By Kent Gray
After a year of unexpected twists and unavoidable turns, the 2021 Race to Dubai has finally reached its home straight. Just two tournaments remain following 38 events in 19 countries – a schedule complete with numerous cancellations and just about as many hastily-arranged replacements.  To understand what happens next – over the remaining 11 day, 144 hole sprint at Jumeirah Golf Estates and, even more crucially over the next season or three –  an abacus in the first instance and a crystal ball thereafter are required.

RELATED: European Tour to become DP World Tour from 2022 with record total prize fund in excess of $140m

Let’s dust off the virtual old-school calculator first. As the cliché has reminded us since 2009, the European Tour’s season-long marathon again ends here but, like last year, there’s a COVID-19 asterisk attached to the JGE finale.

Courtesy of yet another 11th-hour scheduling reshuffle that is South Africa’s loss and the UAE’s gain, we’re again being treated to a forerunner on Fire to the DP World Tour Championship (DPWTC), the traditional, season-deciding four-day circumnavigation of Earth.

The apparently stop-gap Golf in Dubai Championship of 2020 has become the evidently stop-gap AVIV Dubai Championship of 2021 and for that, and continually plugging pandemic-enforced gaps in their calendar, the European Tour deserve genuine kudos.

For the second successive year, Greg Norman’s Fire layout at JGE will play host to the penultimate event of the Race to Dubai season.

Still, a mildly irritating and historic truism about the $9 million DPWTC persists – exactly which of the season’s drawcard players will show up for the richest and supposedly most important event outside of the majors and WGCs. If the superstars do play, that they leave it so late to publicly confirm their appearance at JGE hardly encourages the pre-tournament PR upsurge envisaged when the Race to Dubai was imagined into life.

Traces of blame can be found clinging to pandemic-enforced travel challenges that have become a reoccurring headache for administrators and a chore for players at the end of a very long year, stretched in 2021 by the Olympics and Ryder Cup.

But the truth is more deep-rooted and now, in tandem with the challenging times in which we live, highlight a sobering series of question marks hanging over the future direction of the Old World circuit.

Money and the interconnected Race to Dubai points system, one contrived for the majors and WGC events that the superstars play and convoluted by the smaller purse events they don’t, is the obvious elephant in the room.

Outside of the majors and WGCs, Open champion and R2D leader Collin Morikawa played two regular season events: Dubai and Scotland for T-68 and T-71 finishes.

In this part of the world, it’s comfortable to simply get on with supporting and reporting the Race to Dubai, pontificating on the promised ‘last Sunday in the season’ excitement and enjoying the excellent social content that will inevitably be produced by the circuit’s media gurus.

Trained optimists – an army of marketers and PR peddlers among them – will trumpet another season going down to the wire. All’s well that ends well and all that. They’ll also point to the open courtship with the PGA Tour as a further reason not to fret the future, especially with the anticipation that this pesky plague can’t go on forever.

Others with an equal stake in the European Tour’s ability to thrive in an increasingly tough sports and business landscape are less optimistic. The natural pessimists are the owners of many of the unanswered questions too.

Like whether the powerbrokers at Wentworth lose sleep over the fact that their season-decider doesn’t guarantee the appearance of the tour’s biggest names, much less entice the game’s biggest headliners to be involved all year long? Unfair? Take the word of R2D title contender Billy Horschel: “I’ll be honest, at the beginning of the year, the Race to Dubai wasn’t one of my goals.” 

How about the growing number of $1.5 million or lower events spread throughout recent seasons. Is this a pandemic amplified blip or a pointer to a longer-term issue? Rolex Series events such as the Abu Dhabi Championship and now the Dubai Desert Classic notwithstanding, how can the European Tour compete with the riches, media focus and resulting fan engagement of the PGA Tour? And perhaps, if the whispers prove correct, the new-look Asia Tour and/or its offshoots in coming seasons?

That’s perhaps the most fascinating poser of all; what exactly do the European Tour make of the tug of war underway on the game’s traditional global boundaries, a scrap that has already seen the loss of the geographically and fiscally important Saudi, Malaysian and Hong Kong Opens to the Asian Tour? Isn’t the power-shift, with neon signs (and truckloads of Saudi Riyal) pointed towards South East Asia, troubling?

The caveat to all this, of course, is that COVID-19 continues to change everything on a cough here and a sneeze there. The much-heralded strategic alliance with the PGA Tour is also in its embryonic stages so perhaps a brighter path beyond 2022 will emerge, full of co-sanctioned events and a European Tour that essentially serves as a feeder to an upgraded PGA Tour incorporating tournaments like Dubai/Wentworth/Scotland/Ireland etc? Perhaps Keith Pelley and co have another master, Euro (and Middle East)-centric plan and will hold a ‘State of the Nation’ presser at JGE like the good old days to update the media, and by extension, the fans? It sure would be nice to have a clearer picture of the long-term strategy.

