Matt Fitzpatrick, the world No 4, has admitted to reservations over appearing at the DP World Tour’s end‑of‑season events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai because of the conflict in the Middle East. The Englishman, who is due to defend the DP World Tour Championship title in Dubai, has accused the tour of being “very vague” over plans to retain or move the tournaments. In Fitzpatrick’s mind, it is a “no-brainer” to play elsewhere, but he believes his sentiment will not feature strongly in the thoughts of the tour’s hierarchy.
Fitzpatrick even suggested that Formula One is reconsidering staging the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December after races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were called off this year because of the Iran war, though it remains on the calendar. The Abu Dhabi Championship is due to take place from 5 November, with the DP World Tour Championship slated for the following week. Every indication is that those competitions will happen in the United Arab Emirates, despite contingencies involving Turkey, Spain and Portugal known to have been considered.
I had a child in August and that changes things a bit more. Things can change overnight, I’m sure. I think it seems to be going down that path of things are getting better.
I’ve looked on the UK [government] website, I know they changed it from essential travel only to one step better than that. It’s frustrating the decision hasn’t been made so you can plan. But I understand there’s a lot of moving parts to that and it’s difficult to make these decisions.
As things stand, I wouldn’t necessarily be too keen on going. I know there’s been discussions on what Formula One is doing. I’ve heard they might not be going there, so it begs the question, would we, I guess.” Fitzpatrick later made reference to missile strike damage to a hotel in Dubai where he had dinner in the week of his 2025 win at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
It’s great for tourism and all that sort of stuff with it, but I wouldn’t say that I have had regular contact. A spokesperson for the DP World Tour said: “We are in constant dialogue with our members and their management teams about the tournaments they play in but ultimately players’ individual schedule choices are a matter for them to decide. Rory McIlroy is seeking to win a record-equalling eighth European order of merit – now the Race to Dubai – title.
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