The Ras Al Khaimah Championship makes its third appearance on the DP World Tour this week as the International Swing continues with a third consecutive event in the United Arab Emirates. Here are your five things to know.
Gavins defends in the desert
In what was one of the most memorable finishes on last season’s Race to Dubai, Daniel Gavins won his second DP World Tour title despite finding water twice on the 72nd hole.
After his final-hole drama threatened to see him squander a three-shot lead on the final tee, the Englishman recovered to dramatically hole a 25-foot putt for double bogey to claim victory.
Such was the frenetic nature of the final hole, Gavins did not even realise his putt for a double bogey was to hold the clubhouse lead at Al Hamra Golf Club.
"I put two in the water and thought, 'Well, that's one way to end the tournament’," said Gavins, who started the final round two shots off the lead, bogeyed the first, and then made six birdies in seven holes on the front nine.
"I sunk the putt, went to the back of the green and saw that I was actually winning, still. It was kind of a big shock."
After missing the cut at last week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic, the 32-year-old will hope the memories of his remarkable triumph will inspire him to mount a strong title defence.
Rasmus seeks to make it a twin double in Ras Al Khaimah
Two years on from Nicolai Højgaard’s victory at the inaugural Ras Al Khaimah Championship, Rasmus will aim to emulate his twin brother by etching his name onto the trophy.
The 22-year-old won his fourth title on the DP World Tour at the Made in HimmerLand last summer as he made history by becoming the first Danish player to do so.
Since narrowly missing out on holding dual status on both the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR at the end of last season, Rasmus has since begun the new year in impressive fashion with back-to-back ties for 11th in Dubai.
Having finished in a tie for sixth last year, Rasmus is eager to be in contention once again.
“You want to win every time you play a tournament, and my brother and I are very competitive, so it would be special to see both of our names on the same trophy,” he said.
“I really feel as though I had an opportunity to win last year, so I’m hoping to make amends when I return to Al Hamra.”
Field in focus
One player who knows Al Hamra Golf Club well is Jordan Smith, having won the European Challenge Tour’s Ras Al Khaimah Golf Challenge in 2016.
He has since gone on to win twice on the DP World Tour and will hope to make it back-to-back English winners of the event, following Gavins’ triumph last year.
Other confirmed players teeing it up are rising stars Alex Fitzpatrick, Tom McKibbin, already a winner on the DP World Tour, and Jayden Schaper.
Fitzpatrick impressed across a limited number of starts on the DP World Tour last season, including a tie for 17th in The Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, and is now able to play a full schedule on the Race to Dubai.
All 20 Challenge Tour graduates are set to feature, including Manuel Elvira, who will play alongside brother and DP World Tour winner Nacho, while Tom Lewis is among a handful of Qualifying School graduates.
This year’s field also includes Major Champion Pádraig Harrington and 2018 Ryder Cup winning Captain Thomas Bjørn, who have each won 15 DP World Tour titles over careers spanning three decades.
G4D Tour makes history
In an effort to further opportunities for golfers with a wider spectrum of disabilities, the G4D Tour continues its 2024 season with its first Net tournament for golfers with a disability.
Since its launch in 2022 as a partnership between the DP World Tour and EDGA, the G4D Tour has showcased that golf is a game for everyone, with competitors playing on the same course, in the same week, as the leading Tour professionals on the DP World Tour.
The second of eight confirmed events on the 2023-24 schedule features an entirely new field, consisting of eight men and two women from the Net division of the World Ranking for Golfers with a Disability.
The two-round event concluded on Tuesday with South Africa's Robin Rambo Singh birdieing two of the final three holes to claim a one-shot victory.
Last week in the UAE but Middle East spell far from over
The third event of the International Swing sees the DP World Tour stay in the United Arab Emirates for a third consecutive week.
Located around an hour’s drive from Hero Dubai Desert Classic host venue, Emirates Golf Club, the Peter Harradine-designed Al Hamra Golf Club is once again welcoming top-level golf to the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.
Next on the schedule is a return to Bahrain for the first time in 13 years, before the Middle East action at the start of the year concludes with the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters from February 8-11.
Thriston Lawrence and Pablo Larrazábal, who comes into the week off the back of his best-ever Rolex Series result, are among a handful of players who could overhaul Adrian Meronk into second place on the ongoing swing’s rankings with a victory.
