Strength and depth added to the final Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship line up
A host of big name Major winners and past Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship title holders will add extra muscle to an already powerful line-up of the world’s top players who arrive in the UAE capital this week.
Some of golf’s biggest names, including four of the world’s top 10, will tee off in the US$2.7 million showpiece which gets underway this Thursday at the stunning Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
Headlining the Championship are former UAE resident and world number three Henrik Stenson, world number five and five-time Major winner Phil Mickelson and world number six Rory McIlroy.
The all-star cast has been further strengthened by the final playing field, which sees the return of some Championship favourites, including two-time winner Paul Casey.
The Englishman won in 2007 and 2009 and is looking to recapture the superb form which saw him return to winning form last year with victory in the Irish Open, where he won by three shots.
Casey is expected to go all out this week as he seeks to match Martin Kaymer’s record of three Abu Dhabi titles. The big hitting German is another crowd puller who has his eye on a fourth Falcon trophy at The National, which has become one of his happiest hunting grounds on the Tour.
Robert Rock is another previous champion who has not been forgotten after he slayed the ‘giants of golf’ in 2012 to secure his finest career moment by holding at bay stars including Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods to triumph by one shot.
Major winners Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington are also boosting the line-up. Clarke, the likeable Northern Irishman who tasted glory at the 140th Open Championship, and Harrington, who became the first European to win back-to-back Major Championships, both have distinguished careers and would love nothing more than to add the Falcon Trophy to their achievements.
Still looking for his first Major is Miguel Angel Jimenez, the colourful Spaniard who became the oldest winner in European Tour history when he won the 2012 UBS Hong Kong Open aged 48 and 318 days. Jimenez, along with world number 10 Sergio Garcia and Alvaro Quiros, who loves playing in the UAE after winning the DP World Tour Championship and Dubai Desert Classic in 2011, will lead the Spanish armada in their quest to be the first Spanish player to taste success in Abu Dhabi.
Also ready to live up to his star billing is young gun Thorbjørn Olesen, the rising Dane who often practises in the UAE with his compatriot and golfing idol Søren Hansen, who will also be in Abu Dhabi for a shot at the title.
The Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship is organised by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority. Tickets and packages are available via the event’s official website www.abudhabigolfchampionship.com and Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.ae). Tickets are AED50 for a daily pass and AED150 for a four-day pass. Guests staying at any Abu Dhabi hotel over the Championship period enter free, as do Emirates Golf Federation members.
To see the final player line-up for the 2014 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, visit here.
