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Look to Singapore and Mauritius for clues
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Big hitters set to prosper again
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Read my AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am preview here
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Tournament History
After two weeks in Dubai and a week in Ras Al Khaimah, the DP World skips from the UAE to the Kingdom of Bahrain for the second edition of the Bahrain Championship.
South African, Dylan Frittelli, won the inaugural edition 12 months ago, beating his compatriot, Zander Lombard, and Sweden's Jesper Svensson by two.
Venue
Championship Course, Royal GC, Kingdom of Bahrain, Bahrain
Course Details
Par 72, 7302 yards
Scoring average in 2025 - 72.44
In addition to last year's inaugural edition of this event, the Colin Montgomerie designed Championship Course at the Royal Bahrain Golf Club was also used on the DP World Tour back in 2011.
Just a few weeks before the Arab Spring-inspired Bahraini Uprising, the course was used for the inaugural edition of the now defunct Volvo Golf Champions event, a tournament won by Paul Casey in 20-under-par, a year after the course designer had controversially left him out the European Ryder Cup team.
According to Monty's design website, the course has been "designed and constructed to provide a links style golf experience in the desert, with fast running fairways and open approaches into huge, firm greens which are dramatically contoured."
The course wasn't especially well received 14 years ago, with the 'funky' greens getting quite a bit of stick with Ian Poulter being a particularly vocal critic.
"Played great today 35 putts, missed one green, simply the WORST greens I have ever seen & I'm not joking they are embarrassing.
Apparently, the architect wanted to make a statement with the greens, he did that alright they are &%$#"
There were no such complaints last year, so I assume the greens were softened in-between the two events.
The bunkers were altered prior to the off 12 months ago but it's the rocky wasteland wide of the fairways that needs to be avoided.
The course will play 41 yards longer this time around as the par four 10th and 18th holes have both been lengthened slightly.
The Championship Course also staged a couple of MENA Tour events in 2019 and 2020, won by Robin Roussel and David Hague.
TV Coverage
Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting at 8:30 on Thursday
Inaugural Winner with Pre-event Exchange Prices
2024 - Dylan Frittelli -13 350.0349/1
What Will it Take to Win the Bahrain Championship?
We've only had two DP World Tour event staged here and they were 13 years apart so it's debatable how much credence we can give the stats but for what it's worth, length off the tee was beneficial on both occasions.
Back in 2011, the top five in the Driving Distance stats, and six of the top-ten, all finished inside the top-12 and that the winner, Casey, and Peter Hanson, who finished tied for second, ranked first and second on the par fives. And it was a similar story 12 months ago...
The winner, Frittelli, and Svensson, who finished tied second, ranked third and fourth for DD and only Flippo Celli, who finished tied for 23rd, played the long holes better than Frittelli.

Frittelli ranked first for Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and fourth for Greens In Regulation last year and Miguel -Angel Jimenz, who finished third in 2011, ranked third for GIR. Stephen Gallacher, who finished fourth 14 years ago topped the GIR rankings.
A strong performance with the putter was more important 14 years ago than it was last year but the if I had to concentrate on one stat alone it would be Driving Distance.
Is There an Angle In?
The Championship Course is exposed and it's no surprise to see fine wind exponents and links specialists enjoying the test.
Casey, who finished third in the Open Championship in 2010, is a great links player and Frittelli finished fifth in the Open in 2021 at Royal St. Georges.
For at any edition of the Mauritius Open is worthy of consideration. Whichever venue is used it will be a wind-exposed links like track like this one.
Casey has never played there but Frittelli won the 2017 edition at the Heritage Course, and he finished fifth a year later when defending at Anahita.
Last year's Singapore Classic looks like another tournament to consider given the runner-up here, Svensson won the event, the 2011 course winner here, Casey, finished sixth, and the likes of Rasmus Hojgaard, Sam Bairstow, Sebastian Soderberg and David Micheluzzi all contended in both events but the best event to look at is probably last week's Ras A Khaimah Championship.
Like this week's track, last week's venue, Al Hamra, is an exposed desert layout that favours big hitters and fine links exponents, and Sunday's winner neatly ties up all three courses.
Alejandro Del Rey, who won the Ras Al Khaimah Championship by a comfortable four strokes, sat fourth here last year after rounds one and two, before a poor weekend saw him slip to 56th and he finished seventh at the Singapore Classic having sat tied for 62nd at halfway.
Winner's Position and Exchange Price Pre-Round Four
2024 - Dylan Frittelli -led by two 2.3611/8
In-Play Tactics
With the course drying out as the week wears on, it's very hard to make up ground in the desert - even in windy conditions - so concentrate on the early pacesetters.
Frittelli sat tied for eighth, trailing by three strokes, and he was in front from halfway, and it was a similar story 14 years ago.

Casey sat tied for sixth and just three off the lead after round one, tied fourth and one off the lead at halfway and he was tied for the lead with the runner-up, Peter Hanson after 54-holes.
The front four on the final leaderboard in 2011 were tied for the lead or trailing by just one at halfway and the two winners on the MENA Tour won wire-to-wire.
Market Leaders
Patrick Reed heads a wide-open betting heat at 18/119.00 but he makes little appeal after last week's underwhelming performance in Ras Al Khaimah.
Back-to-back 68s over the weekend saw the American climb from tied 33rd to tied eighth but he was never in the hunt and his lack of length off the tee is a slight negative here on debut too.
Another LIV golfer, David Puig, is next up after he finished third in the Ras Al Khaimah Championship, thanks largely to his 65 on Sunday.
The Spaniard would have birdied the last six holes in-a-row had he sunk his 10-footer for a four at the par five 18th so he couldn't have finished the week off much better.
The 23-year-old has already won twice on the Asian Tour, he was tied for the lead with a round to go in Houston on the LIV Tour in June last year (finished third) and he's contended a couple of times on the DP World Tour too - most notably when finishing third in his national event in September, where he was matched at as low as 1.331/3 when he led by three after seven holes on Sunday.
Like Reed, Puig is playing here for the first time, but he has more power off the tee.
Thorbjorn Olesen is yet another fancied runner playing here for the first time, and he really should improve on last week's disappointing defence in Ras Al Khaimah, where he finished tied for 27th.
The Dane hacked up at Al Hamra by six shots in 2024 so the fact that he couldn't break 70 last week was slightly baffling.
Laurie Canter and Johannes Veerman are the only other men trading at less than 35/136.00 but neither man can be described as prolific and I'm more than happy to give them both a wide berth.
Bairstow the only bet
As highlighted above, last week's event and the Singapore Classic appear to be the best angles in this week, so Sheffield's Sam Bairstow was a very obvious selection.
The 26-year-old gave himself no chance last week when opening up with a four-over-par 76 to sit tied for 113th . That shouldn't have come as a shock given he signed of the Dubai Desert Classic with a round of 80 to finish tied for 77th the week before.
With the rust now blown away, following rounds of 65, 71 and 67, which saw him climb to tied 16th in the Ras Al Khaimah Championship, the big hitter looks ready to contend again.
Whether he's a fair price at odds of less than 50/151.00 is debatable but I was happy to take small chance on Monday at 65.064/1.
I'll be back with the Find Me a 100 Winner column, which will have at least two selections in this event.