Staff WriterIf you’re looking for a storyline with bite, start right here: Laurie Canter is back at Royal Golf Club, strolling onto familiar turf with a champion’s strut and the not-so-small task of defending his Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship title. Golf doesn’t do sentimental very often—then again, it also doesn’t often hand you the same stage, the same course, and the same delicious chance to prove last year wasn’t a one-week miracle.
Twelve months ago, the Englishman produced the second DP World Tour victory of his career, negotiating a three-way play-off against compatriot Daniel Brown and Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal. Now he returns hoping the memories still have a pulse—and that the course knowledge comes with a little interest.
And if Canter’s hoping for a comfortable homecoming, he’s picked the wrong week. Because Patrick Reed has turned up with a suitcase full of confidence after landing his first Rolex Series win at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. That victory nudged him to the top of the International Swing rankings, second on the Race to Dubai Rankings, and up to World Number 29. In other words: Reed arrives in Bahrain with form, fire, and a fresh set of teeth marks on a very demanding golf course.
Canter’s return: same venue, bigger target
The defending champion is leaning into the rare luxury of coming back to a place where everything worked—shots, nerves, timing, the lot—while knowing full well that golf enjoys nothing more than reminding you you’re not in charge.
Here’s Laurie Canter on the unique feeling of defending a DP World Tour title and revisiting a week that clearly still lives in his bones:
Laurie Canter: It’s great to be back. There are obviously a lot of good memories. It’s the first time I’ve been able to defend a tournament on the DP World Tour, so it was great to get out and play the front nine in the Pro-Am today.
It’s a big buzz to come back, I think you sort of get a natural lift. You obviously know the golf course and getting to grips with it, but you do really have your memories within what we did. We were even talking about shots on the final round that happened and that kind of stuff, so it obviously sticks with you in a way that a normal week wouldn’t because, I guess I can say it, it is an unusual outcome to win a golf tournament unless you’re a superstar. It took me over 150 events to win my first one, so those kind of emotions are always going to be around when you’re back at a venue that that has happened.
That’s the bit the stats can’t measure: the strange mix of comfort and pressure. The course feels like a friend—until it starts asking for favours.
Reed rolls in: confidence, consistency, and a fairway-first obsession
Reed’s timing is about as subtle as a marching band in a library. He’s coming off a statement win in Dubai and openly talking about the kind of foundations that make you dangerous over a long season—ball-striking, fairways, and turning the short game from emergency service into a weapon.
Here’s Patrick Reed on momentum, off-season work, and why hitting more fairways is the not-so-secret sauce:
Patrick Reed: The game feels really solid and we’re looking forward to getting right back at it and getting playing here this week, and just trying to take that confidence in the way I was playing last week into this week.
The first couple of weeks out on the road, at the start of the season after an off-season, is really to kind of see if what you worked on during the off-season actually worked, and to come out and play the way we did, especially to go out and get a win at such a demanding golf course last week, definitely allows me to have the confidence and hopefully jumpstart to having a really good year and have one of those years where I’m holding up more than one trophy.
For me, the biggest thing was obviously hitting fairways. I think the biggest thing in my career, I focus so much on having my short game save me, and it’s whenever I am hitting the ball well, that’s when I’m using the short game as my weapon. This year, the focus was let’s hit the ball a little better, let’s get the ball striking back, so then we can go out and shoot lower numbers and just be more consistent off the tee and on the approaches, so that I can allow the short game to be a weapon rather than a saviour.
That last line should make the field shift in its seat. If Reed’s driving it straighter and flushing irons, he’s not just visiting Bahrain—he’s moving in.
A field with proper shine: major champions and swing-season movers
It’s not just a two-man show. This week’s cast list includes Major champions Pádraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia, plus an international mix featuring Larrazabal, 2024 winner Dylan Frittelli, and current Race to Dubai leader Jayden Schaper. Add Dubai Invitational winner Nacho Elvira and France’s Julien Guerrier—arriving with back-to-back top-three finishes—and you’ve got a leaderboard that could change its mind every nine holes.
Bahrain locks it in: tournament secured until at least 2036
Away from the ropes, the tournament’s bigger picture got a serious upgrade. The Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship—held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa—was officially launched on Tuesday night with an Opening Ceremony at Royal Golf Club.
The event was attended by His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al Khalifa and His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, and it brought the announcement of a new multi-year partnership with the DP World Tour and the Bahrain Olympic Committee. The result: the Bahrain stop is secured on the Tour schedule until at least 2036.
That extended agreement underlines a broader push—world-class sport, innovation, sustainability—and further cements Bahrain’s credentials as a destination where elite competition, tourism and business like to share the same tee time.
Harrington’s take: relaxed tempo, matured course, big-season intentions
Harrington, never one to miss the mood of a place, painted Bahrain as a welcome change of pace after Dubai—while noting the course has grown up into a proper tournament test.
Pádraig Harrington: It’s always really nice here. It’s a little bit more relaxed than the last couple of weeks in Dubai – it’s busy, here there seems to be a little bit lower tempo. It’s a very pleasant week, everything about it is very nice. The golf course has matured over the years, it has grown into a good tournament venue. When we first came here in 2011, they had to manage it a lot. Now the players are bigger, stronger and hit it further, and we can be let loose on this golf course. It’s definitely matured into a really good tournament first.
I’ve worked on a few things that I’m very happy about. It’s still early in the season, so there’s still a little bit too many talks in the head – I’d like a few of those to quieten down and simplify a few – but where I’m at, I’m looking forward to a strong year. There were a couple of things that probably weren’t great last year, I seemed to have worked through them, so I’m very comfortable with where I’m at. I’m a little bit impatient though, you’re always wanting it to happen right now, but in terms of long-term, I’m looking forward to a long season.
Translated from Harrington-ese: the work is trending nicely, the mind could do with a bit less committee meeting, and he fancies a proper run at 2026.
What to watch this week at Royal Golf Club
- Laurie Canter chasing the rare repeat: comfort can help—but it can also whisper expectations.
- Patrick Reed trying to turn Dubai into a season-long habit, powered by fairways and cleaner ball-striking.
- Major pedigree in Harrington and Garcia, plus proven winners and form horses across the field.
- A tournament with long-term security, as Bahrain’s DP World Tour presence is locked in until at least 2036.
One thing’s certain: Laurie Canter won’t be short of challengers, and Royal Golf Club won’t be handing out any “welcome back” gifts. In this part of the world, the golf is serious, the stars show up, and the scorecard tells the truth—even when your memories try to negotiate.
