The 2026 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship will feel less like the start of the climax to the DP World Tour season than a Ryder Cup reunion party.
Eight of the players from Europe’s thrilling win in New York back in September will be on show at Yas Links, for the penultimate event of the Race to Dubai from November 6 to 9.
Rory McIlroy will be playing for the Falcon Trophy for the first time since winning the Masters. He will be joined by fellow Team Europe stars Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Rasmus Hojgaard and Robert MacIntyre.
Even though it will feel much like getting the band back together, there is also some serious business at hand in the capital.
What are the DP World Tour play-offs?
The tournament in Abu Dhabi is the first leg of the season ending play-offs. The Tour describe the play-offs as “the final sprint” of the season, but it is more like a middle-distance race than a sprint.
Since 2009, the leading players in the rankings vied for the final points on offer at the Earth Course, in a last push down the season’s home straight.
Now there is an additional inflation of ranking points at the penultimate tournament of the season at Yas, too.
How does it work?
The top 70 available players in the Race to Dubai standings will tee it up at Yas, with the top 50 after that set for the season finale at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
There are 9,000 ranking points on offer at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and 10,000 available at the DP World Tour Championship next week. The points are allocated based on finishing positions in the tournaments.
Why is Lowry there?
Lowry has not played much on the DP World Tour this season, and is way down the Race to Dubai rankings.
The 2019 Abu Dhabi champion is entitled to return to the tournament, though, because of his inclusion – not to mention starring role – in Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team.
The 2025 Ryder Cup players are exempt and included in the field, in addition to the leading 70 players on the Race to Dubai rankings. “I’ll be giving it everything to finish the year on a high,” Lowry said.
Sepp Straka, another of the Ryder Cup players, had been due to feature in the play-offs. He pulled out last week, though, due to personal issues.
Who can win it?
McIlroy is in pole position to win a fourth Race to Dubai in a row. He has only played nine counting tournaments, but has led the rankings ever since winning the Masters at Augusta in April.
His only realistic challenger for the order of merit crown is Marco Penge. The 27-year-old Englishman has won in China, Denmark and Spain this year.
He is second in the race, with Hatton, who won the Dubai Desert Classic at the start of the year before heading off to play LIV Golf, in third.
What about Abu Dhabi?
The Falcon Trophy remains conspicuous by its absence from McIlroy’s bulging trophy cabinet. The Northern Irishman has never won in the capital, despite being a regular participant on both the National Course – where the tournament used to be played – and now Yas Links.
Fleetwood might be relatively low in the Race to Dubai rankings, but his form heading into the event is red hot.
The Dubai resident won the DP World India Championship in October, having recently broken his duck on the US PGA Tour as well, winning the Tour Championship.
The world No 5, who was Europe’s outstanding player at the Ryder Cup, has also won twice previously in Abu Dhabi.
Champions’ curse
One notable absentee at Yas Links this week will be the defending champion. Paul Waring said it would be life changing after his maiden Rolex Tour title in Abu Dhabi 12 months ago helped earn him a place on the US PGA Tour.
Maybe so, but it has not been for the better for the Dubai resident. The Englishman has struggled with injury for almost all of the time since, and has made just one cut all year.
Title defences have often been fraught with problems in the capital. Victor Perez won in 2023, then did not return the following year.
Before that, Thomas Pieters had won the title, then failed to make the cut in his defence of it.
Admission
General admission tickets are free for Thursday and Friday. For the weekend days, tickets start at just Dh100 and are available here.
It
Director: Andres Muschietti
Starring: Bill Skarsgard, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor
Three stars
Crazy Rich Asians
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan
Four stars
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
The%C2%A0specs%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dual%20synchronous%20electric%20motors%20%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E646hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E830Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETwo-speed%20auto%20(rear%20axle)%3B%20single-speed%20auto%20(front)%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh552%2C311%3B%20Dh660%2C408%20(as%20tested)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi
Director: Kangana Ranaut, Krish Jagarlamudi
Producer: Zee Studios, Kamal Jain
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Danny Denzongpa, Atul Kulkarni
Rating: 2.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
THE SPECS
Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre
Transmission: Seven-speed auto
Power: 165hp
Torque: 241Nm
Price: Dh99,900 to Dh134,000
On sale: now
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
