Yannik Paul Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Al Hamra poised for young guns in Ras Al Khaimah Championship

Golf Digest Middle East — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 12:15:13 +0000

Dan Bradbury, Alex Fitzpatrick, Yannik Paul and Jordan Smith will tee it up at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in early 2024.

The quartet, all rising stars on the DP World Tour, will compete at Al Hamra Golf Club from January 25-28 before heading to Royal Golf Club in Bahrain the following week during the International Swing on the new-look 2024 Race to Dubai.

The events follow back-to-back weeks in Dubai with the Dubai Invitational and the Hero Dubai Desert Classic as the Middle East forms the focal point of the DP World Tour’s early 2024 schedule.

With defending champion Daniel Gavins having already confirmed his return to Ras Al Khaimah along with three-time Major Champion Pádraig Harrington and DP World Tour winners Rasmus Højgaard and Pablo Larrazábal, the field for the showdown at Al Hamra Golf Club is starting to take shape.

Padraig Harrington – Jared C. Tilton

Bradbury, who enjoyed a stand-out debut season in 2023, is looking forward to progressing further in 2024 after finishing 36th in his maiden year on the Race to Dubai.

“I enjoy playing golf in the Middle East so I’m excited to head back to Ras Al Khaimah and also visit Bahrain for the first time. They should be great events,” he said.

Fellow countryman Fitzpatrick earned his playing privileges for 2024 through a combination of the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca and strong performances in limited starts on the DP World Tour, including a tie for 17th in The Open at Royal Liverpool, and is now able to play a full schedule on the Race to Dubai.

“There was quite a lot of pressure last year because I felt like I had to play well in the limited opportunities I got to play, so it’s quite nice now to be able to plan my schedule a bit more,” said Fitzpatrick. “It’s always nice to go out to the Middle East so I’m looking forward to getting out there next month.”

Germany’s Paul, who won the 2021 Mallorca Golf Open, is also looking to build on a strong 2023 which included two runner-up finishes and five other top tens.

“I felt like I played some good golf last season, particularly in the first part of the year, so hopefully I can do that again next year. I can’t wait to see everybody in Ras Al Khaimah and Bahrain,” he said.

Two-time DP World Tour winner Smith is someone who knows Al Hamra Golf Club well, having won the Challenge Tour’s Ras Al Khaimah, 2016 Golf Challenge, and always enjoys returning to a place where he’s enjoyed previous success.

Jordan Smith – Challenge Tour / Getty Images

“That victory in 2016 effectively secured the number one spot on the Challenge Tour Rankings for me, so I’ll always enjoy going back to Al Hamra,” said Smith. “This event, in addition to Bahrain, will be a really fun part of the schedule and I’m looking forward to getting out there.”

Main Image: DP World Tour / Getty Images

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Six-way race for final Ryder Cup spot on European Points List at Omega European Masters

Matt Smith — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 13:16:28 +0000

Robert MacIntyre. DP World Tour

The final automatic spot on Luke Donald’s European team for the Ryder Cup showdown with the United States will come down to the final qualifying event — this weeks’ Omega European Masters ‚ with six players still in the running.

After finishing T-4 fourth place at the Czech Masters on Sunday, Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre holds a slender lead in the European Points List, narrowly increasing his lead over closest challenger Yannik Paul.

The Scot birdied his final hole to finish his week on 17-under, gaining 85.42 points in the Czech Republic to increase his total on the European Points List to 1828.99.

His top five at Albatross Golf Resort also helped to increase his advantage over Yannik Paul, who began his week just 90.67 points behind MacIntyre and finished one behind him in 10th place. It means Paul gained 50 points to up his tally to 1702.9, which leaves him 126.09 points adrift of the man who displaced him in the automatic spot with one week to go.

MacIntyre and Paul are two of six players in this week’s field that can end the week in Donald’s line-up. They all have necessary scenarios to make that happen, but Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez, Rasmus Hojgaard and Adrian Otaegui all have a mathematical chance of claiming that third and final place.

They will all tee up at Crans-sur-Sierre on Thursday knowing that the fate of their Ryder Cup place is in their hands, whether that is doing enough to qualify, or enough to impress Donald in the last event of the qualifying period.

Tommy Fleetwood, who is currently occupying the third spot on the World’s Points List, could have also qualified with a win but is not competing in Switzerland this week.

Scenarios: What each player needs to do to win

MacIntyre could still be caught even if he finishes second, so needs to win to absolutely guarantee his place, but only a top-three finish from fellow contenders will threaten his position.
Paul will qualifies if he wins. He would need to finish at least tied for third with two others, or better, to have a chance.
Meronk needs to finish in a tie for second with just one player or better to have a chance
Perez needs to finish in second place alone, or to win to have a chance
Hojgaard needs to win to have a chance
Otaegui needs to win to have a chance

European Points List
Player Points
Rory McIlroy (Q) 4033.5
Jon Rahm (Q) 3417.23
Robert MacIntyre 1828.99
Yannik Paul 1702.9
Adrian Meronk 1620.59
Victor Perez 1571.03
Tommy Fleetwood 1534.37
Rasmus Hojgaard 1435.51
Adrian Otaegui 1435.51
Shane Lowry 1290.23

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Yannik Paul grabs maiden DP World Tour win at Mallorca Golf Open

Matt Smith — Sun, 23 Oct 2022 17:46:05 +0000

By Matt Smith
The DP World Tour has its newest champion as Yannik Paul sensationally claimed the Mallorca Golf Open by a single shot.

Paul was the co-leader with seasoned Kiwi Ryan Fox, but the Ras Al Khaimah champion was out of the running as Marcus Armitage emerged as the main thread to Germany’s Paul.

The youngster was in command, but a two-shot swing on the 15th gave partner Armitage a two-stroke lead with only three holes to play.

But, just as dramatic, Armitage imploded — dropping three shots over the next two holes as Paul made par on the 17th.

Tied for the lead on the last with Paul Waring and Nicolai von Dellingshausen as Armitage lost his way, Paul made a clutch birdie from 15-feet to claim his first DP World Tour crown in 26 appearances.

Paul’s three birdies and four bogeys were good enough — just — at Son Muntaner Golf Club and he carded a total of 15-under, while Armitage back on 12-under.

28-year-old rookie @YannikPaul is a Tour winner ???#MallorcaGolfOpen pic.twitter.com/BxCvFI6AuN

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 23, 2022

Fellow German Von Dellingshausen and Englishman Waring were T2 on 14-uner, while Fox clung on for T4 alongside Engalnd’s Dale Whitnell,

Ryan Fox has moved up to second in the DPWT rankings after another solid showing this season, overtaking US Open champ Matt Fitzpatrick.

“I’m speechless, honestly, I’m just so happy,” said Paul.

“My girlfriend and I, we worked a lot on my mental side and we were dreaming that she would be here for my first win, and she’s here now, it’s unbelievable.

“It was really hard today. My ball-striking was unbelievable all week. I hit it really close at the first couple of holes and couldn’t make any putts.

“So that was really hard to just stay in the moment. But luckily none of the other guys really made a lot of putts.

“I saw after nine holes that I was in the lead and then Marcus obviously hit a great shot on 15 and holed a great putt so I was two shots away and I thought ‘OK, now it’s going to get close’.

“I couldn’t have dreamt of a better ending so I’m over the moon.”

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