It’s been a great week for golf at Betfred, with news that Sir Nick Faldo is the new host of the Betfred British Masters and we are improving our golf coverage all the time.
Here we have previewed the DP World Tour event, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and as always, given you our best bets for the tournament.
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Betting Tips
- 4u Tommy Fleetwood – each way (1/4 5 places) – 10/1
- 2.5u Seamus Power – each way (1/5 8 places) – 22/1
- 2u Ryan Fox – each way (1/5 8 places) – 25/1
- 1u Sami Valimaki – each way (1/5 8 places) – 90/1
History
The Abu Dhabi HSBC dates back to 2006 and is part of the Rolex Series of events, meaning increased prize money and ranking points.
The event was played at the home of last weeks Hero Cup venue, the Abu Dhabi Golf Club until last year, where it was switched to the beautiful Yas Links.
The tournament has some famous previous winners, including multiple winners Martin Kaymer, Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood (12/1).
Other previous winners teeing it up here include the defending champion Thomas Pieters (20/1), 2021 champ Tyrrell Hatton (11/1), Shane Lowry (14/1), Pablo Larrazabal (125/1) and Jamie Donaldson (200/1).
The total prize fund on offer this week is $9m, with a winners purse of $1.53m and 8,000 DPWTR points.
The Course
As the name suggests Yas Links is a modern variation on the type of links courses you will find in the UK.
Huge greens and run off areas that can be firm and exposed should the wind blow, which it often does on Yas Island.
More than a double holes bring water into play, punishing any errant tee shots as well as possessing some heavy rough in places.
The course is a medium length 7,425 yard Par 72, Kyle Phillips design, with a standard four par 5’s ( the 18th is a whopping 646 yards), four par 3’s and 10 par 4’s.
Obviously players who play good links golf and are accurate from the tee and into the greens are likely to feature prominently this week.
The Field
132 players line up for the Abu Dhabi Champs, including 19 of the 20 players from last week’s inaugural Hero Cup team event.
Previous winners Hatton, Fleetwood and Lowry lead the field and are closely followed by Alex Noren (16/1).
Next up is defending champ Thomas Pieters, then Rob MacIntyre and in-form Seamus Power (both 25/1).
4u Tommy Fleetwood – each way (1/4 5 places) – 10/1
The GB & Ireland captain may have seen his side lose in the Hero Cup last week but it certainly wasn’t Fleetwood’s fault.
Tommy looked in tremendous form, and won the level most points for GB&I with three out of four available.
His 3&2 beating of defending Abu Dhabi champion Thomas Pieters was particularly impressive.
This cements the 31-year-old’s form from 2022, where he won the Nedbank and went extremely close in several other tournaments.
2023 has started with three straight made cuts including a T3rd at the CJ Cup.
This is obviously a different course to where Fleetwood picked up his two previous wins in Abu Dhabi but he played pretty well here last year and loves links style golf.
I’m going for a Tommy three-peat to pull level with Martin Kaymer.
2.5u Seamus Power – each way (1/5 8 places) – 22/1
Seamus Power has been one of the form players on the PGA Tour for months now, winning in Bermuda and Top 5 the two weeks after.
The 35-year-old only picked up one point at the Hero Cup but that can be disregarded here.
Power grew up in Waterford, Ireland, so will be more than used to the wind and links style golf in play here.
2u Ryan Fox – each way (1/5 8 places) – 25/1
The form player on the DP World Tour in 2022 was undoubtedly Ryan Fox.
The New Zealander has had a couple of months off to recharge and should be good to go again in Abu Dhabi.
Last year the 35-year-old won twice (Ras al Kahamiah and Alfred Dunhill Links), finished second four times, with three other Top 5’s.
25/1 for a man who has already proven himself several times over links looks value.
1u Sami Valimaki – each way (1/5 8 places) – 90/1
Last up, we have our old friend Sami Valimaki. The 24-year-old started the 2023 season off in fine shape, finishing runner up at the Joburg Open.
Three more made cuts have followed including an impressive 11th in Mauritius.
Valimaki started well with a 69 last year before three poor consecutive rounds left him down in 72nd.
He had a good links record last year, finishing 22nd at the Alfred Dunhill and 24th at the Scottish Open and could be a good shot at 90/1 for a place.
Welcome Offer – Bet £10 Get £30 in FREE Bets
New 18+ UK customers.
1st bet on sports of £10+ in one transaction at evens (2.0)+ settled within 7 days of registering.
£30 paid in free bets within 10 hours of bet settlement, 7-day expiry. Payment restrictions apply.
Full Terms & Conditions apply.
