A new DP World Tour season always starts late in the previous year but, in essence, the Desert Swing has always been the official introduction to every campaign. This year is no different except that the bow came not in strokeplay but at last week’s Hero Cup (a tournament this column favoured the Continental Europeans in).

There was much to enjoy about Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup warm up. There’s no getting away from the reality that turning the tables on a formidable Team USA will be a very difficult task in September but the energy, enthusiasm and quality on show at Abu Dhabi GC was a real lift to European spirit. There was a coherence and clarity of thought about the entire enterprise while Thomas Bjorn’s pre-match words to the players – telling them that his peers had achieved what they could, now it was time for a new era to take control – was an astute re-shaping of the story, of how Europe’s Ryder Cup golden generation has aged and/or left for LIV Golf.

Exciting times for that new blood, then. Will the likes of Robert MacIntyre, Nicolai Hojgaard and Guido Migliozzi kick on from their excellent performances last week? Will the fire in the belly of Nicolai’s twin brother Rasmus have been stoked by watching it all from a buggy? How will someone like Adri Arnaus respond to missing out on the buzz entirely?

The circuit itself faces many questions this season as well. There are big names playing in Abu Dhabi and Dubai this month but they’ll be on the PGA Tour thereafter and won’t be back in force until mid-summer. There’s another high in September and then the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, but beyond those four small peaks is a schedule of tournaments that will be filled by the foot soldiers. The circuit’s Wentworth HQ insists the new-ish partnership with the PGA Tour is a strong one, others worry that an always imbalanced relationship is becoming more so. This year will reveal more about the status quo.

But enough of the concerns. Who can thrive this week? The Abu Dhabi Championship returns to Yas Links for a second time, a Kyle Phillips design with, despite the desert location, a very linksland feel.

Each Way – Shane Lowry at 12/1

There is something to like about each of the top three in the market. Tommy Fleetwood is a two-time tournament winner, an exceptionally fine links performer and he ended 2022 with a first win in three years. His fellow Englishman Tyrrell Hatton is equally at home on the linksland, was the last winner of this event at Abu Dhabi GC and he finished three shots back of the winner last year at Yas despite taking a 7 and a 9 on the par-5 18th hole during the week.

I narrowly favour the third man, Ireland’s Shane Lowry, whose links skills are obvious (he won the 2019 Open) and he’s yet another former championship winner. Ultimately three factors persuade me. The first is that he’s the biggest price of the three. The second is that I suspect he’ll be a little irked by his performance in last week’s Hero Cup (when he contrived to win just one point). And third, I also believe memories of last year’s event will want him to right a wrong after he fluffed a golden opportunity to win having been second with 18 holes to play. “It’s a course that would suit me,” he said last year. “A course I could be bullish about my chances. I like the way it fits my eye.”

Each Way – Ryan Fox at 28/1

New Zealand’s Ryan Fox is yet another linksland specialist, one who won last autumn’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and has also landed top six finishes at Portstewart, Ballyliffin, Gullane and Dundonald Links. The last of those efforts is doubly intriguing because it was designed by Phillips who is also responsible for Kingsbarns (which is part of the Dunhill Links rota) and Bernardus (where Fox landed one of his eight top four finishes in 2022). He was in great form in 2022, loves a links-like challenge and is good on Phillips designs – a neat package.

First Round Leader Each Way – Haotong Li at 125/1 and Joakim Lagergren at 100/1

I’m going to take aim at Thursday’s action with two golfers who have thrashed more than their fair share of low rounds on Kyle Phillips designs and also on linksland. China’s Haotong Li carded a first round 64 and a low-round-of-the-day 66 at Phillips’ Verdura in 2017, a 63 at Royal Birkdale, a 64 at Kingsbarns and a 63 at Bernardus. Add Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren whose excellent Dunhill Links record includes many low scores at Kingsbarns to which he’s added a tournament victory at Verdura (where he’s carded two 66s and a 63) plus a 65 and a 66 at The Grove (yet another Phillips Tour test).

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