Rory McIlroy returns to action this week, with the Northern Irishman headlining the field at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in the Middle East.

The event in Abu Dhabi is the first of two season-ending playoffs on the DP World Tour, with the DP World Tour Championship following a week later in Dubai. T he top 70 players qualify for the penultimate tournament of the season at Yas Links, with McIlroy currently leading the way.

The Northern Irishman is within touching distance of winning a third-straight Race to Dubai crown and can claim the title with a week to spare – just as he did last year – with a solid showing in Abu Dhabi.

McIlroy faces tough competition, most notably from a bunch of his Ryder Cup teammates. Fellow European Tommy Fleetwood poses a threat, heading into the tournament as a two-time champion having won back-to-back in Abu Dhabi in 2017 and 2018.

Elsewhere, his Olympic teammate Shane Lowry is in the field, alongside three other members of the 2023 winning Ryder Cup side in Justin Rose, Nicolai Hojgaard, and Robert MacIntyre. Despite his loyalties to LIV Golf, another European Ryder Cupper in Tyrrell Hatton is also competing.

Having spent the majority of his campaign with LIV, Hatton is back for the DP World Tour playoffs having played three times on the circuit since September, which included winning the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last month. The Englishman is not the only LIV representation either.

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Rory McIlroy won the Race to Dubai trophy for the fifth time

Rory McIlroy won the Race to Dubai trophy for the fifth time in 2023 

Image:

Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

He will compete alongside one of the Saudi league’s most in-form players Joaquin Niemann. Torque GC skipper Niemann enjoyed his best season to date, winning twice on the breakaway circuit before eventually being pipped by Jon Rahm to the year-long individual crown.

A third LIV player in Adrian Meronk will compete, a man who was voted the DP World Tour’s Player of The Year for 2023, before opting to make the leap to the breakaway league. In total McIlroy and Co will be competing for a cool $9 million, with $1.53 million going to the champion. Here is a complete breakdown of the prize money on offer.

1st: $1,530,000
2nd: $990,000
3rd: $567,000
4th: $450,000
5th: $381,600
6th: $315,000
7th: $270,000
8th: $225,000
9th: $201,600
10th: $180,000
11th: $165,600
12th: $154,800
13th: $144,900
14th: $137,700
15th: $132,300
16th: $126,900
17th: $121,500
18th: $116,100
19th: $111,600
20th: $108,000
21st: $104,400
22nd: $101,700
23rd: $99,000
24th: $96,300
25th: $93,600
26th: $90,900
27th: $88,200
28th: $85,500
29th: $82,800
30th: $80,100
31st: $77,400
32nd: $74,700
33rd: $72,000
34th: $69,300
35th: $66,600
36th: $63,900
37th: $62,100
38th: $60,300
39th: $58,500
40th: $56,700
41st: $54,900
42nd: $53,100
43rd: $51,300
44th: $49,500
45th: $47,700
46th: $45,900
47th: $44,100
48th: $42,300
49th: $40,500
50th: $38,700
51st: $36,900
52nd: $35,100
53rd: $33,300
54th: $31,500
55th: $30,600
56th: $29,700
57th: $28,800
58th: $27,900
59th: $27,000
60th: $26,100
61st: $25,200
62nd: $24,300
63rd: $23,400
64th: $22,500
65th: $21,600
66th: $20,700
67th: $19,800
68th: $18,900
69th: $18,000
70th: $17,100