It ends here 

Back to the now teenage and troublesome Race to Dubai format. Concocting a playoff series that leads to a meaningful climax at the end of a season with so many moving parts was never going to be easy.

Nor was it ever going to be a first concept, all problems solved forever solution. The fact players who rarely grace “regular season” events can win the overall title must grate with the relative journeyman who battle to pay the mortgage and compile enough points to crack the next level as a consequence. Sure, players that repeatedly perform at the elite events need to be proportionally rewarded but it is also a self-perpetuating scenario of the rich getting richer. In Europe, the fear is that it becomes a black hole for some very tidy players as the best increasingly chase the big money in the US, and perhaps soon Asia. That fans want to see the best competing together week-in and week-out is indisputable and that only threatens to hasten the vacuum of top-notch players and sponsorship opportunities. All the spin and cracking social media in the world can’t camouflage your event’s strength of field rating and the conspicuous lack of headliners.

Of the top three in the R2D standings, third-placed reigning U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm has played the most regular season events; the Scottish Open (7th), Open de España (T-17) and Andalucia Masters (MC).

In the European Tour’s defence, the FedEx Cup playoff series, where the leaders start the deciding PGA Tour Championship with a descending stroke advantage over their rivals, is not perfect. But at least you now know the winner of their Tour Championship is the champion of the entire season.  

European fans get nuance – the fact that the DPWTC winner isn’t necessarily the Race to Dubai champion. Still, how many times have we seen the cameras zoom in on finishers in the scorers’ hut at JGE munching on fingernails, hoping the final few decimal points fall their way as the late finishers negotiate Earth’s closing holes. If they can’t easily crunch the numbers when it is their day job, what chance the fans? It’s either unpredictable, thrilling theatre or just plain confusing. Perhaps both.

It seems the current Race to Dubai format, if not entirely broken, needs seriously tinkering, an overhaul only triggered by a massive cash injection. Or are we stuck with the status quo until the PGA Tour partnership truly takes hold? Fans await the blueprint with baited breath.

In the meantime, what will the 13th edition of the DPWTC guarantee? For starters, recent history suggests that the eventual winner of the AVIV Championship is unlikely to be one of the serious contenders for the Race to Dubai title as the point leaders remain on ice until the final 72 holes of the season.

Presuming (and hoping) most of the Race to Dubai top-10 touch down at DXB, the key plot will be whether defending Open champion Collin Morikawa or second-placed Billy Horschel can become the first American winner of the Harry Vardon Trophy, doing what Patrick Reed has narrowly been unable to achieve in recent seasons. Or will Jon Rahm embellish his standing as world No.1 by becoming European No.1 for a third time in five years?

Perhaps reigning Abu Dhabi champion Tyrrell Hatton can finish the calendar year like he started it – with victory in the UAE – and snare enough of the 12,000 R2D points on offer at the DPWTC to pip the Americans and Rahm at the tape? Will Hatton and Matthew Fitzpatrick, fourth and fifth in the standings respectively as we went to press, tee it up in the AVIV Dubai Championship in the hope of making the DPWTC finale more than a three-horse race? 

Billy Horschel is second in the R2D standings courtesy of winning the flagship BMW PGA Championship and the WGC Match-Play. He also teed it up in the Scottish and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship this season.

Will Victor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre and Rory McIlroy (who confirmed he was Dubai-bound, not via official channels, but at the recent U.S. F1 Grand Prix of all places) play one or both events despite having no chance of finishing top of the season standings? So many potentially interesting permutations, so many unknowns.   

All is well that ends well but how much better could the season finale be with more certainty. Sadly this isn’t a perfect world because of another C word, the one that still has us social distancing. But the pandemic isn’t the only curve ball in the European Tour’s court as we draw the curtain on 2021. 

What happens next is not only fascinating but potentially (and literally) game-changing too, for the European Tour and the global game. 

The immediate race may end at JGE but the decision-makers at Wentworth are on a never ending treadmill, one seemingly getting faster and faster by minute. The hope is that everyone else associated with the circuit, all those with livelihoods that swing on missed or made 10-footers even if they aren’t actually holding the putter, can cling on until the new norm is finally established.

