Tour Tips Weekly Newsletter, 9 November 2026

Diamante Cabo San Lucas (El Cardonal), Mexico. Final round 8 November 2026.

Winner

Blades Brown won the World Wide Technology Championship in a playoff against Ben James, finishing on 23 under par. It was his first PGA Tour win.

Blades Brown began in the top 10 after round 1, and he was still in the top 10 after round 2 and again was still in the top 10 after round 3. He went into the final round seven shots behind the leader, Ben James, and ended the week with a closing 63.

Putting did most of the work and added 9.0 strokes. Off the tee added 4.1 strokes. Approach was his weaker area, though it still added to his week, and he lost 0.1 strokes around the green.

Profile vs Reality

Profile vs Reality puts Course Fit to the test. Course Fit ranks each week's field by how closely each player's game over the last 12 months matches what the course rewards beyond the tour norm. Below are its key metrics for Diamante Cabo San Lucas (El Cardonal), with where Blades Brown ranked on each this week: the higher his ranks, the more the week bore out Course Fit's profile of the course.

See this week's Course Fit table for the PGA Tour

Key metrics: what Course Fit says this venue rewards beyond the tour norm, largest weight first. Priority: the weight against every venue's (CRITICAL for the top tenth). Verdict: perfect match (top 5), match (top quarter), neutral (top half), anomaly (bottom half).

The week followed what the venue rewards in the areas that matter most. Blades Brown ranked 2nd for putting, the CRITICAL metric, a perfect match. His driving accuracy was a match on a HIGH metric. The anomalies were approach and around the green, both HIGH metrics, where he ranked well down the field. Putting alone did not decide the week: Max Greyserman, the field's best putter, finished joint 42nd. In round 1 the morning wave did better, by 1.05 shots per player. That was in line with most previous stagings, as the morning wave was better in eight of the previous 10. The first-round leader came from the morning wave.

Lessons for next year

This staging adds to the evidence that putting is the skill to weight most, with driving accuracy supporting it. Approach and around the green did not matter for the winner, so they look less reliable here than their HIGH priority suggests. The morning wave again scored better, which suggests a lean towards morning starters in first-round markets.

Progress / Regress targets

A Progress target ranked much higher this week from tee to green or on approach than he finished, but much lower for putting, although over the last 12 months he has been one of the better putters in this field. His finish undersold his long game, and he may do better once his putting returns to its usual level.

A Regress target is the reverse: a weaker putter whose putting this week lifted him well above what his long game earned, so his finish may have flattered him.

Each figure is a rank in this week's field, except the last column: his putting rank over the previous 12 months.

Progress: SG: Tee to Green or SG: Approach rank at least 19 places better than his finish, SG: Putting at least 19 places worse, and in the field's top quarter for putting over the previous 12 months. Regress: the reverse, and outside that top quarter. Putting, last 12 months: his rank among the 116 in the field for strokes gained putting over the year before the event, as the CC: SG table ranks it.

This review on its own page

Yas Links, United Arab Emirates. Final round 8 November 2026.

Winner

Jon Rahm won the Abu Dhabi Championship by two shots, finishing on 23 under par. It was his ninth DP World Tour win.

Rahm began in the top five after round 1, then he moved into a share of the lead after round 2. He took the lead outright after round 3, and he went into the final round with a lead of one shot. He closed with a final-round 67.

Approach did most of the work for Rahm, adding 7.6 strokes. Putting added 6.1 strokes. Off the tee added 1.3 strokes, and around the green added 1.1 strokes.

Traded below 2.0 in running

No other player traded below 2.0 in running.

Profile vs Reality

Profile vs Reality puts Course Fit to the test. Course Fit ranks each week's field by how closely each player's game over the last 12 months matches what the course rewards beyond the tour norm. Below are its key metrics for Yas Links, with where Jon Rahm ranked on each this week: the higher his ranks, the more the week bore out Course Fit's profile of the course.

See this week's Course Fit table for the DP World Tour

Key metrics: what Course Fit says this venue rewards beyond the tour norm, largest weight first. Priority: the weight against every venue's (CRITICAL for the top tenth). Verdict: perfect match (top 5), match (top quarter), neutral (top half), anomaly (bottom half).

