Dane Nicolai Hojgaard produced a solid finish to withstand the challenge from Jordan Smith and claim a four-shot victory in the Ras al Khaimah Championship at Al Hamra Golf Club last week. Now he’s back at the same course, hoping to add to his two DP World Tour titles in the Ras Al Khaimah Classic. Runner-up Smith will also return with reason to believe he can go one better than last week. He won the Ras Al Khaimah Golf Challenge at this course in 2016, so it’s a venue he clearly favours.
Like last week’s tournament held at the par 72, 7325-yard course, this is the first Ras Al Khaimah Classic, which takes place following the postponement of the Qatar Masters. It’s the fourth of five UAE-based events on the DP World Tour calendar, following last month’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic, and last week’s tournament.
With many of the field having had very recent experience of the course, there’ll be plenty of players feeling confident that they can claim sizable chunks of the tournament purse. Meanwhile, there’s a familiar feel to that prize pot, too: $2m - the same as the purse for the previous event. The winner will claim the first prize of $333,330. Here’s the full tournament prize money breakdown.
| Position | Prize Money | Row 0 - Cell 2 |
| 1st | $333,330 | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
| 2nd | $220,220 | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
| 3rd | $125,200 | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
| 4th | $100,000 | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
| 5th | $84,800 | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
| 6th | $70,000 | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
| 7th | $60,000 | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
| 8th | $50,000 | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
| 9th | $44,800 | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
| 10th | $40,000 | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
| 11th | $36,800 | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
| 12th | $34,400 | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
| 13th | $32,200 | Row 13 - Cell 2 |
| 14th | $30,600 | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
| 15th | $29,400 | Row 15 - Cell 2 |
| 16th | $28,200 | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
| 17th | $27,000 | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
| 18th | $25,800 | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
| 19th | $24,800 | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
| 20th | $24,000 | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
| 21st | $23,200 | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
| 22nd | $22,600 | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
| 23rd | $22,000 | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
| 24th | $21,400 | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
| 25th | $20,800 | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
| 26th | $20,200 | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
| 27th | $19,600 | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
| 28th | $19,000 | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
| 29th | $18,400 | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
| 30th | $17,800 | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
| 31st | $17,200 | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
| 32nd | $16,600 | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
| 33rd | $16,000 | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
| 34th | $15,400 | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
| 35th | $15,000 | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
| 36th | $14,600 | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
| 37th | $14,200 | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
| 38th | $13,800 | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
| 39th | $13,300 | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
| 40th | $13,000 | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
| 41st | $12,600 | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
| 42nd | $12,200 | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
| 43rd | $11,800 | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
| 44th | $11,400 | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
| 45th | $11,000 | Row 45 - Cell 2 |
| 46th | $10,600 | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
| 47th | $10,200 | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
| 48th | $9,800 | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
| 49th | $9,400 | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
| 50th | $9,000 | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
| 51st | $8,600 | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
| 52nd | $8,200 | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
| 53rd | $7,800 | Row 53 - Cell 2 |
| 54th | $7,400 | Row 54 - Cell 2 |
| 55th | $7,000 | Row 55 - Cell 2 |
| 56th | $6,600 | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
| 57th | $6,200 | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
| 58th | $6,000 | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
| 59th | $5,800 | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
| 60th | $5,600 | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
| 61st | $5,400 | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
| 62nd | $5,200 | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
| 63rd | $5,000 | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
| 64th | $4,800 | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
| 65th | $4,600 | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
WHAT IS THE TOURNAMENT PURSE FOR THE RAS AL KHAIMAH CLASSIC?
The tournament purse is $2 million. Of that, the winner takes home $333,330. This is an identical prize purse to the previous week's Ras al Khaimah Championship, which was held at the same course.
WHO WILL BE PLAYING IN THE RAS AL KHAIMAH CLASSIC?
Last week's Ras al Khaimah Championship winner Nicolai Hojgaard will be competing, along with the runner-up in that tournament, Jordan Smith. Also among the field are Englishman Callum Shinkwin and 2018 Dubai Desert Classic winner Haotong Li.
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Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.
He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.
Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.
Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.