The Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship has been an ever-present on the DP World Tour schedule since 2006 with a host of players making a name for themselves in the Emirate.
Chris DiMarco was the first winner and since then Martin Kaymer has won it three times, with Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood each adding their names to the trophy twice.
Thomas Bjørn, Søren Kjeldsen and Henrik Stenson have each played in 17 of the 20 editions so far, with Rory McIlroy amassing a remarkable 11 top tens from 14 appearances.
But for 14 players this week, that history is just that as they play the event for the very first time, while one is also making a Rolex Series debut .
Here, we take a brief look at the players teeing it up at the Championship for the first time in Race to Dubai Rankings Delievered by DP World order.
Davis Bryant
Race to Dubai Ranking: 23
The American lost his card in his debut season last year but after coming through the Qualifying School for the second campaign in a row, 2026 has looked very different. He has had two runner-up finishes at the Magical Kenya Open presented by absa and Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol but his real hallmark has been consistency, with 23 made cuts from 27 starts. A professional for just three years, he had only played two ranking events before gaining his card in 2024 but is quickly getting to the status of next cab off the rank for a maiden DP World Tour win.
Yuto Katsuragawa
Race to Dubai Ranking: 28
What a difference a week makes. Heading into the regular season finale at the Genesis Championship, the Japanese was 106th on the Rankings and staring down the barrrel of losing full playing privileges. Four rounds and a second DP World Tour title later, he was heading to the Play-Offs. His first win at the 2024 ISPS HANDA - CHAMPIONSHIP came on home soil in just his fifth appearance but he would make just three cuts after that in the season. He finished 91st on the Rankings last term and will now be wanting to make the most of a second chance to truly establish himself on Tour.
Kota Kaneko
Race to Dubai Ranking: 34
Another Japanese, Kaneko gained his card for 2026 via the pathway created with the Japan Golf Tour as he topped its Order of Merit with two wins. He made his first eight cuts and finished second at the Soudal Open before claiming a first DP World Tour title at the Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol the following week. His form tailed off as he missed six straight cuts with summer turning to autumn but has made his last four as he gets back to his consistent best.
David Puig
Race to Dubai Ranking: 39
Our first winner of the season at the BMW Australian PGA Championship, that was the Spaniard's maiden victory in just his 15th appearance. A standout collegiate player for Arizona State University, he also represented Spain as an amateur and Europe at the 2018 Junior Ryder Cup before entering the paid ranks. His victory at Royal Queensland made him just the second Spaniard to win the event after the late, great Seve Ballesteros and after that he also recorded back-to-back top tens in Dubai in January.
Gregorio De Leo
Race to Dubai Ranking: 46
Much like Bryant, the Italian is making the most of his second chance on Tour after losing his card in his rookie season and coming through the Qualifying School two years running. He had his initial plans to turn professional scuppered by the Covid pandemic but made up for lost time in 2022 by winning three times on the Alps Tour to gain instant graduation to the HotelPlanner Tour. Similar to his DP World Tour journey, success did not come instantly there but having stepped up again, he is proving he can thrive in elite fields havng secured top fives across the Back 9 in Ireland and India. He is the only player in the field this week to be also making their Rolex Series debut.
Jon Rahm
Race to Dubai Ranking: 51
The sixth man on this list requires little introduction. Masters champion, U.S. Open champion, Race to Dubai winner, former World Number One and three-time Ryder Cup winner Rahm is familiar not just to DP World Tour and golf fans but is known aound the world. That he has not played this event before is merely a quirk of schedule and he arrives with a best finish this season of second at the US PGA Championship. Regardless of his unfamiliarity with Yas Links, he will be among the favourites.
Michael Hollick
Race to Dubai Ranking: 58
The South African would admit he had about as unheralded an arrival onto the DP World Tour as you could get, earning his card via finishing seventh on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit at the age of 38. He didn't (and sill doesn't) even have a wikipedia page. But what an impact the man who took up coaching a few years ago has had. He secured three top tens before Christmas and then, after a run of three made cuts in 12 starts,, he won the BMW International Open. He has made jjust two cuts since but can clearly turn it on when it matter and will be fighting to crack the top 50 and head to the DP World Tour Championship.