The week largely fitted what the venue rewards. Scrambling, the HIGH metric, was a match, with Rahm ranking joint 15th for it, though Adam Scott, who led the field for scrambling, finished joint 9th. Driving accuracy was a perfect match, with Rahm ranking joint 4th, while Aaron Rai, who led the field for it, finished joint 25th. Putting also matched at 6th. Around the green was neutral at 31st. There were no anomalies among the key metrics. Round 1 had no separate morning and afternoon waves, so there is no wave split to report for the first-round leader market and no comparison with previous stagings.

Lessons for next year

This staging adds to the evidence that scrambling and driving accuracy are worth weighing at this venue, as the winner ranked well in both. It also suggests that a strong putting week helps. The players who led the field in those skills finished outside the places, so leading a skill proved no guarantee of a win. With no wave split this year, the first-round leader market gains nothing new.

Progress / Regress targets

A Progress target ranked much higher this week from tee to green or on approach than he finished, but much lower for putting, although over the last 12 months he has been one of the better putters in this field. His finish undersold his long game, and he may do better once his putting returns to its usual level.

A Regress target is the reverse: a weaker putter whose putting this week lifted him well above what his long game earned, so his finish may have flattered him.

Each figure is a rank in this week's field, except the last column: his putting rank over the previous 12 months.

Progress: SG: Tee to Green or SG: Approach rank at least 18 places better than his finish, SG: Putting at least 18 places worse, and in the field's top quarter for putting over the previous 12 months. Regress: the reverse, and outside that top quarter. Putting, last 12 months: his rank among the 70 in the field for strokes gained putting over the year before the event, as the CC: SG table ranks it.

This review on its own page

Barton Creek (Fazio Canyons), Texas. Par 72, 7,451 yards. Greens: MiniVerde Bermudagrass. 116 players.

The course

Barton Creek (Fazio Canyons) has no Course Fit reference yet, so there is nothing to say on which skills it rewards or separates players on. On difficulty, the Event Profile, which adjusts the field's scoring for its strength, shows the course scoring close to the tour average over its recent stagings.

History

The Austin Championship is new this week, so the history here is the course's, from an earlier event, the Barton Creek Classic. The table lists one champion, Scott Gibson, and no winning score to par is available for that staging. There is no record of stat leaders or of round 1 scoring by wave to report.

This preview on its own page

Jumeirah, United Arab Emirates. Par 72, 7,706 yards. Greens: TifEagle Bermudagrass. 50 players.

The course

The course rewards driving distance and play off the tee, both rated CRITICAL, and then greens in regulation and putting on greens hit in regulation, both rated HIGH. It separates players least on scrambling. Jumeirah has historically separated players on skill more than is typical for this tour, while over its recent stagings it scores close to the tour average for difficulty.

Key metrics: what Course Fit says this course rewards beyond the tour norm, largest weight first. Priority: the weight against every venue's (CRITICAL for the top tenth). Its leader's record: how the player who led the field for the metric at each staging went on to finish.

History

The five recent winning scores run from 21 under par to 15 under par. The strongest record among the key metrics belongs to the field's leader for driving distance, who finished in the top 10 in seven of 10 stagings and won two times.

Last year

Matt Fitzpatrick is not in this week's field. He won in a playoff in 2025 at 18 under par, the third of his wins at the event. He matched the profile on driving distance (match) and was a perfect match on greens in regulation, but only neutral on play off the tee, a CRITICAL metric, and on putting on greens hit in regulation.

Verdict: perfect match (top 5), match (top quarter), neutral (top half), anomaly (bottom half), as in the review.

Course Fit: this week's field

Course Fit ranks this week's field by how closely each player's game over the last 12 months matches what Jumeirah rewards beyond the tour norm, above all driving distance, play off the tee and greens in regulation. These are the five who fit best, with each one's rank in this week's field for those skills over the same 12 months. All 50 players have played enough on the DP World Tour to be ranked. Course Fit leaves out form, class and the draw: it describes fit, not a forecast.

Fit: his Course Fit rank in this week's field, as on the Event Profile page. Each other column is his rank in this week's field for that skill over the last 12 months, as the CC: Stats and CC: SG tables rank it.

This preview on its own page

Profit in points, with the return on outlay in brackets. Last week is the week to 8 November 2026. The year to date runs from 1 January 2026, and all time from 2000 for Free Tips and from 2024 for Sim: Win and Sim: FRL. Both include the previous site's record, before 13 July 2026. For Free Tips, stakes were recorded only from 2025, so the all-time figure is the profit alone. So is the total's. Each figure is rounded to the nearest whole number; the total is worked out before rounding.