Golf
2024 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship: Round 3 Saturday tee times and pairings
World No. 3 Rory McIlroy was the pre-tournament favourite as some top names battle it out at Yas Links.
The DP World Tour reached its penultimate event this week, as 70 top players headed to the Yas Links course for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The field includes the likes of Rory McIlroy, Rasmus Hojgaard, Adam Scott and Tyrrell Hatton, although Spanish star Jon Rahm made his excuses.
World No. 3 McIlroy was many experts‘ favourite to clinch a sixth Race to Dubai title but the Northern Irishman admitted that he was feeling the effects of a long season. He will go into the weekend nine shots off the top of the leaderboard. As Friday’s action came to a close, England’s Paul Waring was leading the pack with compatriot Tommy Fleetwood, the USA’s Johannes Veerman and Danish duo Niklas Norgaard and Thorbjorn Olesen in joint second spot, albeit five strokes behind.
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship: Round 3 tee times
With the action taking place in Abu Dhabi, tee times will be at unsociable hours for US-based golf fans hoping to follow the action.
Here’s a look at the full Round 3 schedule (Eastern Time). The early starters will get underway on Friday night in the United States.
Viewers in the United States can watch the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the Golf Channel.
How much is the top prize for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship?
The annual tournament was first introduced in 2006, at which point it was one of three European Tour events held in the Arabian Peninsula. Initially, the total prize fund was $2 million.
By 2019 it was drawing many prominent players and was one of 11 tournaments included in the Rolex Series, which comprises the top events on the European Tour. By this point the prize fund had reached $7 million.
In 2022 the event, which had been hosted at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, was relocated to Yas Links, Abu Dhabi. The 2024 tournament boasts a total prize fund of $9 million, with the winner bagging more than $1.5 million. Last year’s champion was Victor Perez, who managed a narrow one-shot win over Min Woo Lee and Sebastian Soderberg.