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McIlroy Leads Race to Dubai as DP World Tour Play-Offs Tee Off in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi opens the two-event play-offs with 9,000 points at stake, a $9m purse elevating the Race to Dubai.

Overview

  • Yas Links hosts the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship from November 6–9, the first play-off for the top 70 in the standings with no cut before 50 progress to the Dubai finale.
  • Rory McIlroy tops the Race to Dubai by roughly 441 points and is the betting favourite, with Ryder Cup teammates Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg and others in the field.
  • Closest challenger Marco Penge, a three-time 2025 winner who served an early-season betting-rule suspension, is grouped with McIlroy and Hatton for the opening rounds.
  • The Abu Dhabi event offers 9,000 ranking points and a $9 million purse, with a larger 12,000-point, $10 million finale in Dubai plus a £4.6m bonus pool and PGA Tour cards for top non-exempt finishers.
  • Defending champion Paul Waring misses Abu Dhabi due to injury struggles, as forecasts point to typically breezy links conditions on the Kyle Phillips design.