The European Tour certainly isn’t easing into the new season. The opening event of 2021 has the field in the Middle East for the prestigious Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, one of the Tour’s pinnacle Rolex Series events has an increased purse to attract some of the biggest names in the sport. Rory McIlroy has seven podium finishes in his career yet he’s still chasing his first victory at this event. He opened as the betting favorite slightly ahead of Justin Thomas as the only players with shorter than 10/1 odds. Defending champion Lee Westwood, Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood and Martin Kaymer are among the former winners of this event ready to peg it up. Visit BookMaker.eu for a complete list of betting odds and to place your wager.
Odds to Win Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at BookMaker.eu
Rory McIlroy +650
Justin Thomas +700
Tommy Fleetwood +1200
Tyrrell Hatton +1200
Matthew Fitzpatrick +1400
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +2500
Shane Lowry +2800
Victor Perez +2800
Justin Rose +3000
Lee Westwood +3000
Bernd Wiesberger +3300
Matt Wallace +3300
Andy Sullivan +3500
Ian Poulter +3500
Martin Kaymer +3500
Robert MacIntyre +3500
Mike Lorenzo-Vera +4500
Sami Valimaki +4500
Thomas Pieters +4500
Henrik Stenson +5000
Matthias Schwab +5000
Thomas Detry +5500
Adri Arnaus +6600
Antoine Rozner +6600
Danny Willett +6600
Joost Luiten +6600
Rafael Cabrera Bello +6600
Ross Fisher +6600
Tom Lewis +7000
Lucas Herbert +7500
Wilco Nienaber +7500
Laurie Canter +8000
Dean Burmester +8500
Aaron Rai +9000
Adrian Otaegui +9000
Andrew Johnston +9000
Jamie Donaldson +9000
Renato Paratore +9000
Romain Langasque +9000
Sean Crocker +9000
Odds Analysis
Adri Arnaus +6600
Strong play in the Middle East and the overall progression of his game makes Arnaus an intriguing figure at his listed price. He has three top-10s in his last five starts, including an impressive T10 at the season ending DP World Tour Championship, which took place in Dubai. His approach game was strong finishing among the top-15 in strokes gained, which is something that will come in handy on the tricky ADGC layout. Arnaus also has a T22 here from 2018 and his game looks solid.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +2500
No one was hotter than Bezuidenhout last season. Back-to-back wins in his native South Africa was impressive, and his season-ending T14 at the DP World Tour Championship gave him 17 straight sub-par rounds. He was splendid with his accuracy off the tee hitting over 70 percent of GIR, two metrics that will be important this week. On a correlated course Bezuidenhout was runner-up at the 2019 Qatar Masters.
Martin Kaymer +3500
No one has won this event more than Kaymer, whose three titles came in a span of four years. The last was in 2011 and the German fell into a dark place in subsequent years. Kaymer rededicated himself to the game and a strong 2020 helped him return to the world’s top-100. He finished last year with three top-5s among his four top-10s over his last seven ET starts and returning to the site of some of the best moments of his career should do wonders.
Andy Sullivan +3500
It’s hard to overlook what Sullivan accomplished last year, so I’m not. He won the English Championship in August and ended the year with a T2 at the Golf in Dubai Championship and a T10 at the DP World Tour Championship showing off his game that allowed him to top the Tour in stroke average. He’s clearly comfortable playing desert golf with stats to back it up. And if he carries over what he did last year there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be in contention.
Bernd Wiesberger +3300
Wiesberger was solidly unspectacular last season, but that didn’t diminish what he accomplished. It’s just hard to follow up a year with three titles. Another fan of desert golf, the Austrian finished T8 here 12 months ago and also had a T8 last month at the Golf in Dubai Championship. He spent more time on the PGA Tour last year with a T4 at the RSM Classic proving he still has it. Wiesberger is accurate, which should keep him around through the weekend, and course form can be the difference.
Course: Abu Dhabi Golf Club – 7,583-yards, par-72
Abu Dhabi GC is the only host the tournament has known since being established in 2006. The course has a sparkling reputation for being one of the best manicured on the Tour, but it also has an abundance of hazards that can make for an exciting finish. There are seven lakes that surround the layout and water comes into play on over half the holes. The fairways are forgiving, but deceivingly narrow and the rough is thick, which can make for interesting shots. Overall the course plays to a variety of styles with none more important than the others. Sacrificing distance for accuracy isn’t an option given the length, but it is important to avoid the hazards. The past six winners scored -16 or better, a sign that the best players still have an edge over the layout.
TV Coverage: Golf Channel
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