Will Woods be beaten in Dubai?
BY Bruce Young | European PGA Tour | 2008 Dubai Desert Classic | Preview | 30 Jan 2008
The European Tour completes its Middle East swing this week when the flagship event in that region, the Dubai Desert Classic, is played at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai.
The tournament was first played in 1989 as the Karl Litten Classic when Mark James won in a playoff over Peter O’Malley but the event became the Dubai Desert Classic two years later and has developed into one of the more significant events on the European Tour. Litten had designed the Emirates Golf Club layout in the mid 1980’s and trail-blazed much of the subsequent golf course development in that region since. He played a key role in proving that quality golf courses could be built in the desert, especially when no expense was spared.
Much of the status the event now enjoys is as a result of the presence of Tiger Woods who has played the event over the past seven years. He finished runner up behind Thomas Bjorn on his first trip here in 2001 and then eventually won in 2006 after a playoff with Ernie Els.
Woods will be the hot favourite this week given his success in the event and that he is almost untouchable now as the game’s leading player. The event has shown however that Woods can be beaten at this venue and there are several candidates who are more than capable of tackling and defeating Woods.
Most notable is local resident, Henrik Stenson, who won here last year in the lead up to his Accenture Match Play victory. Stenson has found form once again with consecutive runner up placings in the last two weeks and must be some sort of chance to topple the favourite.
Lee Westwood is arguably the most consistent player in the game right now and has played very well in Dubai on occasions including when a runner up placing in 1999. Given his current form, it would not surprise anyone to see him continue his amazing run of top finishes of late.
Ernie Els returns to tournament golf after a break of six weeks or so but he has a good record here and often plays well after a break from the game. Els has been runner up in each of the last two years and won the event in 2002 and 2005 and therefore has a better record than any other player over this layout.
The brilliant Rory McIlroy and the resurgent Darren Clarke may offer some hope at longer odds and Australia’s Richard Green appears the best hope amongst the Australasians having won here in 1997 and all but claiming victory in 2006 when he led into the 72nd hole before falling victim to a Tiger Woods power finish.
Recent winner Martin Kaymer might have his feet back on the ground after missing the cut in Qatar last week. He is a brilliant talent and although he has not played this tournament previously,it did him no harm in Abu Dhabi either when he toyed with the field there two weeks ago for his maiden Tour victory.
Richard Green has already been mentioned but there are a number of other Australasians whose progress will be watched with interest.
Among them Brendan Jones, who plays in Dubai for the first time, taking advantage of his performances in Japan in 2007 to gain access to this event and next week’s Emaar-MGF Indian Masters.
Jones won three times in Japan in 2007 including a victory over Adam Scott and others at the Visa Taiheiyo event late in the season. He has not played competitively since the Australian Open and has not played much golf at all since then so his form might be a little suspect this early in the season.
Michael Campbell, Peter O’Malley and Australia’s leading player in Asia in 2007, Scott Hend, make up the rest with Australasian connections.
