of world-class golf in the UAE – a compelling narrative that enhances fan engagement and the region’s global profile in a busy sporting landscape.”
In addition, three years ago saw another turning of the page as the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship was moved from its iconic home at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club to the now world-renowned Yas Links. A stunning yet formidable costal Links track that – for a Middle East course – offers players the kind of unique rural challenge they’d normally find 5000 miles away nestled along the seaside towns of the British Isles. But then, you would expect no less when one considers its creator, Kyle Phillips – the man who designed St Andrews’ own Kingsbarns course.
Unfolding on Yas Links undulating and unforgiving pastures, 2024’s opening iteration of what is now an end-of-season showpiece, did not disappoint. With a final day chasing pack comprising of Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy and Rolex Series winner Tyrrell Hatton piling on the pressure – it was Englishman Paul Waring who held his nerve incredibly in the toughest of environs. Having only ever won once on the DP World Tour, six years prior, and recently relocated to the UAE, Waring shot his way to an exceptional 66 on the Sunday, including a crowd-erupting 40ft birdie putt on the 17th. So what can we expect this year? More of the same it seems.
Victor Perez in 2023 celebrates after securing his first Rolex Series title on the DP World Tour.
With so much now at stake due to the revised play-off structure of the event, the Tour’s brightest stars will be champing at the bit to tee it up at Yas Links come November 6. First in line will be McIlroy, in hot pursuit of a staggering seventh (and fourth consecutive) Race to Dubai crown. “I love ending the season in the Middle East and I’m excited to return to Abu Dhabi again for the first of two big events later this year,” said the Grand Slam winner back in June. “I’ve got a good record at Yas Links so hopefully I can continue doing what I’m doing and give myself a chance of finishing the season strongly.” Fans can also look forward to the familiar, ever-competitive face of Ryder Cup hero Hatton, who’ll be battling to compliment his regional triumph in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at the start of the year.
They’ll both also be joined by their US-conquering Ryder Cup 2025 compatriots Matt Fitzpatrick and Robert MacIntyre, who’ve each enjoyed stellar seasons and recently confirmed their places for the November showdown. And, barring any big surprises – they’ll be kept in good company by fellow European teammates Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood and Alex Noren, all likely to be heading to the capital vying to add to their own respective successes this year.
The rest of the field promises to be an eminently exciting one, with spectators set to be treated to the likes of Min Woo Lee, Adrian Meronk, Ryan Fox, Haotong Li and previous winner Victor Perez, fighting it out for the coveted silverware and those crucial Race to Dubai points. But, as we’ve seen so many times in the last two decades, the outcome is anyone’s guess. Some of the greatest to play the game have been vanquished by those outside the top 100.
We’ve seen the downright marvellous and the truly mad. It is what continues to make this tournament so utterly intriguing, no matter where it lies in the fixture list. And now with the ante upped considerably thanks to the fiercest of play-off formats and the riches that lie beyond, one thing is certain, this historic jewel in the Arabian golfing crown promises to dazzle brighter than ever.
