Omega Dubai Desert Classic Preview

 

Omega Dubai Desert Classic Preview

Dates: February 2 – February 5, 2017
Where: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Courses: Majlis course at the Emirates Golf Club
Field size: 132
2016 champion: Danny Willett
Purse:$2,650,000 (€410,224/winner)
Race To Dubai Points: 410, 224 points to the winner
Format: 72-hole stroke play

There is lots of interest in this week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic as Tiger Woods makes the second full field start of his 2017 comeback tour. It will be a tough field against which to compete. The field includes:

• Eight other Major Champions, including
  • Martin Kaymer (2),
  • Maria Olazábal (2)
  • Darren Clarke
  • Paul Lawrie
  • Trevor Immelman
  • Graeme McDowell
  • Henrik Stenson
  • Danny Willett.
• Three former World Numbers Ones
  • Tiger Woods
  • Martin Kaymer
  • Lee Westwood.
• Eighty four European Tour winners are among the 132 players, hailing from 27 different countries.
• 27 Ryder Cup players
• 11 former Dubai Desert Classic winners
  • Richard Green (1997)
  • José María Olazábal (1998)
  • David Howell (1999)
  • Thomas Bjørn (2001)
  • Tiger Woods (2006 and 2008)
  • Henrik Stenson (2007)
  • Miguel Angel Jiménez (2010)
  • Alvaro Quiros (2011)
  • Rafa Cabrera Bello (2012)
  • Stephen Gallacher (2013 and 2014)
  • Danny Willett (2016)
• 5 winners from the 2017 season
  • Brandon Stone (Alfred Dunhill Championship)
  • Sam Brazel (UBS Hong Kong Open)
  • Graeme Storm (BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni)
  • Tommy Fleetwood (Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship)
  • Jeunghun Wang (Commercial Bank Qatar Masters)
• 15 of the 2016 Race to Dubai top 20

The field also includes two amateurs. One, Curtis Luck won the 2016 US Amateur, the Western Australia Open and the 2016 Asia-Pacific Amateur. He intended to go pro after the US Amateur, but his win there gained him entry to The Masters if he remained an amateur, so he delayed that transition.

Emirates Golf Club is host of both the PGA European Tour sanctioned Omega Dubai Desert Classic and Omega Dubai Ladies Masters.

 

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