The post What happens behind the scenes at JGE over the next fortnight is arguably more important than the action inside the ropes appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Shane Ryan
AUSTIN — The two French players in the field at the WGC-Dell Match Play made eye contact outside the clubhouse at Austin Country Club on Wednesday afternoon. One of them, Antoine Rozner, was fielding questions from the media in the flash area. The other, Victor Perez, walked past as he made the turn in his Day 1 match against Marc Leishman. Perez pumped his fist twice, drawing a small smile from his countryman.

A few hours earlier, Perez was likely one of the few people in the entire Texas state capital who had any idea who Rozner was (on the PGA Tour leaderboard, a silhouette stood in for a picture). But they both knew that was about to change. Rozner, who made the field on the strength of a European Tour victory in Qatar two weeks ago, had just defeated the most notorious American golfer on the PGA Tour, and his profile was about to take a few leaps forward.

There are a few ways to win a match at a tournament like the WGC, and Rozner’s method on Wednesday against Bryson DeChambeau was to establish a big lead and hold on for dear life. The 28-year-old, ranked 64th in the world, was rock-solid over the front nine, burying three 12-foot birdie putt on three different holes to post a 2-up lead at the turn, and he extended it to 3 up with another birdie on the par-5 12th. After that, Rozner admitted nerves set in. He conceded the 13th hole after a poor approach nearly found the water, and hit another disastrous approach on 14 that saw him poised to lose again. Rozner needed a 26-foot par putt just to tie the hole, and if it seemed doubtful that he could deliver, well, take a look at what he did on the 18th hole to win in Qatar:

By comparison, the par putt in Austin was child’s play:

It was the biggest shot of Rozner’s round, preserving the 2-up lead, and proved to be critical after he dropped the 16th hole and had to play 18 to try to win the match. Both players took aggressive lines off the tee on the short par 4, and after a 318-yard drive, Rozner had to play, in his words, a “Phil Mickelson flop” from 54 yards out. Watching from behind the green, a spectator couldn’t see Rozner below the hole, but could see his ball rise over the ledge of the green, land softly, and come to rest seven feet from the pin.

DeChambeau played it out and wouldn’t concede the seven-foot two-putt after missing his birdie attempt. Still, the script was written, and Rozner finished in style by holing his birdie for a 2-up win.

So what do we know about Monsieur Rozner? He lives in Paris, supports the Paris-St. Germain soccer club, counts Tiger Woods, Thomas Levet and Victor Dubuisson as his golf role models, played college golf in the U.S. at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, would choose Chiefs season ticket over the Royals, and only really chatted with DeChambeau to ask where he lived. As for match play, he’s won the French Amateur twice, and went 4-0 for Europe in the Palmer Cup in college. He’s hoping for an exemption next week into the Valero Texas Open, and when he returns to Paris, he’ll have to quarantine for seven days.

That’s all we could get in the short post-match interview, but considering how he played against DeChambeau, and how Qatar marked his second career European Tour title, the first won last December in Dubai, more information will be coming soon. At the very least, it’s clear that he’s not intimidated by much, including the massive drives DeChambeau unleashed throughout the day. Tomorrow, he’ll take on European Ryder Cup hero Tommy Fleetwood, and if he wins that match, he’s got a terrific chance to make Saturday’s knockout round. We knew nothing about Rozner yesterday, we know a little bit today, and you get the feeling that as the days pass, we’re bound to know a lot more.

The post France’s Antoine Rozner introduces himself to America with upset win over Bryson DeChambeau appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Such is the lot of pros outside the cradle of the PGA and European Tours. It’s not that the 30-year-old Asian Tour winner hasn’t been proactive in trying to keep his game sharp while he hurries up and waits for playing opportunities.

Indeed, just days after wife Suki Loh gave birth on August 8 to the couple’s first child, “incredible Hannah” as the proud new Dad proudly describes his baby daughter, Fung departed locked-down Kuala Lumpur to take up residency in Dubai.

“I needed to find a place to practice and allow me to continue to improve my game,” said Fung who boasts 19 professional victories and edged Jazz Janewattananond by a stroke to claim his Asian Tour breakthrough at the 2017 Queen’s Cup in Thailand.

He’s found a great ally in Dubai Golf who allow Fung unrestricted access to their three properties, Emirates G.C, Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club and Jumeirah Golf Estates, the latter not so incoincidently the host of the Golf in Dubai Championship.

“The decision to move was primarily because Malaysia was under lockdown but the UAE is a great supporter of golf and the golf courses are incredibly supportive of tour pros, generously allowing us access to their practice facilities.

“There is a wide range of high-quality courses and with the European Tour hosting multiple events in the Emirates, I believe it is the right place to base myself and practice.”

