DP World Tour Championship preview

Rory McIlroy hasn’t played since the Ryder Cup but won his fifth Race to Dubai title after the Nedbank Golf Challenge. McIlroy is looking to win his third DP World Tour Championship in 2023 and it would be his first win at the Earth Course in seven years.

Jon Rahm had a memorable season which included winning 2023 US Masters at Augusta. Rahm won the season ending event in 2022 and is looking to win the DP World Tour Championship for a second year in a row.

Viktor Hovland brought his game to another level this year especially when he won the 2023 FedEx Cup. Hovland finished in a tie for third in the 2020 DP World Tour Championship.

Matt Fitzpatrick won twice in 2023 at the RBC Heritage and the Alfred Dunhill Links. Over the last four years Fitzpatrick finished inside the top ten three times and won the DP World Tour Championship in 2020.

Tyrrell Hatton finished in a tie for second in the 2022 DP World Tour Championship. Hatton has the game to win the biggest events in the world after previously winning the BMW PGA Championship in 2020.

Tommy Fleetwood showed decent form as he finished inside the top 15 at the recent Nedbank Golf Challenge. Fleetwood’s best finish in the last few years at the Earth Course was a runner-up to Rahm in 2019.

Nicolai Hojgaard done fantastic to finish second without playing his best game at the recent Nedbank Golf Challenge. Hojgaard finished in a tie for fourth in the 2021 edition.

Min Woo Lee finished in a tie for 12th in the 2022 DP World Tour Championship. Lee has a great swing and was in the final group with Scottie Scheffler at this years Players Championship were he went on to finish in a tie for sixth.

Tom Kim’s best performances this year was a tied second at The Open and a tied sixth at the Open de France. Kim is only 21 and impressively has already won three times on the PGA Tour.

Adrian Meronk put the disappointment behind him of not making the Ryder Cup team as he won the Andalucia Masters in October. Meronk finished in a tie for seventh in the 2022 DP World Tour Championship.

Shane Lowry played really well in the Ryder Cup especially in coming from behind to get a halved match against Jordan Spieth in the singles. The Offaly man finished in a tie for ninth in the 2021 edition.

Sepp Straka had a great 2023 season with winning on the PGA Tour, a runner-up finish at The Open and been a part of a successful Europe Ryder Cup team. Straka is currently ranked 24th in the World Golf Rankings and a good finish this week could push him nearer to 20th position.

Thorbjorn Olesen is coming into this event in good form after a top five finish at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. Olesen’s last big win was in 2022 at the British Masters.

Rasmus Hojgaard finished in the top six at last week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge. Hojgaard finished in a tie for seventh in this event 12 months ago.

Ryan Fox’s best performances on the DP World Tour this year was a win at the BMW PGA Championship and a runner-up at the Alfred Dunhill Links. Fox finished in the top 20 12 months ago and will be looking for an improvement this weekend.

Robert MacIntyre also had a special Ryder Cup especially winning 1.5 points with Justin Rose. 2021 edition was a success for MacIntyre as he finished in a tie for fourth.

A top 15 finish at the Nedbank Golf Challenge was good enough to qualify Matt Wallace for this week’s event. Wallace finished tied second in the 2018 DP World Tour Championship.

Vincent Norman was impressive as he won 2023 Irish Open. Norman finished in the top 15 at the Nedbank Golf Challenge and has talent which was most noticeable at the K Club in September.

Aleksandar Bjork finished in the top 10 in last week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge. Bjork finished tied second in 2021 edition behind winner Collin Morikawa.

Jordan Smith finished tied 30th 12 months ago in this event. Smith finished in the top 15 in South Africa and is looking for an improvement in this year’s event.

Yannik Paul finished tied 23rd in Dubai 12 months ago. Paul yet again qualified for Dubai in 2023 as he is currently ranked 17th in the Race to Dubai.

Lucas Herbert just finished outside the top 20 in 21st in this event two years ago. Herbert needs a good week as he is currently outside the top 50 in the World Golf Rankings.

Ryo Hisatsuna qualified for this week’s event after finishing ninth in South Africa. Hisatsuna has no expectations for this event and this sometimes is a good thing.

Victor Perez won the Alfred Dunhill Links in 2019. Perez finished tied 12th in 2022 DP World Tour Championship.

Adrian Otaegui finished inside the top five in the 2018 edition. Otaegui had a good recent top 10 finish at Andalucia Masters.

It’s been a year to remember for Tom McKibbin as he won his first DP World Tour event. McKibbin is going into Dubai in decent form after a recent top 10 finish at Commercial Qatar Masters.

Sami Valimaki won the recent Commercial Qatar Masters. Valimaki finished tied fifth in 2020 DP World Tour Championship.

Matthieu Pavon had a great recent win at the Open de Espana. Pavon had a great opportunity to win last weekend until he shot a final round of six over.

Jorge Campillo finished tied ninth in 2022 edition. Campillo finished second at the recent Commercial Qatar Masters.

Marcel Siem finished tied fourth at Open de Espana. The German continued to impress as Siem finished tied seventh at Andalucia Masters.