By Jamie Kennedy, europeantour.com
Throughout The 2015 Race to Dubai we will be digging through tournament archives and stats to offer a Fantasy Five to Watch, and in this first edition, we preview the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship with an impressive handful of potential players for your Fantasy delectation.
Rory McIlroy
Entering the week as Number One in the Official World Golf Ranking, the Northern Irishman kicks off his 2015 season this week in Abu Dhabi, and it’s easy to see why he picked this event to begin his campaign. In his last six appearances in this tournament McIlroy has posted three runner-up finishes in the previous four years, including a further two top five results. That has all added up to a scoring average of 69 at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, which surely must suggest his first win at this event is just around the corner.
Martin Kaymer
McIlroy’s Ryder Cup teammate, Martin Kaymer, is one of the few players to be able to better the Northern Irishman’s record in Abu Dhabi. The defending US Open Champion has won this event three times from 2008 to 2011, during which he was a remarkable 81 under par. He was also one shot away from winning here in 2009, when Paul Casey pipped him to the iconic Falcon Trophy.
Danny Willett
The 2015 Race To Dubai leader arrives in Abu Dhabi in the form of his life. In his last four European Tour events, the Englishman has three top five finishes including a win at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in December. No one had more top 25 finishes in 2014 than Willett, amassing 16 in 27 starts. He comes to Abu Dhabi having finished in the top 25 here the last two years, including a 63 in the second round last year.
George Coetzee
One strong dark horse set to tee it up this week is George Coetzee. The South African enjoyed a career-best year on The European Tour in 2014, which saw him pick up his first victory at the Joburg Open as well as lead his peers in the Putts per GIR statistical category. He also ranked third in Putts per Round during the same season. In his three appearances at the opening event of the annual Desert Swing Coetzee has finished sixth, ninth and fourth between 2011 and 2014, and has never shot over par in 12 rounds at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
Robert Karlsson
Robert Karlsson has not won on The European Tour in five years, but there are plenty of reasons to expect him to fare well this week in the Gulf. The experienced Swede has played in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship six times, posting five top 30 results in that time, and playing the weekend on each occasion. He also finished eighth at Abu Dhabi Golf Club last year, despite opening with a 73, before going on to finish his season in fine style at the DP World Tour Championship with a sixth place at Jumeirah Golf Estates. He will be as keen as anyone to start the year off in style, and if he were to find the form that saw him play his way onto the 2006 and 2008 European Ryder Cup teams, then he could well be one to watch.
Remember you have until 3.00am on Thursday morning to pick yourFantasy Race to Dubaiteam for this week, so be sure to visit My European Tour or fantasy.europeantour.com before play gets under way.
