ABU DHABI: Heading into the season finale, Verstappen has won 53 of 89 races in his championship seasons, or 59.6 percent. Verstappen can match Michael Schumacher’s record of five straight F1 season titles (2000-04) by winning again next year. Verstappen joined Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton (2017-20), Sebastian Vettel (2010-13) and Juan Manuel Fangio (1954-57) as drivers with four straight championships. Esteban Ocon, 14th in the point standings, has been released by Alpine and Jack Doohan will replace him in the season finale, making his F1 debut.

The race will take place on the Yas Marina Circuit and is 58 laps long. 

Last year, Max Verstappen won from the pole position, his seventh consecutive victory to end his third consecutive series championship season.

Verstappen, already crowned the season champion for the fourth straight year, won in Qatar for his second victory in three races and ninth of the season.

NASSAU, Bahamas:Tiger Woods dropped a big financial number related to the Ryder Cup that is sure to make headlines, particularly in Europe.

“I hope they would get $5 million each and donate it all to charity, different charities,” Woods said Tuesday at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. “I think it’s great. What’s wrong with that?”

The source of the topic was a report last month on the PGA of America considering a proposal to pay American players $400,000 at the Ryder Cup, an amount that was a mystery to the executive level at the PGA of America, which still doesn’t have a CEO.

Woods is well-versed on the topic, which dates to 1999 when Woods, David Duval and Mark O’Meara were among those questioning how much money the PGA of America was making off the Ryder Cup. That resulted in $200,000 for each player, half to a charity of their choice and the other half to a golf management program at their university.

“We didn’t want to get paid, we wanted to give more money to charity, and the media turned it around against us and said we want to get paid,” Woods said. “No. The Ryder Cup itself makes so much money, why can’t we allocate it to various charities? And what’s wrong with each player, 12 players getting $1 million and the ability to divvy out to amazing charities that they’re involved in that they can help out?”

The $5 million figure came about when Woods was asked if it should be made clear the money would go to charity, which it has for the last 25 years.

The issue is money coming in and where it goes, and it’s different for each team. The European tour is the lead partner in Ryder Cup Europe, and money from the matches in Europe is crucial in funding the tour. The PGA of America — not the PGA Tour — runs the matches in the US. The PGA of America gives the tour 20 percent of the television deal.

Rory McIlroy was among European players who, when asked about the report, said they would pay to play in the Ryder Cup.

“If the Europeans want to pay to be in the Ryder Cup, that’s their decision to do that, that’s their team,” Woods said. “I know when it’s on European soil that it subsidizes most of their tour, so it is a big event for the European tour and if they want to pay to play in it, so be it.”

Masters stretch run

Nicolai Hojgaard at No. 58 in the world ranking, Mackenzie Hughes (No. 57) and Thomas Detry (No. 61) are among those playing in South Africa at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

At stake is finishing the year in the top 50 to qualify for the Masters, and time is running out. The Nedbank Challenge is followed by the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa, and golf concludes with the Mauritius Open.

On the bubble are Min Woo Lee (No. 49), Lucas Glover (No. 51) and Stephan Jaeger (No.53), neither of whom are playing this week or are entered next week.

Corey Conners also is playing in South Africa, although at No. 42 he should be safe for the top 50. For those who don’t make it, there is another top 50 cutoff from the world ranking a full week before the Masters.

The field for Augusta National, currently at 75 players expected to play, could add as many as eight players through the world ranking by the end of the year. Still to be determined is whether the Masters offers special invitations. Joaquin Niemann, Thorbjorn Olesen and Ryo Hizatsune received them for the last Masters.

Crypto payoff for LIV against PGA Tour match

The made-for-TV match between PGA Tour and LIV Golf League starts has a title sponsor and a new form of payment.

Crypto.com is the title sponsor of the Dec. 17 match at Shadow Creek just north of Las Vegas that pits Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy against Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka.

The Crypto.com Showdown will be televised across TNT, TBS, truTV and Max, with a commentary crew that includes David Feherty and Charles Barkley. It will be the first broadcast appearance by Feherty outside of LIV since he signed on with the Saudi-funded league.

The 18-hole match will be split among six holes of foursomes, six holes of fourballs and six holes of singles.

As for the payoff? Front Office Sports reports it will be at least $10 million paid for the first time in Cryptocurrency.

Quick study

Nick Dunlap started the year as a sophomore at Alabama. Eleven months later, he is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour and in the Bahamas for the Hero World Challenge hosted by Tiger Woods.

There have been rough patches along the way, especially getting used to the travel, the cuts and courses he had never seen. But he proved to be a quick study, and he gave credit to Will Zalatoris for a practice round at The Players Championship.

“It wasn’t anything he said — it wasn’t really anything — it was just watching the way he prepared for that golf tournament and strategically where he chipped from, where he putted from, where he hit iron shots to,” Dunlap said. “It was eye opening to me because I never really paid that much attention in practice rounds.”

The rest of the year, Dunlap said he spent pre-tournament week trying to learn the course.

“It may only save you a half a shot or a shot and that could mean the difference at the end of the year,” he said.

On the rebound

Anthony Kim posted rounds of 71-72-73-71 and tied for 37th in the International Series Qatar on the Asian Tour. It was the first time Kim made the cut in any tournament since the 2012 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.

Kim walked away from golf two months after Bay Hill that year and didn’t return until he joined Saudi-backed LIV Golf as a wild card this year. LIV is 54 holes with no cut. In the only other 72-hole tournament Kim played this year, he missed the cut in Macau.

Kim made $14,510 in Qatar. He also moved up 2,281 spots in the world ranking to No. 2,314. The 39-year-old American is playing in Saudi International this week on the Asian Tour.

Divots

Hero MotoCorp. in India has extended its title sponsorship of the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas through 2030, along with extending its relationship with Tiger Woods as an ambassador. Woods is the tournament host in the Bahamas. ... Jon Rahm makes his debut in the Dubai Desert Classic next January. Rahm typically spent January in California for The American Express and Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines before going to LIV Golf. ... Claire Welsh of Canada, who previously worked senior roles in player relations for The R&A, is the new tournament director for the CPKC Women’s Open in Canada.

Stat of the week

Japanese amateur Rintaro Nakano had a 25-shot differential between his first and final round at the Australian Open. He started with a 65. He closed with a 90.

Final word

“The players have benefited from it whether you’re on LIV or you’re not on LIV. Love him or hate him, as a golfer, he’s certainly helped our lifestyle.” — Marc Leishman on fellow Aussie Greg Norman, the CEO of Saudi-funded LIV Golf.