ABU DHABI HSBC CHAMPIONSHIP 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year’s DP World Tour took off with Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship 2023 as its opening event. It took place at an exuberating  Yas Links Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Established in 2006, the tournament is one of the several DP World Tour events that takes place on the Arabian Peninsula, which takes place every year at Yas Links.  

Offering one of the largest prize pots of the regular DP World Tour season, it is a part of the Rolex Series simultaneously attracting some of the world’s best players to compete on the European circuit. The prize money has increased from the last two years with a $9 million purse pool this time. 

 

 

Yas Links Abu Dhabi, UAE

 

 

The winner receives an approximately 25.9 Official World Golf Ranking points, with the points available based on field strength. None the less this winning brings alot more benefits including a two-plus season exemption on the European Tour, as well berths into other key events.

 

 

Winner's Trophy

 

 

The champion earns 1,335 DP World Tour points, with the player possessing the most season-long Race to Dubai points at the end of the tournament winning the Race to Dubai and its first-place prize.The top eight players in the Race to Dubai standings after the season will be paid from the Race to Dubai bonus pool of €6 million.

 

 

DAY 1

 

Shubhankar sharma stood out amidst the logjam on the leaderboard during the first day of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship tied at 5th by hitting 5 birdies in the first round of the tournament. He got 4 birdies in the front nine and one on the 18th. He carded 5-under (67). He was the only Indian who played the tournament. The topper in the leaderboard was England’s Luke Donald who was three ahead of Shubhankar. 

 

 

 

Guido Migliozzi who won the 2022 Cazoo Open de France at Le Golf National, bridging a three-year gap between victories was T-2nd with Australian player Jason Scrivener at 7-under (65) each in the prestigious Abu Dhabi Championship 2023.

Irish Pro-Golfer Seamus Power, had a radiant first round finish in the event by standing solo at the 4th position by hitting 6-under (66).  He was the winner of the 2022 Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

 

 

DAY 2

 

 

After the conclusion of round 2 of Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship,the leaderboard seems to have changed for the topper, now it’s Italy’s Francesco Molinari who bagged 5-under (67) with two birdies, one bogey and struggled one double bogey in the back nine, tied with Guido Migliozzi both hitting a total of 10-under.

Putting himself in the perfect position of securing a solo third position by the end of the second round, stands Jason Scrivener who scored two-under (70) at the end of the second round. Over the two rounds, he climbed up to the eight positions after which he stood solo third at the end of the second round. 

 

 

 

Alexander Bjork, George Coetzee, Scott Jamieson, Alexander Levy and Victor Perez fired the second round with a total score of 8-under at YAS Links Abu Dhabi and procured the 4th position. 

New Zealand’s Ryan Fox played a very steady with 66 tied at 9th along with Japanese player Masahiro Kawamura where he had reduced the overnight big gap by climbing up 15 positions who was standing at 44 by the end of the first round. 

An amazing Indian golfer , Shubhankar Sharma was seen tied at 9th with six other players including the above two. The 26 year old hit a score of 2-under(70) in this round with a birdie on 11th and a bogey on 18th. 

 

DAY 3

 

 

Shinning like beacons in the first round, Shubhankar started in a style as he parred his first six holes, birdied the seventh and then parred the next two. Now Sharma was seen tied at 11th as compared to the 9th where he was in the previous round. He felt that difference while hitting 4 birdies and one bogey in the third round of the tournament.

 

 

 

 

Climbing nine positions up, New Zealand’s Min Woo Lee has topped the leaderboard with a total score of 13-under tied with Shane Lowry and Francesco Molinari. Shane hit a fantastic eagle on 6th in his third round while Francesco had a bogey on 5th. 

Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg tied at 4th by hitting a disastrous double bogey on the 8th. His total score was 12-under. Scottish player Connor Syme, thinking to start his bogey free round , had somewhere missed by just hitting a bogey on the first hole itself. Although that was the only bogey in his entire third round. 

 

DAY 4

 

 

Shubhankar Sharma , who is a two time winner on the DP World Tour had a striking eagle shot on the 2nd hole of round 4 at this fanciful Abu Dhabi Championship. He finished the round with 3-under (69). He has walked up the leaderboard from 11th to 7th in the final round. He really had a great start to the season when tees off at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championships here on Thursday. The 26 old golfer has already become a veteran as he begins his 11th year as a professional. By 2018 he was on the DP World Tour. 

 

In the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, he started his first round with Finland's Tapio Pulkkanen and Englishman Matthew Southgate from first tee, while Belgian Thomas Pieters, targeting back-to-back wins on the Yas Island, was paired with two other previous champions Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood from the 10th tee.

 

 

 

 

Pieters, the defending champion, said, "Shubhankar (Sharma), he's one of the nicest kids I've ever met. His dad, as well. Always saying thank you, please. He is very well brought up. He's just a really nice kid. He's well-mannered. There's nothing to dislike about him." On Sharma's game, Pieters added, "He's got a very good golf game obviously. I think he hits really good stretches where he putts it well and drives it well, and then he goes off and has a couple months or half-year that he doesn't really perform. But that's golf and that's just a part of growing up and dealing with those kind of stretches. Everybody has them." Sharma has kept his card since, but has not been able to convert close finishes into wins. Sharma being a person of great demeanour was always praised on DP World Tour. 

 

"I had a great start and then it was a lull in the middle for various reasons – some club issues, a niggle in the back and then Covid. There were Top-15s in Kenya, Dutch Open and Singapore, but towards the finish was strong with third place in Nedbank in South Africa," Sharma said.  "At the DP World Tour Championships I did just enough finishing in mid 40s but that helped me finish the year in Top-30 on the DP World and secure a place for the 2023 (British) Open. So, I would call the year a mixed bag." 

 

"It is a great place. Great places to go to and see. I went to the Ferrari World (across the Yas Links) here and I have great memories from the tournament last year. The elite Rolex series events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are a great way to start the year.

 

"I played with Viktor Hovland and Rafa Cabrera Bello last year in the final and ahead were Shane Lowry and Thomas Pieters. It was really close. A late bogey cost me a chance to get into a play-off." 

 

 

 

French man Meet Victor , whose second DP World Tour title came at the 2022 Dutch Open, defeating New Zealander Ryan Fox in a play-off on the fourth extra hole had crowned on the top of the leaderboard in the final round with a bogey free start of the round, but had hit two bogeys in the back nine of the same round.

Lee had been seen to slide down to second place in the final round and finished wth  a 4-under(68).