EDDIE Pepperell’s third season on the European Tour begins this morning as he tees up in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

The Abingdon golfer sat out the opening events of the 2015 campaign, which started in South Africa last month, preferring to recharge his batteries after an excellent 2014.

Now Frilford Heath’s Pepperell will be aiming to get off to a good start in the Middle East, where he joins a strong field which includes Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson.

The 23-year-old, who finished 49th in last season’s tour rankings, begins at 7.55am (GMT), alongside Sweden’s Kristoffer Broberg and American amateur Ollie Schniederjans.

Pepperell has only played in the £1.8m tournament once before, finishing in a share of 45th place 12 months ago.

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