Being a range rat at JGE certainly helped Fung get his start in the European Tour’s final regular-season event of an alarming 2020 on Fire. That and the sway of P4M, the golf management company whose CEO, Marc Potter, was part of the team that got the DP World Tour Championship off the ground on Fire’s JGE sister course Earth more than a decade ago.

Nicholas Fung agonisingly missed the cut in the Golf in Dubai Championship on Fire at JGE by a single stroke. Photo by Getty Images

Fung signed for rounds of 71-71 to agonisingly miss the cut by a stroke. But given the state of the world, it wasn’t hard to accentuate the positives.

“Yes, to miss the cut was frustrating but I was incredibly happy to be back on tour after such a long layoff. I was perhaps a little rusty and didn’t quite have the competitive feeling but it felt good be back and see the positives from all the work I put in these past nine months.

“The hardest part is to time everything to be at your best when the opportunities are so limited and you’re not sure when the next event will be. But I got a lot of positive vibes during the week, which is not easy after so long off.”

Fung’s fourth and final start on the 2020 Asian Tour was at the Bandar Malaysian Open in early March before the season was suspended by the pandemic. He’s awaiting an official announcement about a resumption but is hearing whispers of a May restart and hopes to be back playing fulltime by June.

He’s due back in Dubai this month after spending quality time with his family over the festive period, practising at TPC Kuala Lumpar and keeping the bank manager happy by giving the odd lesson. He’d love a start in the European Tour’s Qatar Masters later this month but simply has to work around an uncertain future.

“It is really difficult for the pros, especially on the Asian Tour having only the ability to play four events [last year]. But I am lucky enough to still be able to do coaching in Malaysia as a side income and have had the support of friends and sponsors in these difficult times.”

Difficult times. Also known as the new norm. Despite the scheduling mysteries and all the on-going career uncertainty, Fung has somehow managed to remain positive.

“I am extremely motivated to perform at a high level again,” said Fung who won the 2010 Vietnam Open just months after turning professional and counts three EurAsia Cup appearances amongst his accomplishments.

“Actually it [the downtime] has been good and has allowed me more time to prepare, and work on my game. I have been able to work on the mental side of things as well as my fitness, strength, and conditioning.

“It would be great to secure two or three wins on any tour and get my world ranking [924th] back up. The Olympics would be a dream competing for Malaysia.

“I feel I have put in the hard work necessary during this past year and ultimately just need the opportunity to play and compete.”

The post New Dubai resident Nicholas Fung just wants a run of tournaments to get his teeth into appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
The inaugural Golf in Dubai Championship proved a tale of Andy Sullivan’s speedy start and Antoine Rozner’s fast finish.

Sullivan did his best to win the new $1.2 million event wire-to-wire at Jumeirah Golf Estates after a sizzling start on Fire with his Wednesday 61.

But the game of catch me if you can proved irresistible to Rozner even if the 27-year-old Parisian admitted after securing his maiden European Tour title with a closing 64 that he had no idea where he stood on the leaderboard until the 72nd hole.

“It means a lot,” said Rozner who became the 14th first time winner on the 2020 Race to Dubai in his 24th appearance in a stellar rookie year. “It’s been such a strange year, we have been through so much all over the world and to be able to get it done in such nice fashion, eight under, it’s amazing.

“I’m going to be very honest with you, the first time I saw I was in the lead was when I was on the 18th green so I didn’t really look at the leaderboards.”

Winning in style @Workday #GolfInDubai

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 5, 2020

You had to feel for Sullivan who did little wrong all week. The only danger was a low final round from one of the 11 players who started Saturday’s final round within five strokes, especially if the Englishman stalled.

There was no hint of that when Sullivan birdied the 1st for the fourth successive day, this time with a drive, baby wedge approach to within four feet. Indeed, he still led with six holes to play as anticipated challenges from Matt Wallace and Renato Paratore crashed and burned in a flurry of double bogeys.

Rozner came close to his European Tour breakthrough when he and Paratore were pipped in a playoff at the Mauritius Open last December by Rasmus Hijgaard. But few saw him seriously challenging on Fire even after his three birdies in an outward nine played in 33 strokes.

But the Frenchman ‘s name when up in lights when he completed a hat-trick of birdies with a brilliant shot on the 261-yard par-3 11th which rolled ever closer off the left-hand camber of the green.

That’s how you use the contours ?

Rozner moves within one of the leader.#GolfInDubai pic.twitter.com/WwC9EN9dkX

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 5, 2020

His decisive move came on the 13th when a slightly pushed approach to the par-5 took a friendly hop off the fringe and set up an eagle putt he duly drained. There was a hiccup with a bogey in 15 but an immediate bounce-back birdie on 16 and a tap-in for another gain on 18 saw Rozner finish on -25.

