The European Tour completes the first part of its Middle East swing with the second edition of the Saudi International and, just as was the case in Abu Dhabi a fortnight ago, the market is headed by a trio of world-class Americans.
Dustin Johnson returns to defend the title he won in fairly convincing fashion a year ago, Patrick Reed is also back as he looks to banish memories of an embarrassing 10 at the final hole of round three, while for Brooks Koepka it's a case of continuing his rehabilitation while his place atop the world rankings likely comes under further pressure.
There's an argument to be made that Koepka's return in Abu Dhabi, where he was eight-under after 20 holes but remained there at the end of 72, was perfectly encouraging and a portent to a statement victory on a course which ought to suit better than last year's T57 suggests. His waywardness should not to be so much of an issue here, for all the water that's in play, and he did start the year with 20 birdies.
Yet there remain concerns around his fitness which are hard to allay before we see him tee-off on Thursday. In fact, it won't be until Sunday - or Friday - that we really learn more about the state of his game and his health, even if practice bulletins from Claude Harmon's Dubai base have been positive.
The course, Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, is made for a player like the world number one. Typically, we'd say that par 72s are the domain of the biggest hitters, offering four and sometimes five par-fives to attack, but this par 70 threw up one of the most power-heavy leaderboards in the whole of 2019. Behind Johnson were Hao-tong Li, Tom Lewis, Min Woo Lee and Alex Levy, with Ryan Fox and Scott Hend among the best of the rest.
That's not a coincidence, nor should we be overly concerned by a sample size of one. It simply makes sense, because while there's just one par-five per nine holes, there are several short par-fours, the first, seventh, 10th and 17th in particular encouraging the bigger hitters to lash something up close to or even onto the green, and take it from there.
Li, runner-up by two shots having matched DJ throughout the first 54 holes, made four eagles in the third round of the tournament. He did so by pitching in from close to the first green, chipping in from 10 yards short of the 10th, holing from six feet after a sumptuous drive at the 17th and making another short putt at the 18th. Four eagles in a round is exceptionally rare; it's rarer still to collect them without really making a putt.
Indeed, it could have been five had a 35-foot eagle attempt not slid by at the fourth, and Li was a few yards short of driving the seventh green, settling for birdies on both. Yes, he was alone in picking up eight shots in just four holes, but he was not alone in his approach: smash the driver, clip it on, and make the simplest of birdies - if not better.
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Posted at 1820 GMT on 27/01/20
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