The first of eight Rolex Series events gets the three-week desert swing underway when the European Tour heads to the UAE for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. An upgrade in status and prize money means an upgraded field with some of the best golfers in the world congregating at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club. This event was added as one of the elite on the Euro circuit schedule last year with a purse that more than doubled. Shane Lowry is back to defend his title and two-time winner Tommy Fleetwood is scheduled to peg it up. The biggest name in the field, though, is OWGR No. 1 Brooks Koepka, who makes his season debut after undergoing knee surgery. Visit BookMaker.eu for a complete list of tournament matchup betting odds when you’re ready to place a wager.
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Matchup Odds at BookMaker.eu
Guido Migliozzi -105 vs. Romain Langasque -125
Eddie Pepperell -129 vs. Wade Ormsby -101
George Coetzee -122 vs. Andy Sullivan -108
Jordan Smith -123 vs. Jason Scrivener -107
Benjamin Hebert -113 vs. Kurt Kitayama -117
Matthias Schwab -114 vs. Joost Luiten -116
Adri Arnaus +127 vs. Andrew Johnston -159
Matt Wallace +114 vs. Rafael Cabrera Bello -144
Patrick Cantlay -141 vs. Louis Oosthuizen +111
Paul Waring -162 vs. Marcus Kinhult +129
Haotong Li -127 vs. Lee Westwood -103
Victor Perez -150 vs. Pablo Larrazabal +120
Patrick Cantlay -126 vs. Brooks Koepka -104
Branden Grace -105 vs. Robert MacIntyre -125
Shane Lowry +103 vs. Bryson Dechambeau -133
Charl Schwartzel +132 vs. Ian Poulter -166
Viktor Hovland -119 vs. Sergio Garcia -111
Thomas Detry -135 vs. Tom Lewis +105
Thomas Pieters -137 vs. Branden Grace +107
Matthew Fitzpatrick +112 vs. Bryson Dechambeau -142
Shane Lowry -125 vs. Matthew Fitzpatrick -105
Thomas Pieters -132 vs. Robert MacIntyre +102
Martin Kaymer +100 vs. Erik Van Rooyen -130
Brooks Koepka -126 vs. Louis Oosthuizen -104
Need to Know
If we were playing pick the losers I had a good last week. Unfortunately, that’s not what was happening and the year started with a 1-3 disaster at the SA Open. I will pat myself on the back for going with Branden Grace, though. He not only won his matchup at plus-odds, he triumphed over the field by three swings. Let’s have a look at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, which is the only host this tournament has known. It stretches to nearly 7,600-yards and is a typical flat desert layout with a reputation among the pros for being one of the best manicured on Tour. We usually don’t see many lakes in the desert but there are several that come into play on almost half the holes. And don’t forget about the bunkers because there is an abundance of them. The course plays to several different styles with its length, hazards and thick rough, but the player who manages the flat stick better will have an edge. The greens are fast but rewarding for those who can manage them.
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Matchup Picks
Louis Oosthuizen +111 vs. Patrick Cantlay
This is a risky bet considering Cantlay has risen to No. 6 in the OWGR and has played exceptionally well over the last few months. We haven’t seen much of him on the Euro Tour, which is why I’m leaning toward Oosthuizen at plus-odds. The Big O hasn’t been too shabby either of late and likely feels another run to the top is in store after runner-up finishes in his last two starts. He also played well at the Presidents Cup in between and earned a top-5 here last year with three 68 or better rounds.
Branden Grace -105 vs. Robert MacIntyre
When a player gets on a roll it’s best to ride him for as long as possible. After a disturbing 2019 that saw him plummet in the world rankings, Grace has shown recently that his game is coming around. Maybe the Presidents Cup snub was inspiration. Whatever the reason, Grace finished T3 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and won the SA Open last week with a blistering 62 to finish off a three-shot win. He’s done well here in the past finishing no worse than T27 in his last five starts.
Brooks Koepka -126 vs. Louis Oosthuizen
Another intriguing matchup has Koepka, who hasn’t played in three months, facing off against Oosthuizen, who has played well of late. Koepka is coming off knee surgery, but his camp says he’s ready and excited to play this week. He also has something to prove with a MC at the Shriners and WD in his last competitive event at the CJ Cup. Since this kind of qualifies as a major on the Euro circuit maybe we’ll see that Brooks emerge, I’m betting on it.
Martin Kaymer +100 vs. Erik Van Rooyen
Three of Kaymer’s 11 Euro Tour victories took place right here when captured those events over a four-year span between 2008 and 2011. That helped lift the German to the top of the world rankings for a brief time. We know he can play and a recent resurgence shows he’s not giving up on his career. A familiar venue can help and Kaymer has a couple of top-5 showings here since 2014, so I’m not giving up on him yet.
Matthew Fitzpatrick +112 vs. Bryson DeChambeau
Fitz’s game has evolved on long, desert layouts with a win at the 2016 DP World Tour Championship and a T3 here two years ago. It’s been solid everywhere else, too. Rising to No. 25 in the OWGR, Fitzpatrick ended last season with a pair of top-10s. DeChambeau, meanwhile, has mixed form over the last several months and was 15th of 18 at the Hero World Challenge in his last start.
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