We have a new leader ?

And what a way to do it @AntoineRozner.#GolfInDubai pic.twitter.com/c0YgDyNCQ0

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 5, 2020

Mike Lorenzo-Vera, who played some magnificent shots in a closing 65, finished in a four-way share of second on -23 with Sullivan, Wallace and Italian Francesco Laporta.

“Catch me if you can.”

The moment that secured @AntoineRozner‘s maiden Tour victory ?#GolfInDubai pic.twitter.com/vHnN4ESdMv

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 5, 2020

“I knew the game was there. I didn’t know it was that good but I’m excited. I knew I was in the final [next week’s DP World Tour Championship] already, it’s just a good way to finish the season. The biggest tournament of the year.

“I didn’t play any Rolex Series events this year so to be able to play such a big tournament will be a big thing for me, so I’m excited.”

The Race to Dubai deciding DP World Tour Championship begins on the neighbouring Earth course at JGE on Thursday.

Goal = @AntoineRozner‘s win secured his place in the season-finale next week.#GolfInDubai pic.twitter.com/aNk6FctZAP

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 5, 2020

Rasmus Højgaard
Lucas Herbert
Min Woo Lee
Sami Välimäki
Joël Stalter
Sam Horsfield
Collin Morikawa
Romain Langasque
John Catlin
Garrick Higgo
Callum Shinkwin
Robert MacIntyre
JB Hansen
Antoine Rozner

Rozner becomes the 14th first time winner this season.#GolfInDubai pic.twitter.com/viNROmTEiH

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 5, 2020

The post Parisian Antoine Rozner powers to maiden European Tour title on Fire appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Andy Sullivan has shown a proclivity for winning going away on the European Tour, having waltzed to the 2015 Portugal Masters by nine strokes and the new English Championship by seven as recently as August.

Early in the third round of the inaugural Golf in Dubai Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates, it seemed the 34-year-old was intent on more of the same.

When Friday playing partner Matt Wallace stiffed it to tap in range on the 1st, Sullivan retorted with his own tight wedge-birdie of his own and seemed to be setting out where he left off in opening rounds of 61- 66.

By the turn he’d stretched his three stroke overnight lead to four over the third member of his all-England group, Ross Fisher. A big lead, perhaps even something unassailable heading into Saturday’s final round, was in the offing.

But this untraditionally scheduled moving day didn’t quite go to plan. Suddenly the free-flow of birdies became more of a holding pattern. A frustrating bogey on 10 was followed by a stretch of steady/unspectacular par golf.

Sullivan eventually signed for a 68 to get it to -21 for the championship. That was good enough for a two-stroke buffer over Wallace (67) with Fisher (68) and Italian Renato Paratorte (65)  a stroke further back on -18.

At least Sullivan will take a little momentum into the final round, if not a comfortable led with 11 players within five strokes on a course that could easily give up a low score to give one of the contenders setting out earlier a clubhouse target to make Sullivan sweat.

But if Sullivan and recapture the ball striking that marked his closing three holes, he he’ll be tough to haul in. A drive, two-putt birdie on the par-4 16th got him going again and was backed up with another gain on the tricky 17th when he rifled a 5-iron in tight in a near carbon copy of his second round shot of the day on the same hole Thursday. There was some final frustration when the master chipper was unable to get up and down for birdie from the front of the 18th but neither Fisher or Wallace were able to covert on the reachable par-5 either, limiting the damage.

“I’m happy with four under,” said Sullivan who will chase a fifth European Tour title on Saturday.

“I didn’t think I played brilliant golf. Started off really nicely front nine, played really solid. Ten through to 14 I didn’t swing it that great, didn’t give myself that many chances. Found some good swings coming in, which was really good, dug deep there and managed to get a few birdies coming home. Four under is a pretty fair reflection on how I played.

??????? -21 Sullivan
??????? -19 Wallace
?? -18 Paratore
??????? -18 R. Fisher
?? -17 Laporta
?? -17 Rozner

With one round to go at the #GolfInDubai.

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 4, 2020

“All in all, stayed patient and got my just desserts coming in with those two birdies. That’s what we were talking about before we got out there, it’s about being patient and I’m sure it will be the same tomorrow.

“There’s a lot of golf to be played, a lot of birdies to be made tomorrow. Just got to go out there and play golf. If I play as good as I did the first two days, I’ll be a confident man.”

