Abu Dhabi Championship First-Round Leader Tips: Picks from 45/1 to 80/1

• 80/181.00 Daniel Brown loves links and was R1 leader in the Open

• 80/181.00 Joe Dean has made a string of fast starts recently

• 45/146.00 Matteo Manassero can continue his resurgence

Weather forecast for Thursday

A reduced field of 70 split into 22 three-balls and a pair of two-balls reduces the chance of a draw bias, although everyone sets off from the first so there is a range in tee-times. The opening group is away at 07:17 and the final three-ball at 11:50.

Those early starters will already feel temps in the 80s and it could rise to nearly 100 in the early afternoon. As for the wind, it picks up a little in the afternoon, possibly gusting around 18mph at times.

I'm slightly leaning towards the earlier starters.

Daniel Brown @ 80/181.00

Daniel Brown is in the third group out (07:39) and that could be an ideal spot for the Englishman to make an early mark again.

Brown hit the headlines at Royal Troon back in the summer when taking the first-round lead at the Open thanks to a 65. Rather unnoticed, he'd also started out with a 65 in the previous week's Scottish Open even though he missed the cut there.

At Troon, Brown showed his love of links golf by staying in the hunt all week (he was second after 54 holes before dropping to 10th) and he should really enjoy this week's venue, Yas Links.

Since Troon, he's again shown up strongly on the links with a fourth place in the Irish Open at famed Royal County Down. He was ninth after round one in that September event.

Most recently, Brown burst out of the blocks with a 63 at the Andalucia Masters in Spain, finishing second after 18 holes and third after 72.

Joe Dean @ 80/181.00

I'll go for another early-starting Englishman in Joe Dean, who tees it up at 08:39.

Like Brown, he's making his Yas Links debut but that didn't stop the pair hitting the ground running at Troon.

In Dean's case, he posted a 69 to end day one in fourth and, after a tricky Friday, he did well to bank a top 25 finish in just his second ever start in a major and first since 2017.

Dean played a couple of Challenge Tour events in Abu Dhabi earlier this year and in the first of those he opened with a 65.

That bodes well, as do other strong Thursday performances.

He was sixth after round one of the BMW International Open in July, fifth after 18 holes of August's Danish Golf Championship while in his very latest start Dean posted a 65 at Le Golf National to grab a piece of the first-round lead at October's Open de France.

Matteo Manassero @ 45/146.00

Matteo Manassero's surge back up the world rankings has been one of golf's heartwarming stories this year - he's now 86th having been outside the top 350 when teeing up in the Dubai Desert Classic in January.

He's had eight top 20s in his last 13 tournaments and three top sixes in his last seven outings.

Quick starts have been part of the deal too and he's been first-round leader twice in 2024: at the Indian Open and the KLM Open.

A closing 66 at Valderrama on his last start (17th Andalucia Masters) will put him in good heart as will a tee-time alongside Tyrrell Hatton and Adam Scott.

That's elite company and will just add to the Italian's feeling that he belongs at the top table again. They head out at 08:01.

Finally, Manassero has plenty of history at Yas Links and here's a quote I dug out from an event he played there way back in 2011: "Kyle Phillips knows how to design this type of golf course very well. This is the third time I've played this particular course and I think it's a great layout."

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