European Tour: Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship power rankings

I’m going to assume the bird Tommy Fleetwood is holding in the photo above did not inflict any disastrous injuries and that the reigning Race to Dubai top finisher is set to go this week in defense of his Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship title.

The Englishman had a breakout year in 2017, contending at World Golf Championships and European Tour events on a regular basis to back up his No. 35 slot in the world rankings at year’s beginning.

Along with his triumph in the UAE, Fleetwood also won the Rolex Series event HNA Open de France. He was solo runner up at the WGC-Mexico Championship and picked up his best career finish in a major (T4, US Open).

Fleetwood wasn’t satisfied winning the Race to Dubai. He closed 2017 with more good golf at the UBS Hong Kong Open (sixth place) and the Hero World Challenge (T3). He also went 3-0 at last week’s EurAsia Cup

Prior to 2017, Fleetwood didn’t have the most sparkling of resume with four missed cuts, though he did tie for 19th and had a round of seven-under 65 in 2014.

"“I won last year and it kind of came, it did come out of nowhere. I haven’t done much before over the winter, and it was a course where I had not had much success on and found myself up there on the last day,” Fleetwood said at this week’s press conference as transcribed by ASAP Sports. “It just kind of took us all a little bit by surprise, and it was a massive accumulation of so much hard work and coming back and getting my game back together; and it was, yeah, just so many sort of great memories from that week, and it clearly started a great run for me throughout the year.”"