Ras Al Khaimah Championship: Course and current form stats

• Generous fairways, uncomplicated putting surfaces

• Rasmus 10/111.00 to post another solid Arabian result

• Olesen 16/117.00 slowly returning to top form

Tournament and Course Notes

• The DP World Tour makes a 75-mile journey north to tee-up at Al Hamra Golf Club for this week's Ras Al Khaimah Championship. It's the third tournament of five to be played in the Gulf States;

• Al Hamra has reasonably generous fairways, straightforward putting surfaces, and large threatening water hazards on eight holes. The course is laid out close to Ras Al Khaimah's western coastline in the Persian Gulf;

• Course architect Peter Harradine used five million cubic metres of sand to shape and design the layout. The venue was opened in 2007;

• This will be the fourth time that Al Hamra has staged a DP World Tour event. It has also hosted a trio of Challenge Tour events, including the 2018 Grand Final.

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Good Current Form

Among the group of in-form players on the DP World Tour are Rasmus Hojgaard 10/111.00, Pablo Larrazabal 40/141.00 and Thorbjorn Olesen 16/117.00.

Hojgaard, the world No 89, has finished tied-11th in each of his last three starts and has played solidly since early autumn. He also tied-sixth at At Hamra 12 months' ago.

The 40-year-old Pablo Larrazabal is a nine-time winner on Tour, and tied-fourth in Dubai over the weekend. And he's a former podium finisher at Al Hamra.

Olesen, meanwhile, appears to be getting closer to his best form from a few years back.

The Dane was fourth in this event last year and, in his last six starts on the DP World Tour, has posted four T10s.

And don't forget Hao Tong Li 50/151.00, the former world No 32.

The Chinese golfer has started the year with finishes of 14th-7th, having endured a miserable 2023 when he failed to make the cut in 16 consecutive events.

He has also stood on the podium at Al Hamra. At the end of last year he wasn't even ranked inside the world's top 500.

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Good Course Form

Three players with a strong course history are Adri Arnaus 66/167.00, Zander Lombard 20/121.00 and Jordan Smith 16/117.00.

Arnaus won here on the Challenge Tour in 2018, since when he's added a brace of T10s in DP World Tour events.

Lombard's last two visits have each yielded podium positions, and the South African's recent form is pretty impressive too.

He tied-6th at Dubai Creek two weeks' ago, and has not slipped outside the top-25 in any of his last six starts on the DP World Tour.

Smith, meanwhile, was runner-up at Al Hamra in 2022, having earlier won a Challenge Tour event at the same venue.

The Englishman opened 2024 with an excellent 4th at Dubai Creek earlier this month.

And then there's David Law 70/171.00 who has competed here six times - three on each tour - and his record reads a respectable: 11-25-7-25-19-11.

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Stroke Averages

Lowest Eight At Al Hamra (2022-23)
Average .... (Rounds)
68.50: Adri Arnaus (8)
68.50: Ross Fisher (12)
68.63: Hao Tong Li (8)
68.67: David Law (12)
68.83: Julien Guerrier (12)
68.88: Masahiro Kawamura (8)
68.88: Marcel Siem (8)
68.90: Callum Shinkwin (10)
Min. No. of Rounds = 6
Only those entered this week are included in table

Note: Al Hamra staged two DP World Tour events in 2022.

Note: List Contains Leading Reserves

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