Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship 2025: Course and current form stats

• Undulating greens are layout's main form of defence

• LIV star Puig 16/117.00 ready to claim Bahrain title

• Smith 33/134.00 to enjoy another strong Middle East performance

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Tournament and Course Notes

For the third time in the club's existence, Royal Golf Club will be hosting a DP World Tour event;

Opened in 1999, the club is located around 12 miles south of Bahrain's capital Manama;

In 2009, the course underwent its first extensive renovation under the watchful eyes of Colin Montgomerie;

A second substantial restoration took place ahead of last year's Bahrain Championship. This latest upgrade included the redesign of a number of putting surfaces on the front nine;

Situated in the centre of Bahrain Island, the layout does not possess any great changes in elevation, although fairways and greens have plenty of undulations;

The greens, which appear to be the course's main form of defence, are also large. This puts a particular emphasis on players needing accurate approach play with their mid-to-short irons;

Sizeable water hazards come into play on each of the last four holes. Players must also avoid the plentiful desert scrub and large sandy bunkers.

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Good Current Form

With little course history to check out, much of the attention will be on current form.

Three players who seem to enjoy playing their golf in this region of the world are Jordan Smith 33/134.00, Jason Scrivener 66/167.00 and Scott Jamieson 66/167.00.

The usually consistent Smith has made a sluggish start to 2025, but that shouldn't prevent him from playing his way into contention at The Royal, especially in this mediocre field.

Scrivener and Jamieson both posted top-10s at Al Hamra on Sunday, with the former registering his second fourth place finish in three weeks.

As for the 41-year-old Jamieson, the experienced Scot tied-16th at this venue last year and will be upbeat when he arrives in Bahrain.

That said, he appears to be more of an each-way option, rather than outright winner.

Two players from the LIV Tour teeing-up in Thursday's first round are Patrick Reed 14/115.00 and David Puig 16/117.00.

Reed, the 2018 Masters champ, has carried his strong end of year form into the new season.

A winner in Hong Kong on the Asian Tour last November, Reed has opened 2025 with a brace of top-10 finishes in the United Arab Emirates.

His LIV colleague Puig stood on the Al Hamra podium on Sunday, in what was his first event of the new campaign.

The 23-year-old Spaniard is currently No 87 in the world, which is pretty impressive when you consider he is a member of a Tour which does not enjoy World Ranking status.

At Al Hamra last week he was seventh in the category Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. And if he enjoys another strong few days with the driver in Bahrain, it should leave him somewhere near the top of the leaderboard.

Finally, Englishman Laurie Canter 20/121.00 could be worth following. He took a break last week, after posting a podium finish at the Rolex Series event in Dubai.

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Middle East Form

Most T12s (Since January 1st, 2020)
7: Scott Jamieson
7: Thorbjorn Olesen
6: Ross Fisher
6: Jordan Smith
5: Marcus Armitage
5: George Coetzee
5: Jason Scrivener
5: Bernd Wiesberger
Only those entered this week are included in table
Refers to results from DP World Tour events staged in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates

Note: List Contains Leading Reserves

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