The European Challenge Tour this week returns to the UAE for the first time since 2018. Here are three men to keep an eye on at the Abu Dhabi Challenge…
Form horse
Manuel Elvira tees off this week fresh from his best finish since joining the Challenge Tour in 2019. The 26-year-old Spaniard's tied second place at The Challenge presented by KGA catapulted him into the top ten on the Road to Mallorca Rankings. He’s made the cut in each of his six starts this year, registering three top ten finishes in that time and he’ll be hoping to continue that form in the UAE as he searches for a maiden Challenge Tour victory.
Local boy
Ahmad Skaik is one of several UAE Nationals bidding to shine on the Challenge Tour over the next two weeks. Skaik has teed it up on the DP World Tour on no less than eight occasions in the past three years, but this will be his first outing on the Challenge Tour. The 25-year-old is one of the UAE’s leading golfers and is on the come-back trail following a year-long injury. He returned to action at the UAE Presidents Cup in February where he triumphed after a nail-biting 18-hole playoff.
The outsider
Six tournaments in to his first full season on the Challenge Tour, Sam Bairstow is trending in the right direction going into the UAE swing. A 14th place finish in the season opening Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open has been the highlight so far, and having made the cut in two of his last three outings, he’ll be hoping for a good week here to climb the Road to Mallorca Rankings where he currently sits in 56th position.
