Matt Fitzpatrick not 'too keen' on attending DP World Tour playoffs events in UAE amid Iran war
· Yahoo Sports
Matt Fitzpatrick isn’t sure that he wants to head to the United Arab Emirates to wrap up the DP World Tour season in November.
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Fitzpatrick, a new dad, is starting to look at that trip for the Abu Dhabi Championship and the DP World Tour Championship differently due to the war in Iran and issues impacting the larger region. That may mean he doesn’t try to defend his DP World Tour Championship title, and he’s OK with that.
“Being completely honest as things stand right now, I would say I’m not that comfortable [going],” Fitzpatrick said Wednesday ahead of the BMW PGA Championship.
“A few things have obviously changed for me, perspective and stuff. I’ve had a child in August, and that obviously kind of changes things, I guess, a bit more.”
The DP World Tour will wrap up its season with back-to-back events in the UAE in November. But there have been talks within the Tour that the league would shift those two events elsewhere in the world due to the United States’ war in Iran. The UAE sits right across the Persian Gulf from Iran, and the country has faced missile and drone attacks throughout the conflict.
Fitzpatrick said he thought a decision would have been made by now, but he understands why things have been dragging out.
“It’s a difficult subject,” he said. “I’m sure the Middle East, particularly Abu Dhabi and Dubai, want the DP World Tour to go there badly because it’s a great event for two weeks. It’s great for the tourism and all that sort of stuff with it … I just think it’s a difficult topic for them to obviously make a decision on.”
Fitzpatrick also said that he doesn’t feel that his perspective as a player on this front would be considered by the Tour, either.
“I just don’t feel like my opinion would hold that much weight,” he said. “I know I’ve been asked on my opinion, but I don’t necessarily think it’s like a heavy weight that’s going to give — I’ve spoken to a couple of the guys and some of them have said they are uncomfortable. Some have said it’s fine. I guess we’ll see.”
Fitzpatrick has won five times on the PGA Tour in his career, including three times last season. He’s jumped up to No. 4 in the Official World Golf Rankings, too. Fitzpatrick has won 10 times on the DP World Tour, including three times at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. He beat Rory McIlroy in a playoff at the event last season.
It’s unclear when a decision on the UAE events will be made. There are six events left in the regular season, starting with this week’s event at the Wentworth Club in England. The Abu Dhabi Championship, the first of the two playoff events, is set to start on Nov. 5. The DP World Tour Championship is slated for Nov. 12.
“I know the Tour has been on this for a long time. It’s obviously frustrating that the decision hasn’t been made so you can plan what’s going on,” he said. “But I understand there’s obviously a lot of moving parts to that, and it’s obviously difficult to make these decisions.
“I think if the Tour [does] go, I’m sure they have had the best advice possible on what that looks like. As things stand right now, I wouldn’t necessarily be too keen on going.”