European Tour: Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship power rankings

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ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – JANUARY 26: Branden Grace of South Africa watches a shot during the first round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club on January 26, 2012 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images) /

Branden Grace’s resume at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is pretty similar to Hatton’s, but I’ll give Grace the nod for coming in on fine form last week.

The South African nearly won the BMW South African Open in his home country, finishing solo second and three shots off of Chris Paisley. Grace picked up right where he left off late in 2017 where he won the Nedbank Golf Challenge and registered a pair of T15 finishes.

In Abu Dhabi, Grace tied for 13th and was under par all four days last year. He has two fifth-place finishes, one in 2016, that are his best results.

Grace was 12th in the field at the SA Open in greens and regulations and fourth in putts per round. If he can give himself a lot of par-breaking opportunities again, I like his chances to contend.

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