Bob MacIntyre echoes Matt Fitzpatrick's concern about DP World Tour's Middle East events

The DP World Tour is pushing ahead with plans for the circuit’s season-ending Play-Offs - the Abu Dhabi Championship and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai - to be held in the UAE in November.

The situation is being monitored by Guy Kinnings, the circuit’s CEO, and his team, but, along with Ryder Cup team-mate Matthew Fitzpatrick, MacIntyre is already having doubts about making the trip.

“I don’t know what I am going to play in,” the Oban man, who sits 74th in the Race to Dubai Ranking, told The Scotsman at Wentworth ahead of the BMW PGA Championship starting at the Surrey venue on Thursday.

MacIntyre, who became a dad for the first time earlier in the year, added: “To be honest, I’m not wanting to go to the Middle East with everything that is going on. I’ll constantly be keeping an eye on what is going on out there before I make a decision.

“My goal is to turn up this week and hopefully have a chance on Sunday then I will play in the Dunhill Links (as the defending champion) and see where we are at.”

The HotelPlanner Tour, the DP World Tour’s feeder circuit, is pushing ahead with plans to stage a rescheduled Abu Dhabi Challenge in a fortnight’s time, with the build having started for both the DP World Tour Play-Off events, which offer a combined prize pot of $19 million.

“Being completely honest as things stand right now, I would say I'm not that comfortable,” admitted world No 4 Fitzpatrick, who was also speaking at Wentworth, about the prospect of playing in the Middle East in the first two weeks in November, when he is scheduled to defend the DP World Tour Championship title.

“No, I wouldn't be that comfortable. A few things have obviously changed for me, perspective and stuff. I had a child in August, and that obviously kind of changes things, I guess, a bit more.”

Dubai-based Tommy Fleetwood, meanwhile, insisted that he felt safe during a recent visit to the UAE. “I’ve just been there for two weeks,” said the Englishman. “The school run has been fine and the driving range has been good. There's been nothing happening on those.”

On the back of Fitzpatrick’s comments, a statement was issued by the DP World Tour to reporters covering this week’s Rolex Series event at Wentworth, where the circuit has its headquarters.

A spokesperson for the DP World Tour said: “We are in constant dialogue with our members and their management teams about the tournaments they play in, but ultimately players’ individual schedule choices are a matter for them to decide.

“As far as our play-offs are concerned, it remains our intention to play as scheduled in the UAE but we continue to monitor the situation and take advice from our international travel advisors.”