THEY SAID IT…

Matt Wallace (ENG), 63-67-67 (-19)
“It was alright, didn’t swing it as good today. I felt a bit nervous, if I’m honest. Not at the start, but then a few tee shots didn’t feel as comfortable, didn’t strike it as well.

“Had to tell myself to let it go and struck it better coming in. Frustrating to miss that putt on the last. The grain really gets quite strong as the day goes on. On 17 it broke more, 18 broke a lot. I wouldn’t have given it outside the hole from that distance, and I would have had to.

“The birdie on the next hole (after bogey on nine) settled me down, but I knew I could hole that putt. I knew good drive, middle of the green to a back pin that was quite dangerous, I knew that I could hole that putt on a hard hole. Then I hit a great shot into 11. Staying patient, waiting for my run, a little bit. I hit a really bad shot on nine, which could have got to me – and would have probably got to me in the past – but I know that I’m swinging it well and I know I’m going to give myself loads of chances. Same tomorrow, I’m going to have loads of chances tomorrow.

“I’m not thinking about that (winning tomorrow), if I’m honest. I had a chance in Scotland and was in a better position in Scotland to win and I didn’t. I’m two behind a Ryder Cup player, someone who is playing really well. I’m going to have to go really low tomorrow. It’s not just him, someone could come from 15, 16 and shoot nine or ten under. You’ve seen out there, Robert Macintyre was seven-under through nine, so that can happen. Hopefully it can be me, but I’m just going to relax now and get ready for the fight tomorrow.”

Robert MacIntyre (SCO), 66-68-66 (-16)
“Happy with six under par, I’d have taken that before I went out but with the start I had I should have scored a lot better. That’s the way things happen and I have another day to fix it.

“It happened the other day. It’s nothing new. It’s part of the game and it happens all the time. You want it not to happen, but it’s part and parcel of the game. I enjoyed it as much as I could but to finish the way I did wasn’t so sweet.

“There’s still going to be pressure. If I’ve not go nerves on the first tee, I’m not in the right job. It’s going to be like a shootout again. It suits my game and I’m putting good, I just need to tidy it up a bit and see where it ends up.

“[Eagle on seven] 256 yards to the pin. Sitting alright in the rough. I hit a perfect five wood. It normally goes 250, slightly downwind I hit it perfect – right where I was aiming it – and it left me a nice putt.”

Par save of the day…

That’d be @RossFisher.#GolfInDubai pic.twitter.com/TeqVpZwdCj

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 4, 2020

The post Andy Sullivan, with a lead of two, insists Saturday’s final round is all ‘about being patient’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Kent Gray
After a rough introduction to golf in the UAE seven years ago, Craig Howie is clearly warming to this desert golf lark. A self-decrepitating social media post, which has illustrated just how far his instantly rocky relationship has come, has a new legion of fans in Dubai playing the mutual appreciation game with the relatively unheralded Scot.

The 26-year-old from Peebles near Edinburgh will start the third round of the inaugural Golf in Dubai Championship on Friday in a share of fourth on -12. That’s five strokes adrift of halfway leader Andy Sullivan but the way the European Tour field are carving up Fire, it’s not as far back as it sounds.

It’s also a giant leap forward for Howie’s first taste of golf in the UAE at an amateur event back in 2013 as he highlighted in a Tweet after his opening round of 64 at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

In 2013 I played my first ever round in the UAE ?? I shot 94. Today was a better day. Shout out to @YasLinksGC for their well placed water hazards ? pic.twitter.com/yXxWZt96wL

— Craig Howie (@crhowie94) December 2, 2020

After signing for a 68 on Thursday, Howie revisited his Yas Links heartache. Well, sort of.

“To be honest it was all a bit of a blur at the time,” Howie said.

“I’ve tried pretty hard to erase it from my memory but to be honest it’s probably one of the best things that has happened to me. At the time I was a pretty good golfer and hadn’t had too many setbacks, so it was quite a humbling experience. It reminded me that the game is not that easy and I need to keep working hard. I’ve learned a lot and it’s stood me in good stead.”

This is just Howie’s 10th European Tour start, all of them in 2020. There has been four missed cuts but a T-5 at the ISPS Handa UK Championship, like this week a new event born out of COVID, highlighted his potential.

Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
Craig Howie lets it rip off the 10th tee on Fire during the second round Thursday.

“My playing experiences are pretty limited on the European Tour. Before lockdown, I had only ever played once [a missed cut at the South African Open in January]. This year it was more about gathering experience and trying to make the most of the opportunities that I do get.

