{"id":399727,"date":"2026-01-08T12:39:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T12:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/399727\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T12:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T12:39:09","slug":"major-winner-and-race-to-dubai-leader-amongst-field-heading-for-bahrain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/399727\/","title":{"rendered":"Major winner and Race to Dubai leader amongst field heading for Bahrain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">Three-time Major Champion P\u00e1draig Harrington, current Race to Dubai leader Jayden Schaper and past winner Dylan Frittelli are set to tee it up at the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship from January 29-February 1.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The trio will join 2025 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Martin Couvra at Royal Golf Club in the Kingdom of Bahrain for the third edition of the tournament held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-82665\" class=\"size-full wp-image-82665\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Padraig-Harrington-The-2007-Open-Championship-at-Carnoustie-PAUL-ELLIS-AFP-via-Getty-Images.jpg\" alt=\"Padraig Harrington - The 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie - PAUL ELLIS\/AFP via Getty Images\" width=\"740\" height=\"500\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-82665\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Padraig Harrington \u2013 The 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie \u2013 PAUL ELLIS\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Ireland\u2019s Harrington returns for a second time, having finished five-under-par and tied for 38th in last year\u2019s tournament. The World Golf Hall of Fame inductee, who won back-to-back Open Championships in 2007 and 2008, followed by the 2008 PGA Championship, continues to compete at the highest level, adding two Senior Major championships to his list of achievements in 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cHaving really enjoyed last year\u2019s tournament, I\u2019m looking forward to returning to Royal Golf Club later this month,\u201d said Harrington. \u201cThe Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship brings a great deal of excitement to the Kingdom of Bahrain, and I\u2019m delighted to once again be part of the event.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110133\" class=\"size-full wp-image-110133\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Jayden-Schaper-AfrAsia-Bank-Mauritius-Open-Twitter-DP-World-Tour.jpg\" alt=\"Jayden Schaper - AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open - Twitter DP World Tour\" width=\"740\" height=\"500\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-110133\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jayden Schaper \u2013 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open \u2013 DP World Tour<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Schaper, the current leader of the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World, will look to continue his dominant start to the 2026 season. The South African has claimed consecutive DP World Tour victories, securing back-to-back play-off wins at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, and currently leads the standings with 1,348 Race to Dubai points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cI\u2019m excited to be coming back to Bahrain and joining the field for this special event,\u201d said Schaper. \u201cRoyal Golf Club is a fantastic venue and hopefully we can showcase some great golf for the local fans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-90239\" class=\"size-full wp-image-90239\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Dylan-Frittelli-Bahrain-Championship-Getty-Images.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"740\" height=\"500\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-90239\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ross Kinnaird\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Fellow countryman Frittelli comes into the event with one title under his belt, having made three birdies in his final six holes to record a two-shot victory in the 2024 edition. It marked the 35-year-old\u2019s third DP World Tour win and his first in six years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cBahrain will always hold a special place in my heart,\u201d said Frittelli. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to returning and hopefully creating some more great memories at Royal Golf Club later this month.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship is the third event on the Race to Dubai\u2019s International Swing, and the third consecutive event to be played in the Middle East after the Dubai Invitational and Hero Dubai Desert Classic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Bapco Energies became Title Partner of the tournament for the first time in 2025, moving up from presenting partner in 2024. The partnership focuses on elevating the tournament experience for players, stakeholders, and spectators alike, establishing Bahrain\u2019s premier international golf tournament as a world-class attraction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The tournament is also pioneering environmental initiatives focused on energy provision, including powering hospitality units and structures with solar energy and batteries.<\/p>\n<p>Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media<\/p>\n<p><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/golfdigestme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GolfDigestME\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">X<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GolfDigestME\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@GolfDigestME\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Main Image: Luke Walker<\/p>\n<p>\nSubsribe to Golf Digest Middle East Newsletter\n<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three-time Major Champion P\u00e1draig Harrington, current Race to Dubai leader Jayden Schaper and past winner Dylan Frittelli are&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399728,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[212737,64,63,212738,755,101592,212739,85],"class_list":["post-399727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-2026-bapco-energies-bahrain-championship","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dp-world-tour-bapco-energies-bahrain-championship","tag-golf","tag-golf-digest-middle-east","tag-padraig-harrington-bahrain","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}