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Continental Europe chasing second straight win in Abu Dhabi
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GB & Ireland boast stronger individual history at this week's course
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Long, flat, wide fairways, big greens at this week's venue
Match Notes
The 2025 DP World Tour year gets underway with the Team Cup in Abu Dhabi. This is a three-day contest, held over Abu Dhabi Golf Club's National Course, and features two teams of 10 players each.
The teams in question are favourites Great Britain & Ireland 8/131.61 and Continental Europe 8/52.60. And, when this biennial match was last staged over the same venue in January 2023, Continental Europe emerged victorious 14½ -10½;
Format is as follows: Held from Friday to Sunday, there will be one session of five foursomes, two sessions of five fourballs, and one session of 10 singles to conclude the fixture. All 20 players participate in every matchplay session.
The two playing-captains for this event are Francesco Molinari (the winning skipper from two years ago) and Justin Rose.
Course Notes
- Abu Dhabi Golf Club is well known to players from both teams, having staged 16 DP World Tour events since 2006.
- With an average winning score of exactly 270 (18-under-par), Abu Dhabi has a reputation for being a birdie-fest.
- This long (over 7,600 yards), flat desert layout has reasonably wide fairways and large greens, while water comes into play on 12 holes.
- Opened in 1998, Abu Dhabi has plenty of sand, both in the form of official bunkers, as well as surrounding scrubland. There are four sharp dog-leg holes to contend with during the round.
Event History
- The first match between these two teams took place during the mid-1950s and was held four times as the Joy Cup.
- It was reignited again as the Hennessy Cognac Cup and staged five times between 1974 and 1982, before lying dormant until early in the new millennium.
- Then along came the Seve Trophy which was staged on eight occasions between 2000 and 2013.
- In all, the two teams have faced each other 18 times during the past seven decades, and never once has any meeting ended in a tie, although it is 9/110.00 to happen this week.
- So far, Great Britain & Ireland enjoy a massive 15-3 advantage, although the Continent of Europe has won each of the past two meetings.
- The aim of this week's Team Cup is to give players a taste of competitive match-play golf, should they be selected to appear in the 2025 Ryder Cup.
Key Facts
Cumulatively, the Great Britain and Ireland (GB) team has previously collected seven top-six finishes at this week's venue, while the only member of Continental Europe (CE) to do so is Thorbjorn Olesen.
- Tommy Fleetwood has won here twice, Tyrrell Hatton once, with Olesen posting a runner-up finish in 2013.
- Four members of GB&I were ranked inside the world's top 50 at the end of 2024, compared to two for CE.
- Three members of CE have represented Europe in the Ryder Cup, which is the same number for GB&I.
- Rasmus Hojgaard and Antoine Rozner are the two leading CE players regarding standout form in the region over the past five years, while Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood are the most successful pros for GB&I.
- Northern Ireland's Tom McKibbin is the only non-Englishman in the GB&I team, while CE is made up of five Danes, three Frenchman and a couple of Italians.
Most Top 12 Finishes in Arabian Peninsula
Since January 1st, 2020
T12s
12: Rasmus Hojgaard
10: Tyrrell Hatton
10: Antoine Rozner
9: Tommy Fleetwood
7: Thorbjorn Olesen
6: Jordan Smith
6: Matt Wallace
5: Nicolai Hojgaard
5: Matthieu Pavon
Five or more T12s for those competing this week