This Week in Golf: The Challenge Tour returns to the UAE and visits Al Ain for the first time

After all the drama and excitement of The Masters, it is back to business as usual in the golfing world.

The Challenge Tour arrives in the UAE for two weeks with Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Golf Club hosting this week’s Abu Dhabi Challenge.

It is the seventh event on the season-long Road to Mallorca Order of Merit and boasts a prize fund of $300,000.

A strong local representation is in the field, with the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) fully utilizing their 30 invites for the week – both for UAE-based players as well as reciprocal invites with other Federations and tournaments around the world.

The following amateurs have confirmed entries - Ahmad Skaik, Khalifa Masaood, Mohammad Skaik, Rayan Ahmed, Rashed Al Emadi, Neyl Cherrat, Thomas Nesbitt, Jonathan Selvaraj and Rashed AlJassmy.

UAE resident Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium), will also play through his Category 10, finishing 155 – 183 on the 2023 final Race to Dubai Rankings.

The PGA Tour holds another of its Signature events, the RBC Heritage, with a $20 million purse at Hilton Head, the traditional tournament the week after The Masters.

Matt Fitzpatrick is the defending champion and included in the field are Masters champion, Scottie Scheffler, Ludvig Aberg, Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and so many of last week’s contenders.

A parallel event, the Corales Puntacana Championship boasting a purse of $4 million, also takes place this week in the Dominican Republic. Matt Wallace won last year.

The Asian Tour is in the region with the Saudi Open presented by PIF, to be held at Riyadh Golf Club.

Competing in this event are Dubai-based Gaganjeet Bhullar and Shiv Kapur as well as Rafa Cabrera Bello which has a Wednesday start and a Saturday finish.

On the LPGA Nelly Korda goes for five tournament wins in a row in the first of five Majors in ladies' golf at The Chevron Championship in Texas, USA.

Schedule

PGA Tour

RCB Heritage

Thursday 18th – Sunday 21st April, 2024

Venue: Hilton Head Island,

Purse: $20 million

Corales Puntacana Championship

Thursday 18th – Sunday 21st April, 2024

Venue: Puntacana Resort & Club, Punta Cana, Dom

Purse: $4 million

Challenge Tour

Abu Dhabi Challenge

Thursday 18th – Sunday 21st April, 2024

Purse: $5.2 million