After the launch of the new DP World Tour season last week at the Dubai Desert Classic, the second week of the DP World Tour will be staging in the Middle East for the Ras Al Khaimah Championship.
Although some of the DP World Tour’s best players have jetted out of the Middle East, there is still a high quality field assembled at the Al Hamra Golf Club and there should be plenty of excitement this week.
Ahead of the tournament starting this week, here are some storylines to keep an eye on.
Thorbjorn Olesen Will be Hoping to Repeat Procession From Twelve Months Ago
Thorbjorn Olesen is a multiple winner on the DP World Tour and one of his most impressive victories came at this tournament and course twelve months ago.
Storming to a six stroke victory, Olesen showed that the wide fairways and relatively easy greens were exactly to his liking as he burned up the Al Hamra Golf Club.
A veteran of Europe’s victorious 2018 Ryder Cup team, Olesen performed well in Paris and is viewed by many pundits as a real dark horse to make Luke Donald’s European side later this year.
Starting the week as the bookmakers favourite, Olesen finds himself ranked down in 70 in the world rankings and is now someway behind his career high ranking of 33. If he is to force his way into the Ryder Cup conversation he will need to find his best form quickly otherwise those conversations will be nothing but a pipe dream.
For those that like to back favourites, Olesen is definitely worth taking a second look at. Having posted three top ten finishes in his last five starts he arrives at Al Hamra with plenty of confidence and should give yet another good showing.
Tom McKibbin Will be Looking to Provide Another Reminder of Qualities Before Expected LIV Switch
Tom McKibbin has long been regarded as one of the brightest young talents in European golf and many are expecting the young Northern Irishman to step into the shoes of Rory McIlroy and become the country’s next major winner.
Having worked hard to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2025 season due to his excellent performances on the DP World Tour throughout 2024. With many expecting McKibbin to enjoy a long and prosperous career over in America, shockwaves were sent through the golfing world when it was reported that McKibbin was closing in on a deal to sign with LIV and become the fourth member of Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII team.
With many excited about how McKibbin would fare over in America, his impending move to LIV has led many to question whether the move to the Saudi funded league has come a little too early in his career. With those on the LIV Tour unable to accrue world ranking points, McKibbin will face a battle to have a high enough world ranking to qualify for the majors and his chances of making Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup team has become that much harder.
Set to spend his time when not in LIV action on the DP World Tour, tournaments like the Ras Al Khaimah Championship present a vital opportunity for McKibbin to earn valuable ranking points and remind Luke Donald of just what a talent he is.
If McKibbin is going to play his way into Ryder Cup contention he simply needs to play brilliant golf each and every time he steps onto the DP World Tour stage and he will be determined to have a good week this week to remind Donald of the qualities that he possesses.
Other Young Guns Will be Trying to Steal Away The Headlines
Whilst Tom McKibbin is yet to make his LIV debut, one man who has called LIV home for a while is young Spanish golfer David Puig.
Another young European starlet who has long been tipped for the top, Puig performed well in his first full season on LIV last year and many believe he could well be the next great Spanish player following in the footsteps of Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm.
Puig faces a similar problem to what McKibbin is likely to experience this year, which is that he can’t earn enough ranking points to compete in some of the game’s biggest events so tournaments like this are vital for the young Spaniard and his aspirations of becoming one of the major forces in the game.
No stranger to success in this arena, Puig finished 3rd in last year's Spanish Open and recorded another top five finish in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Knocking on the door of the world’s top 100, Puig will be making his first start of the year but will be hopeful of landing his first European title. One to watch with real interest, it will be fascinating to see Puig’s game progress this year.
Scandinavia has long been a hotbed of talent and currently the DP World Tour consists of several highly talented players from Denmark. Spearheaded by the Hojgaard twins, one man who burst to prominence last season was Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.
Like most players from his part of the world Neergaard-Petersen is an icy cool customer who boasts a huge game. Still raw, the young Dane is developing all of the time but there are many inside the game who believe he could become Denmark’s first ever major winner and there are some who believe he could be a shock contender to make Luke Donald’s final Ryder Cup team.
Still acclimatising to life on Europe’s top tour, Neergaard-Petersen finished second on the European Challenger Tour and since then has been able to finish in the top ten at the prestigious Australian Open and was tenth in last week’s season opener at the Dubai Desert Classic.
Although this will be a course that he has never encountered before, Neergaard-Petersen will attack it with confidence and could once again find himself in the running. A real name to watch, he could be one of the best value plays of the week.
Jack Hartman
A keen golfer and huge fan of the game, Jack has been covering golf for the last five years. Bringing you all the latest coverage and news from the PGA, LIV, LPGA and DP World Tours, never before has golf been so popular and Jack can’t wait to bring all the excitement to his readers.
