And we’re off.

Whilst the European Tour is no longer, the DP Tour starts its 2022 campaign with the top-quality Abu Dhabi Championship.

After 16 consecutive years at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, the event now moves to Yas Links, a course that opened in 2010 under the design of Kyle Phillips and which now sits in the GolfDigest top fifty courses in the world.

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Whilst the track will be new to players and viewers alike, we can certainly take notice of Phillips’s designs of Hilversumsche and Bernardus, past and future hosts of the Dutch Open, and Kingsbarns, a classic Links course that has taken part in the rotation at the Alfred Dunhill Links since 2001.

With up to five tee positions on each hole, the course can play to 7400-plus yards with the par-72 comprising a traditional layout with two par-3 and par-5 holes on each half.

Tommy Fleetwood – Win and Top 5 +2400/+450 

Without question, the man from Southport is one of the most frustrating players to back, but his claims in this part of the world are always worth noting, and the move to a Links course may heighten them further still.

After missing the cut in four of his first five outings at this event (19th when making the weekend in 2014), Fleetwood has since won back-to-back in 2017 and 2018 and has since run up a sequence of 42/2/7. Whilst last year’s top-10 certainly adds value to his claim, he was in third place going into Sunday, yet another one of those close shaves that haven’t gone his way over the last couple of years.

The player himself admitted in the latter part of 2020 that he should have done better than his two runner-up finishes and a brace of bronze medals for the year, and it’s not tough to agree that he should have converted at least one lead at the Honda Classic or Scottish Open, whilst in-between he finished far too late when downgraded at the Portugal Masters.

Last season, he was again hard to get over the line, with the six top-10 finishes just about reward for events at which he had definite chances to record an even higher finish.

These things happen though, and golf is littered with players that don’t win as many as they perhaps deserve to, given their standard of play throughout the majority of an event. It doesn’t remove his claims as being far better than his current world ranking of 40th, and I have a feeling he will move back to the top-20 this year, a position he occupied from 2017 to 2020.

Often, positives heavily outweigh the doubts, though, and here we go.

Alongside the excellent event form, the two-time Major runner-up can boast a top-20 finish in one run at each of Valderrama and Hilversumsche whilst he boasts a top-five at the 2016 British Masters, held at The Grove, a course designed by you-know-who.

If we need it made any clearer, let’s add an average finish of 13.4 in 10 outings at the Alfred Dunhill Links and too many to name top-20 finishes in the UAE area.

Having had enough time to get used to the new TaylorMade clubs, I expect Fleetwood to relish the challenge this week and at least match last year’s 7th place (3rd going into Sunday) and celebrate his 31st birthday in style.

Matti Schmid – Win and Top 5 +15000/+2800

The player formerly known as Matthias starts his campaign as one of the most talked-about young players on the circuit.

A child protégé that was included in the German national team at a young age, he then competed for the Louisville Cardinals from 2017 to 2021, his highlight being back-to-back wins at the European Amateur in 2020 and 2021 before finishing top-15 at his home BMW International. Just a month later, Schmid made the cut at Royal St. Georges, where he won the silver medal for being the top amateur at The Open.

In a short professional career, the German prospect has had 11 starts, recording a runner-up at the Dutch Open at Bernardus, two top-10 finishes and three further top-20s before ending his year at the curtailed Joburg Open, an event at which he came from well outside the cut mark after the first round to sit 23rd at halfway.

Long off the tee and possessing a stellar iron game, Schmid comes here as the DP World Rookie of the Year 2021 and with a powerful experience of Links golf after a top-10 finish at the Alfred Dunhill. He could be anything, so grab him at these prices while you can.

Joakim Lagergren – Win and Top 5 +16000/+2800

Whilst the Swede has only a sole European Tour victory to his name, this was in Sicily, at the Kyle Phillips designed Verdura, whilst most of his next best finishes are at the Alfred Dunhill Links.

In six runnings of the prestigious three-course event, Lagergren has a record of 2/3/mc/12/4/4, a record that is unmatched by the vast majority of the 240 players ranked above him. Indeed, his latest runner-up behind Danny Willett was the only top-10 of the 2021 season and came courtesy of yet another stunning putting display, finding over 10 shots on the greens and therefore ranking clear number one.

It isn’t just a one-off either. Lagergren ranked fourth for putting on the Scottish links in 2019, second at Valderrama and eighth at Qatar in 2020, and had a further five top-10s with the flat stick throughout last season, including at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

The 30-year-old is a clear links and wind specialist, and if conditions turn windy, and I expect them to do so, then the price could look silly come Sunday afternoon.

Lucas Bjerregaard – Win and Top-5 +25000/+2800

Another former winner of the European Amateur (beating Fleetwood by a shot), the Dane looks to be back in form after a period of hiatus.

Bjerregaard’s form gives credence to the belief that he is another that comes to life when the track mentions ‘Links’ in any of its description, his first two wins being the Portugal Masters at Dom Pedro, a course often associated with form at windy, linksy Qatar. A year later, the Dane hit 65 at Kingsbarns on his way to defeating Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton to win the Alfred Dunhill Links.

Included in his ten top-10 finishes in 2018 was a top-five at the Sicilian Open, held at the Phillips-designed Vendura, all contributing to a world ranking inside the top-50. However, the inevitable move onto the PGA Tour proved much less successful, and it was only last August that he showed a semblance of form with a top-10 at the Hero Open at Fairmont St. Andrews.

In 11 starts since, the 30-year-old has shown sporadic bursts of form with a top-35 at Wentworth and a 12th in Spain before a sterling effort when just behind Thomas Pieters (well fancied this week) in Portugal.

It’s a punt at the odds, but Bjerregaard is long off the tee and has a solid all-around game thereafter. At his best, he can compete here, and with doubts about many in the middle of the market, he is worth a bet at the enormous price offered by one firm.