Ras Al Khaimah will become the latest emirate in the UAE to play host to a DP World Tour event, having previously hosted the Challenge Tour on three occasions, when some of the game’s biggest names gather on the stunning Peter Harradine-designed Al Hamra course this week to contest the inaugural Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital.
Danny Willett, Bernd Wiesberger, Robert MacIntyre, Richard Bland and twins Nicolai and Rasmus Højgaard are among those teeing it up alongside the shimmering Arabian Gulf in the northern emirate where a US$2 million prize fund and 2,750 DP World Tour Ranking Points will be up for grabs.
Danny Willett
Englishman Willett has a strong track record in the desert having claimed victory in the 2016 Dubai Desert Classic and the 2018 DP World Tour Championship.
“I have some great memories from my time in the United Arab Emirates,” said the 2016 Masters Tournament champion and eight-time DP World Tour winner. “It’s a place I’ve always enjoyed visiting and I’ve obviously won twice in Dubai, so it’s exciting that we have a new region to visit and a new golf course to play on this year.
“It’s nice here. First look yesterday, scoring’s going to be low. It’s generous in places, tightens up a little bit around the greens on a few holes. A lot of it will depend on the weather, if we get weather like this for the four days I think you’re going to see some pretty low scores out there.
“But it’s a new addition, an hour down the road from Dubai which makes for easy travel for the lads and it should be a good week.”
Bernd Wiesberger
Wiesberger, who made his Ryder Cup debut at Whistling Straits last year, becoming the first Austrian to tee it up in The Matches, came agonisingly close to victory in last year’s AVIV Dubai Championship, missing out by a stroke to Joachim B. Hansen at Jumeirah Golf Estates. The 36 year old has racked up nine top ten finishes in the UAE and the eight-time DP World Tour winner is keen to get his hands on some silverware in this part of the world.
“I really enjoy playing golf in the Middle East, the only thing I’m missing there is a victory,” said Wiesberger, who has made a solid start 2022 with a tied 12th place finish at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and a tied 24th place finish at the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic.
“For the most part I’ve been happy with the first two weeks. I put myself into good positions going into Sunday. I didn’t do quite good enough on Sunday in Dubai last week, just nothing wanted to click unfortunately and not the best finish in Abu Dhabi either.
“So a lot of positives, but also the fact that I could have seen myself higher up the leaderboard at the end of the week. But trying to assess where I am early in the season was good, a lot of good stuff happening and I just need to build on that and get myself into that position on a Sunday afternoon more often.
“I enjoy coming to new courses I haven’t seen before. Some of the guys who were on the Challenge Tour were here before but I enjoy seeing new places and this is definitely one where I can see a low scoring week out there.”
Robert McIntyre
Scotsman Robert Macintyre captured the golfing world’s attention when he finished 11th in the DP World Tour Rankings in his debut season on Tour to claim the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award.
He won his first DP World Tour title at the 2020 Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown and last year bettered his rookie season with a ninth-place finish on the DP World Tour Rankings after five top tens including a third-place finish at the Dubai Desert Classic.
Richard Bland
England’s Richard Bland captivated golf fans around the world when, at the age of 48, he won his first DP World Tour title in his 478th start at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett.
He went on to post a strong of good results over the remainder of the season to finish a career high 11th on the DP World Tour Rankings and he arrives in Ras Al Khaimah in fine form having come excruciatingly close to adding a second title at last week’s Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic where he lost out to Viktor Hovland in a play-off at Emirates Golf Club.
“In terms of learnings from last week, in one of the biggest tournaments we play in, I held my own down the stretch. I felt comfortable as well. It was very satisfying that, when some of the best players in the world are making mistakes, I stayed with them and to finish birdie-birdie to get into the play-off was very satisfying. OK it didn’t go my way but it went my way nine months ago, a play-off is a roll of the dice and It didn’t go my way this time. But I have no regrets.
“Of course the goal now is to reach the top 50. You want to get as high as you can. Who knows where this can go? If I keep playing well, things will take care of themselves.
“I think it’s going to be a low scoring week, you need to get the foot down pretty quick around here. Anywhere here at this time of year, we’ve got great hotels that we’re staying in, the weather’s great. It’s great that we can be out here. The Tour have done an unbelievable job getting the tournament on here next week too, with the obstacles we’ve got with the pandemic.”
Højgaard brothers looking to impress former Ryder Cup captains
The Højgaard brothers are fast making a name for themselves as the DP World Tour’s most sensational siblings. Last year they became the first brothers ever to win in back to back weeks when Nicolai claimed his maiden victory in the DS Automobiles Italian Open the week after Rasmus had secured his third title at the Omega European Masters.
Local representation comes in the form of Ahmad Skaik and Ahmed Al Musharrekh both of whom will be looking to shine on home soil. Throw in a glut of legends including Miguel Angel Jiménez, PádraigHarrington, Colin Montgomerie and Thomas Bjørn and the inaugural Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital promises to be a truly captivating feast of golf as the DP World Tour breaks ground in the UAE’s northern-most emirate.
