Abu Dhabi HSBC debrief: Perez passion; Harrington hunger and McKibbin pain eased

We pick out three talking points from the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship….

Victor Perez and his caddie James Erkenbeck celebrate the Frenchman holing out of a greenside bunker in the final round.Picture: Oisin Keniry/Getty Images.

Perez passion is perfect

Victor Perez may be the quiet type and likes to keep a lid on his private life, as we discovered when he wasn’t too keen to divulge much about living in Dundee after winning the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. But there’s certainly fire in his belly and, boy, did the Frenchman enjoy holing out from a greenside bunker at the short 17th in the heat of a thrilling title battle in the final round at Yas Links. He raced towards his caddie and they celebrated with a chest bump before Perez screamed in delight. It’s the sort of passion that Luke Donald will be looking to see in his players in the Ryder Cup in Rome later this year and Perez, who heaped praise on Scottish people for both the support he gets and also for “not being intrusive” as he goes about his business in the country where he now lives, has certainly teed up a wonderful opportunity to be part of the European team at Marco Simone Golf Club.

Harrington hungry for history

Padraig Harrington, who finished fourth at Yas Links, has his sights set on becoming the oldest winner on the DP World Tour. Picture: Ryan LIM/AFP via Getty Images.

Miguel Angel JImenez currently holds the honour for being the oldest player to win on the DP World Tour, the Spaniard having been 50 years and 133 days when he landed the 2014 Open de España. However, there’s a very strong chance indeed that will fall to Padraig Harrington before too long. The 51-year-old Irishman produced a strong performance to finish fourth in the opening Rolex Series event of 2023 and he’s also teeing up in both the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and Ras Al Khaimah Championship over the next two weeks. “I think it would mean an awful lot to me to become the oldest winner,” admitted the three-time major champion. “If I go and win out of the blue somewhere and steal a win, that's nice. I can put it down on my CV as the oldest winner,” said the three-time major champion. “But, if I come into tournaments talking a big game and deliver, that means it’s not just a sort of random sneaky win at my age and I'm a player again with the young guys.”

McKibbin’s pain from sore exit eased

Ten 2022 Challenge Tour graduates ended up getting to start their exciting new careers by competing for a whopping $9 million prize pot at Yas Links. Fittingly perhaps, Englishman Nathan Kimsey, the Road to Mallorca Rankings winner, fared best among the newcomers as he tied for 34th to pick up €60,483. Tom McKibbin, another of those to have made the step up from the second-tier circuit, suffered a sore exit as he missed the cut after running up a double-bogey 7 at the 18th as he completed his second circuit early on Saturday morning. But it’s great to see that he’s been handed an invitation for the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and it seems he’ll be joining fellow Holywood Golf Club product Rory McIlroy, the event’s star attraction, in a practice round at Emirates Golf Club. Oh, and two other major winners, Harrington and Shane Lowry, are also set to be involved in that, too.