“Thankfully, I’ve played well. I’m not really sure why that’s been the case. I think I’ve just been quite comfortable when I’ve been out here. Expectations are fairly low. It seems to be a good recipe.”

Having banked €88,816 in this season like no other, Howie is getting a taste for the lifestyle at the top level, especially here in Dubai.

“The hotels, the car, the golf is just an added bonus on top of all that. The food this week is incredible, the sunshine. There’s a lot to enjoy.”

The post Craig Howie’s previous UAE golf experience was a humbling 93 at Yas Links. Now he’s contending at JGE appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Just in case you were in any doubt about the quality of the Englishman’s flushed approach into his penultimate hole on Thursday, there was an exclamation mark from the European Tour broadcast booth.  “What a shot!” the commentator cried.

Quite. Check it out:

Leads by three @andysulligolf ?‍#GolfInDubai pic.twitter.com/nwR1rHifcF

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 3, 2020

The post-shot shrug, that was trademark Sully too. The tap-in birdie than ensued helped him to -17 and a three-shot lead heading into moving day on Friday. But was it the shot of the second round? You be the judge.

How about Martin Kaymer’s classy pitch off a cart path?

Martin Kaymer from the cart path ?#GolfInDubai pic.twitter.com/HgP9oMmtRe

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 3, 2020

Or the shot Eddie Pepperell produced after whatever he was doing on the previous green.

Whatever @PepperellEddie was thinking about, it worked.#GolfInDubai pic.twitter.com/pmT9LDeHKs

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 3, 2020

We love it when Pepperell has a quiet word with himself. Nearly as much as the Englishman’s social media musings which peaked after Sullivan’s opening round 61.

Don’t be like that Ed I missed a few coming in. ??????

— Andy Sullivan (@andysulligolf) December 2, 2020

Talking of shot-making, how about Ross Fisher going 36 blemish-free holes to get it to -14 after backing up his opening 63 with a 67.

“I made five [birdies] today, there were probably at least a handful that slipped by. It would have been nice to get one on nine [his final hole]there, but I’m not going to stand here and complain that I’ve missed a few putts. I’m 14 under, haven’t made a bogey, so life’s pretty good,” Fisher said.

“It’s very satisfactory to make as many birdies as I have, but to not make a bogey in 36 holes, I’m delighted with. I think – I’ll have to check it – but if my stats are correct, I haven’t missed a green either. For 36 holes, to hit every single green. I missed the par five, but it was just off the edge. Very satisfying. “

Also on -14 is Matt Wallace (63-67) who is learning the importance of patience on a course giving up so many birdie looks.

“There is that added pressure but I just kept saying to myself, I shot nine-under yesterday, I’m playing some good stuff. I’m allowed to put in bad swings and to hit bad shots but what I’m not allowed to do is get down on myself – just crack on and move in,” Wallace said.

Andrew Redington/Getty Images

“This week in particular, it’s just wide off the tee in areas. I’ve managed to lose a ball or take a penalty drop off two drives this week so it’s obviously not wide enough for me. It’s wide in areas and you can get away with having a putt for birdie so it does come down to the putts.

“Very much looking forward to the group tomorrow, I spent a bit of time with Andy and Ross, just talking to them. I’ve got Sean on the bag who used to caddie for Sully so they’ll know each other well. I’m looking forward to it.”

The post Kaymer’s cart path escape, Pepperell’s zen moment and other epic shots from JGE appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
The Fire course at Jumeirah Golf Estates has masqueraded as an aviary during the first half of the new Golf in Dubai Championship.

Birdies and better have abounded in the opening two rounds with leader Andy Sullivan getting to within a whisker of matching the European Tour’s 36-hole (to par) scoring record, -18 set by Ernie Els at the 2004 Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne.

With no significant course or climatic changes forecast for Friday at least, there can be no backing off on moving day but it’s patience, rather than panic, that was the over-riding theme from Sullivan after the second round.   

“We spoke about it to my psychologist before I went out, it’s basically just about staying patient and give yourself as many chances as possible,” Sullivan said after backing up his course record 61 with a 66 on Thursday to get it to -17 and establish a three-stroke lead over English compatriots Ross Fisher and Matt Wallace.

“It is hard, I really had to work hard at staying patient, when I was three-under through nine it didn’t feel as good as yesterday. But you know you’re still on the right track. I knew I was swinging it well and if I could keep giving myself opportunities I could make a few coming in. If you’d told me I’d shoot 61-66 I’d have snapped your hand off.”

Sullivan apologised for the cliché in preface to a comment about sticking to his processes as he debriefed his round. His only blemish in the second round was a three-putt bogey on the 3rd when he rushed a long birdie putt by but there were five birdies and eagle three on 7 to more than make on that rush of blood.

