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Last week's joint top scorer Victor Perez can ride the wave
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Callum Shinkwin well suited for the Kyle Phillips test
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Haotong Li is a lively outsider at a big price
Yas Links, which this week hosts the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship for a second time, is very proud of its layout, boldly declaring it "the first true links in the Middle East".
Punters are always wary of such boasts, keenly aware that, for all the desire to replicate golf's original test away from the coastline of the United Kingdom, it is a very difficult trick to successfully pull off, not least when the grass type required grips and clings rather than allows the ball to bump and run.
But American architect Kyle Phillips was responsible for the plotting of Yas Links and he has a reputation for producing quality new designs with linksland pretensions both on the Scottish seaside and far away from it.
Graeme McDowell is a big fan of Yas and said of it: "Kyle has created something special here. The way the greens roll, the way they're shaped, the turf - authentic is a great word to describe it. A genuine links course in the desert.
"Sometimes you can close your eyes and think you're at Kingsbarns."
That last line is wonderfully McDowell-like - earnest, eager and keen to venture beyond the obvious yet also ending up in comedy character territory.
Yet his reference to Kingsbarns was knowing because it is very well-respected as an example of a modern links track and - also - another Phillips creation, to which we can also add Dundonald Links, the one-time host of the Scottish Open.
Elsewhere, Phillips has planned tour venues Bernardus and Verdura (both links-like) plus The Grove and PGA Sweden National.
As Steve Rawlings points out in his tournament preview, links lovers ought to be in the cross hairs this week.
Last year's first outing at the course saw Thomas Pieters (a winner on the links at Kennemer) win, Dundonald Links winner Rafa Cabrera Bello was second, Open contenders Tyrrell Hatton and Ian Poulter were among those sharing sixth, and former Open champion Shane Lowry was second with 18 holes to play. Linksland and Kyle Phillips designs inform the following three picks therefore.
Main Bet: Victor Perez 1pt each-way @ 50/1
Victor Perez was among the top scorers in last week's Hero Cup and he enjoyed the odd fist pump in the process.
Off the back of that experience he'll be feeling pretty chipper and this week ought to provide him with plenty of opportunity to ride the wave.
On the one hand, he's always enjoyed the Middle East. He finished second in this event at Abu Dhabi GC, has contended in both the Dubai Desert Classic, Saudi International and DP World Tour Championship.
Furthermore, his links pedigree was stamped by his breakthrough victory in the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and his third round that week is the beginning of his Kyle Phillips hints.
A 64 that Saturday at Kingsbarns saw him tie the 54-hole lead and 12 months ago he kicked off his effort in this tournament with a 66 at Yas Links which had him on the first page of the leaderboard.
A few months later he added a second DP World Tour triumph in the Dutch Open at Bernardus.
He can go well this week.
Next Best: Callum Shinkwin 1pt each-way @ 66/1
Second pick is another golfer who warmed up for this week at the Hero Cup and while Callum Shinkwin wasn't part of the winning team or a top scorer like Perez, he did perform well enough and he also has a good links record.
He was the runner-up in last year's Dunhill Links, was also 10th in 2019 and his 66 in the third round in 2021 was at Kingsbarns.
He was also seventh last year at Fairmont St Andrews in the Hero Open, eighth at the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart, but most pertinently he was second in the 2017 Scottish Open at Dundonald Links (when he lost out to Cabrera Bello in a play-off).
All that points to a liking for modern linksland and he has also enjoyed a link-like test in the Middle East - Al Mouj in the Oman Open where he was third in 2015 and the third round co-leader in 2020.
He closed 2022 in the best and most consistent form of his career, landing a second DP World Tour win and making 13 cuts in 14 events since the start of May.
He also finished last year's event at Yas Links with a 67.
I came close to including Joakim Lagergren but Shinkwin it is.
Final Bet: Haotong Li 1pt each-way @ 175/1
China's Haotong Li is the biggest price of the three picks and undoubtedly an outsider but he's one I really like this week.
Like Perez and Shinkwin he got back inside the winner's circle last season but he struggled to kick on like the other pair.
However, he closed the campaign with two sub-70 laps in Dubai and he's also had the winter break to recalibrate.
He's got a fine Middle Eastern log book that includes victory in the Dubai Desert Classic and second place in the Saudi International.
The 27-year-old also likes playing by the seaside, claiming third in the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale and recording finishes of fifth, 23rd and 14th in his three visits to the Dunhill Links.
All this is neat but his record on Phillips designs is the clincher.
Back in 2017 he opened with a 64 and closed with a 66 to finish third at Verdura, he carded a round one 64 at Kingsbarns in the 2012 Dunhill Links and he posted a second round 63 to lie second at halfway at Bernardus last spring.
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