Golf's Gulf Playoffs Run Under Security Alerts

Eleven players opted out as the European Tour opened its two-week postseason at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, while the tour kept events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai on its schedule amid increased Middle East tensions and security concerns related to the Israel-Iran war. The tour gave no reasons for the individual decisions.

Play Continues, With an Evacuation Plan

The Abu Dhabi event is the first playoff for the top 70 players in the Race to Dubai. The tour said it had “plans in place for every aspect of every tournament on the DP World Tour and that is the case again this week.” Its tournament notice also spelled out what happens if the UAE authorities issue a mobile phone alert: “play will be suspended immediately, signaled by a long blast of the air horns, as per the procedure for a dangerous situation.” Players and caddies were told to evacuate the course according to the plans and proceed to the clubhouse.

The procedure is specific. The tour’s schedule is, too: Abu Dhabi and Dubai remain on it despite the stated security concerns. The Asian Tour, meanwhile, had already postponed the PIF Saudi International, scheduled for November 18-21. The UAE shares a border with Saudi Arabia.

Major champions and Ryder Cup regulars Matt Fitzpatrick and Shane Lowry were among those sitting out. Both were assured of remaining in the top 50 and advancing to the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai the following week if they chose to play. Eugenio Chacarra, Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy ranked first, second and third in the Race to Dubai and led the field. Jon Rahm returned to play in Abu Dhabi for the first time.

Ludvig Aberg, ranked No. 45, also did not play. Four players outside the top 50 were assured their European Tour season would end: Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, ranked 56; Si Woo Kim, ranked 62; Justin Rose, ranked 62; and Ryan Gerard, ranked 70. Gerard had flown to Mauritius the previous year hoping to reach the top 50, but played the PGA Tour event in Mexico that week.

The Season’s Other Calculations

Bernhard Langer, 69, finished 45th in the Schwab Cup and did not qualify for the 36-player field at Phoenix Country Club the following week. He had two top-10 finishes in his last 14 starts dating to April and skipped the previous week’s event in Arkansas because playing would have meant four consecutive events. At the Furyk & Friends event in Florida the previous month, he said: “I still have goals to win tournaments and to finish as good as I can week after week. I still enjoy competing.” Langer has a record 47 PGA Tour Champions wins, six Schwab Cup titles and 12 senior majors. It was his first year since turning 50 in 2007 without a win on the PGA Tour Champions or the Legends Tour in Europe.

The article also turned to November’s “Tiger Woods Watch.” Woods had returned to reasonable health, and the Hero World Challenge he hosts in the Bahamas in the first week of December had announced 17 of its 20 players. Players must be in the top 50 in the world ranking at a cutoff, except for the tournament host. Woods and his son Charlie have played the PNC Championship every year when Woods was healthy; Charlie has committed to play at Florida State. The event, for major champions and Players Championship winners with their children or parents, was filling its 20-team field.

Muirfield will host the Senior British Open in 2028, its first time hosting the senior men since 2007. The R&A’s decision comes as the course’s possible changes to accommodate the larger crowds preferred for a modern Open remain under consideration. Muirfield last hosted the British Open in 2013, and its next scheduled Open date is 2029. The tournament’s administrators set the calendar; players, caddies and spectators get the alert procedure when security conditions require a pause.