READ MORE: From student to teacher - How coaching helped Michael Hollick become a 38-year-old rookie
Stefano Mazzoli
Race to Dubai Ranking: 61
One of just two 2025 HotelPlanner Tour graduates to make the Play-Offs, the Italian will be splitting his time between the DP World and PGA Tours next season. After an impressive amateur career that straddled both the European and US collegiate circuit, he turned professional and played across the Alps, HotelPlanner and Asian Tours, being named 2024 Rookie of the Year on the latter. A year later he was graduating from the HotelPlanner Tour and after a quiet start to the season he catapulted himself into the limelight with victory at the Corales Puntacana Championship. Now a dual member, it will be fascinating to see what 2027 has in store.
Daniel Rodrigues
Race to Dubai Ranking: 63
Much like Mazzoli, he balanced both a traditional European amateur career and studying at Texas A&M and credits his time at university as having a huge influence on his game and life. The Portuguese turned professional in 2024 and the following year came through all three stages of Qualifying School to earn his rookie season on Tour. He impressed early at the Crown Australian Open and came second at the Turkish Airlines Open to help play his way into the Play-Offs and will be looking to rediscover that form after a quieter second half of the season.
READ MORE: Why not thinking about golf is the key to success for Daniel Rodrigues
Tom Vaillant
Race to Dubai Ranking: 65
The Frenchman has been touted as one to watch since he arrived on the DP World Tour in 2024 and his first foray into the post season shows he is beginning to fulfil that potential. After winning twice as an amateur on the Alps Tour in 2022, he turned professional that year, graduating from the HotelPlanner Tour in his rookie season in 2023. Comfortably kept his card in 2024 and 2025 and while he was on a similar ttrajectory this season, a tie for third on home soil at the FedEx Open de France has presented him with a chance to take his career to the next level.
Wenyi Ding
Race to Dubai Ranking: 71
The inaugural winner of the Global Amateur Pathway Rankings in 2024 impressed mightily in his debut season in 2025 and has continued to look the real deal. After starting the 2026 campaign with a runner-up finish at the BMW Australian PGA Championship, he also had a top 20 in the Rolex Series at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic as he made 11 of his first 13 cuts. A disappointing start to the Back 9 stalled his momentum but he made the weekend in Madrid and Korea and arrives in Abu Dhabi very much as a man to watch.
Yurav Premlall
Race to Dubai Ranking: 75
There are wins and then there are wins and the South African's victory at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship was utterly remarkable. He went 64-63-63 across his final 54 holes to win by 14 shots - a DP World Tour recoird outside of the Major Championships. Winner of the Freddie Tait Cup as the leading amateur at the SA Open Championship in 2021, he was little known outside of his homeland before the week in Spain but he now has a place in the history books and a place in Dubai to play for this week.
Filippo Celli
Race to Dubai Ranking: 78
A superstar in the making since his amateur days, having won the European Amateur, the Silver Medal at The Open Championship, and the Eisenhower Trophy. He has not had it all his own way in the paid ranks, losing his card afer coming through Qualifying School in 2023 but he regained it last year with the help of a win on the HotelPlanner Tour. He was looking at losing his card again but finished second in Denmark and sixth at the BMW PGA Championship before a top five in Korea ensured he would arrive at Yas Links with the wind in his sails.
Jordan Gumberg
Race to Dubai Ranking: 80
He may be a two-time winner on the DP World Tour but this will be the American's first appearace in the Play-Offs. He won the 2024 SDC Championship playing on an invite and the following season played every event for which he was exempt barring one as he battled to keep his card. A barely believable hole-out eagle with his last shot of the season in Korea saw him achieve that goal and he won again in March at the Hainan Classic presented by MAEXTRO. He has made just five of 21 cuts since but he would be the first to admit it has been a career of feast or famine and another big week could always be around the corner.
