Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Brooks Koepka and Tommy Fleetwood walk across the 8th green during the final round of the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills on June 18, 2017 in Hartford, Wisconsin.
By John Tully-Jackson
Tommy Fleetwood’s tilt for an unprecedented third straight Falcon trophy will begin in the company of Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship drawcard Brooks Koepka on Wednesday.
The two-time defending champion and reigning PGA Tour Player-of-the Year will peg it up alongside fellow Ryder Cupper Tyrrell Hatton for the first two days of the $7 million European Tour event, at 7:40am from the 10th on Wednesday and 12:05pm Thursday from Abu Dhabi Golf Club’s 1st tee.
Former Open champions Henrik Stenson and Louis Oosthuizen have been paired with world No.3 Dustin Johnson in the other marquee threesome and will set out 10 minutes before Fleetwood and co. in the first round on Wednesday, also from the 10th tee.
Martin Kaymer has won Abu Dhabi, elevated this year to one of the tour’s showpiece Rolex Series events, three times but Fleetwood would become the first player to win a Desert Swing event three years in succession if he hoists the Falcon again on Saturday.
Pure three-peats are rare on the European Tour, the most recent being Sergio Garcia who claimed the Andalucia Valderrama Masters for the third time in a row in June last year. Garcia also won in 2011 and 2017, with the tournament having a five year hiatus, but it has been a while since anyone has won in three consecutive years.
Were the Englishman to complete the feat, he would join the elite club of hat-trick heroes in events still on the schedule: Colin Montgomery (BMW PGA Championship ’98 to 2000), Sir Nick Faldo (Irish Open ’91 to ’93), Marcel Dallemagne (Open De France ’36 to ’38), Aubrey Boomer (KLM Open ’24 to’26) and Ángel de la Torre (Open De España 1916, ’17 and ’19).
Another player looking to reclaim something this week is three-time major champion Koepka. The American was recently overtaken atop the world rankings by Saudi International-bound Justin Rose, but a very good week on The National should see him reinstalled to the top spot.
“I’m thinking about it,” Koepka admitted on Monday. “It’s always nice to be the best in the world at something. You know, you try to play your best and be on top, but there’s no extra added pressure or anything like that.
“If I do what I’m supposed to do, I’ll be just fine and get backup up on the top.”
Other notable groups to watch over the first 36-holes in Abu Dhabi include Ian Poulter, English compatriot Eddie Pepperell and Le Golf National Ryder Cup debutant Thorbjørn Olesen. They heads out at 11.55am (1st tee) Wednesday, 10 minutes before European Tour stalwart Lee Westwood, Thai striper Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Dubai-based Spanish Rafa Cabrera Bello.
First round tee times for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship – Wednesday, Jan. 16
TEE 1
07:20 Liam JOHNSTON, David HORSEY, Justin WALTERS
07:30 Ashley CHESTERS, Robert MACINTYRE, Richie RAMSAY
07:40 Wade ORMSBY, Romain WATTEL, Ashun WU
07:50 Erik VAN ROOYEN, Tapio PULKKANEN, Scott HEND
08:00 Zander LOMBARD, Mike LORENZO-VERA, Pelle EDBERG
08:10 Yusaku MIYAZATO, Jaco VAN ZYL, Maximilian KIEFFER
08:20 James MORRISON, Raphaël JACQUELIN, David DRYSDALE
08:30 Jens DANTORP, Victor PEREZ, Saif THABET (AM)
08:40 Nino BERTASIO, Richard STERNE, David LAW
08:50 Adri ARNAUS, Oliver FISHER, Stephen GALLACHER
09:00 Jack SINGH BRAR, Yuxin LIN (AM), Min Woo LEE
11:45 Andrew JOHNSTON, Darren FICHARDT, Nicolas COLSAERTS
11:55 Eddie PEPPERELL, Ian POULTER, Thorbjørn OLESEN
12:05 Rafa CABRERA BELLO, Lee WESTWOOD, Kiradech APHIBARNRAT
12:15 Branden GRACE, Martin KAYMER, Byeong Hun AN
12:25 Pablo LARRAZÁBAL, Robert ROCK, Andy SULLIVAN
12:35 Kurt KITAYAMA, Aaron RAI, David LIPSKY
12:45 Ryan FOX, Tom LEWIS, Lucas HERBERT
12:55 George COETZEE, Andres ROMERO, Adrian OTAEGUI
13:05 Peter HANSON, Jacques KRUYSWIJK, Dean BURMESTER
13:15 Steven BROWN, Christiaan BEZUIDENHOUT, Sean CROCKER
13:25 Lee SLATTERY, Sam HORSFIELD, Thomas DETRY
TEE 10
07:20 Robert KARLSSON, Richard MCEVOY, Joost LUITEN
07:30 Louis OOSTHUIZEN, Henrik STENSON, Dustin JOHNSON
07:40 Tommy FLEETWOOD, Brooks KOEPKA, Tyrrell HATTON
07:50 Matt WALLACE, Haotong LI, Thomas PIETERS
08:00 Lucas BJERREGAARD, Shane LOWRY, Ross FISHER
08:10 Bernd WIESBERGER, José María OLAZÁBAL, Thomas BJØRN
08:20 Andrea PAVAN, Alexander LEVY, Alexander BJÖRK
08:30 Jordan SMITH, Fabrizio ZANOTTI, Jeunghun WANG
08:40 Gaganjeet BHULLAR, Benjamin HEBERT, Sebastian SODERBERG
08:50 Pedro FIGUEIREDO, Hideto TANIHARA, Søren KJELDSEN
09:00 Stuart MANLEY, Jason SCRIVENER, Bradley DREDGE
11:45 Gonzalo FDEZ-CASTAÑO, Grant FORREST, Matthew SOUTHGATE
11:55 Alvaro QUIROS, Kalle SAMOOJA, Nacho ELVIRA
12:05 Chris PAISLEY, Shubhankar SHARMA, Joakim LAGERGREN
12:15 Joachim B. HANSEN, Scott JAMIESON, Gavin GREEN
12:25 Sam BRAZEL, Paul DUNNE, S.S.P. CHAWRASIA
12:35 Paul WARING, Mikko KORHONEN, Trevor IMMELMAN
12:45 Callum SHINKWIN, Thongchai JAIDEE, Marcel SIEM
12:55 Edoardo MOLINARI, Brandon STONE, Jorge CAMPILLO
13:05 Renato PARATORE, Haydn PORTEOUS, Kristoffer BROBERG
13:15 Marcus KINHULT, Matthias SCHWAB, Kim KOIVU
13:25 Thomas AIKEN, Matthieu PAVON, Dominic FOOS
