Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship preview and betting tips
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship top betting tips
Tommy Fleetwood’s credentials are impeccable and with Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka vacuuming up cash at the top of the market, his 10/1 odds will have plenty of backers.
It’s tough work, though, to win three in a row and I’d like to take a peek at him – at a much shorter price admittedly – to finish in the top 5 and top 10 instead.
I do like the chances of DJ. After a sticky second round, he came into form quite nicely at the Tournament of Champions and was tied 4th after a final round 67.
That will have shaken off the cobwebs quite nicely and the exposed nature of the Abu Dhabi course, the ability to handle the winds, and his record of 9th and 2nd in the last two years all work in his favour.
You’ll be paying for it at a best priced 6/1 but the price seems fair enough.
Henrik Stenson (18/1) hasn’t won since lifting the Claret Jug in that epic tussle with Phil Mickelson at Royal Troon in the summer of 2016.
But he has put in some decent performances since, despite sometimes being railroaded by niggling injury.
Top 10s at the Masters and US Open last year, for example, provide hope despite a PGA Tour season that rather petered out in 2018.
A decent enough display when fourth to Jon Rahm at the Hero World Challenge, as well as a similarly positive fourth at the Indonesian Masters in mid-December, also makes me optimistic that the 42-year-old isn’t done appearing at the head of leaderboards.
Henrik has played every instalment of this event, which began in 2006, and has six top 10s to lean upon – including in the last three years (8th, 8th, 3rd).
Stenson’s very comfortable in the Middle East, having lived for a number of years in Dubai, and if he can get off to a reasonably quick start he’d have every chance of bettering his odds.
His final round average here is fully two shots better than the first two so, if things don’t go to plan earlier, he might still come up on the rails to bag us some each-way cash.
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Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
