Last year, Paul Waring took home the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship trophy in style, firing a slick 66 in the final round. Reflecting on the same, he said, “It was quite an easy day really, wasn’t it?” And honestly, it looked that way. But this year, Waring won’t be around to defend his crown. Since July, he’s been sidelined with an injury and hasn’t teed off since. Still, even in his absence, the competition will be tough.

The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, part of the DP World Tour playoffs, tees off from November 6 to 9 with the top 70 players battling it out. After that, the best 50 will advance to the final playoff event, the DP World Tour Championship. While there’s a lot on the line at Yas Links — including 9,000 Race to Dubai points and a $9 million prize fund — this event won’t follow the usual DPWT script.

That means that across its 72-hole stroke play format, the players won’t have to deal with the stress of making the cut. Yes, that also means the Yas Links event is a no-cut event. And that in turn means all the players will have an equal chance of taking home the trophy. And the prize money.

Now, how did the players make it onto the field, anyway? The DP World Tour season got underway with a five-part Global Swings phase from last November to August, followed by the Back 9 from late August to the end of October. Members racked up Race to Dubai points along the way, with 3,000 points on offer in the Global Swings and a nice bump to 5,000 points in the Back 9.

And if that wasn’t enough, the first three Rolex Series events were a major deal, offering 8,000 points each. Now, the top 70 from the 110 top players in the rankings made it to Yas Links. And then the top 50 from the field will make it to the field of the DP World Tour Championship, as mentioned above. So, which pros to look forward to? Well, plenty.

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Rory McIlroy is looking to clinch another Race to Dubai trophy

Rory McIlroy is on a hunt. This time for a seventh Harry Vardon Trophy. And, even more impressively, for his fourth back-to-back trophy. He’s currently top of the rankings with a 400-point lead over Marco Penge. That’s a startling advantage. On the other hand, McIlroy has been riding the highs of success, including, but not limited to, his Masters win. So, expect the same kind of flair this time around, what with him looking for another record.

Penge wouldn’t have made it to the list had it not been for his stellar gameplay. Penge’s jump from 416th to 29th in the world rankings is huge, and within a single year, it is pretty impressive. He’s also on a roll, having won three DP World Tour titles and qualifying for major tournaments like the Masters and The Open 2026.

That’s a pretty strong statement to anyone, including McIlroy. If not, you can consider his challenge to the Northern Irishman in this statement: “… once I didn’t qualify for the Ryder Cup, I think I played Irish Open and I thought, now my goal is to catch Rory.” The Masters champ really needs to be on watch this week.

Tommy Fleetwood’s been on fire lately, winning the FedEx Cup, doing great (collecting the highest points) at the Ryder Cup, and taking home the DP World India Championship. He’s also ranked 26th on the DP World Tour. Other big names to watch are Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg, and Tyrrell Hatton. Which one’s your favorite?