Four Australasians in Abu Dhabi field
Ryan Fox – file photo PGA of Australia
The DP World Tour begins its regular season events for 2023 in Abu Dhabi this week with the staging of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at the Yas Links Abu Dhabi.
Four Australasians take their place in the field headed by the current world # 28 Ryan Fox who has struggled in this event previously although it was just a few weeks after this event last year that his meteoric run to the number two position on the 2022 DP World Tour began.
With two wins and three runner-up finishes in 2022, Fox reached an all time high of 23rd in the world ranking before finishing the year in 28th place and he begins what promises to be a year of opportunity for the 35 year old who turns 36 this weekend.
As a result of his ranking Fox will get to play several more events in the US in 2023 including the Arnold Palmer Championship and the Masters.
Fox has a best of 19th in six starts in this week’s event so it has not been all that good to him but with the confidence he has built courtesy of such a great past twelve months it will be interesting to see how he performs this week.
Fox will be joined in the field by fellow New Zealander Daniel Hillier who gets to play his third European Tour event as a cardholder, having gained his card via the Challenge Tour in 2022 and played the Australian PGA and Open Championships in November/December.
Perth golfers Min Woo Lee and Jason Scrivener are also in the field.
Lee has missed the cut in two of his previous three appearances in Abu Dhabi and been 35th in the other while Scrivener produced his equal best ever finish on the DP World Tour when runner-up in this event behind Tyrrell Hatton two years ago.
The event carries prizemoney of US$9 million.