A brilliant birdie on the 17th – check out the sound of the iron strike in the Tweet below – gave the 34-year-old a shot at Els’ record but a testy birdie putt burnt the left edge.

Leads by three @andysulligolf ?‍#GolfInDubai pic.twitter.com/nwR1rHifcF

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 3, 2020

“I feel like I’ve got the golf ball under some sort of control at the moment,” Sullivan said.

“I know what shapes I can hit and how much I can move it. It just feels really comfortable out there off the tee and into the greens, it feels like there aren’t many pins I can’t get at, which is a nice feeling to have. It didn’t happen too often in the season, so it’s nice to have that.”

Sullivan, Wallace and Fisher are last off the 1st tee at 10.05 am (GST) on Friday.

The post Patience a virtue as Andy Sullivan extends Dubai lead to three appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Just ask five-time European Tour winner Ross Fisher who is trying his best to prove there is still room at the elite level for the old school guy. The Englishman is by no means short off the tee but is better known for cleverly plotting his way to a score rather the modern rip, wedge and putt method.

That was the case Wednesday as the Englishman opened the inaugural Golf in Dubai Championship at JGE with a bogey-free 63 to ease into a share of second place alongside countryman Matt Wallace and Frenchman Antoine Rozner.

The trio start Thursday’s second round two strokes adrift of Andy Sullivan. Fisher, who entered his fourth decade on November 22, just hopes he can keep the momentum going after a tough 2020 which has seen him miss eight cuts in 17 starts, seven of them since the resumption of the Race to Dubai after the COVID lockdown.

“I feel like it’s been there, but I just haven’t been able to find it for some reason,” Fisher said after negotiating Fire’s homeward nine in just 29 strokes including an eagle three at the 13th and two-putt birdie on 18.

Ross F̶i̶s̶h̶e̶r̶ Flusher#GolfInDubai pic.twitter.com/fU92SqX9YR

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 2, 2020

The third 63 of the day #GolfInDubai pic.twitter.com/u2QCNPx5bu

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 2, 2020

“I feel like I’ve hit the ball really well for a long time, worked hard at short game, worked hard at putting and it just, for some reason, hasn’t clicked for four rounds. I’ve had the odd round here and there, but it’s not through the want of trying.”

After missing the cut at both of the Aphrodite Hills Cypress Open and separate Showdown events last month, Fisher is 57th in the Race to Dubai standings and needs to finish to the top-60 to qualify for next week’s DP World Tour Championship.

“I was disappointed after Cyprus, I felt like I played really well and to miss out on both weeks was really disappointing. I had three weeks off to reflect and then came here with the bit between my teeth knowing I needed a solid performance here to consolidate and get into next week. To go out there and produce that today, I’m obviously delighted.”

Fisher is off 7.20am today and knows he’ll have to remain aggressive, especially on a course that is short and wide by elite standards. The greens are also rolling beautifully and without any firmness, they’re proving easy pickings;  no fewer than 73 of the 107 starters dipped under par on Wednesday.

“For me, growing up, we were told to keep the ball in play and play the game whereas you look at the way golf has gone now, I think if you ask coaches now what advice they’ve give to juniors and young golfers, is just ‘tee it up, smash it, and go find it’ because that’s the way golf is going,” said Fisher who last won at the 2014 Tshwane Open.

“You look at so many guys out here now who are coming out, they’re bombing it miles. At 40, I’m not getting any younger but I’m working hard in the gym, trying different things, and I was testing a long driver just to see what the differences are and it’s amazing.

“I would say that would be my one bit of advice. Everyone talks about how important the short game and putting is and don’t get my wrong, me and Matt Wallace and my caddie were talking about it last night and it’s obviously very important but if you can’t get it off the tee, you’re not going to be able to compete for a long period of time so it’s about working on those aspects, I would say.”

The post Ross Fisher, just 40, is doing his best to keep up with the young rip or bust brigade  appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
As Andy Sullivan was putting the lights out on Fire Wednesday, briefly placing the golf world on an official 59 watch in the process, news of the UK becoming the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine was breaking.

They were moments a world apart in importance but brilliant all the same, and loosely connected too.

For while most of the rest of the world has collectively cursed the impacts of COVID, Sullivan used the lockdown to recalibrate a career seemingly stalled after a breakthrough three win 2015.

The 34-year-old Englishman won for the first time in five seasons at the English Championship in August, a new tournament in a six-event UK Swing born out of the pandemic.

A second win of 2020 is now a distinct possibility after Sullivan signed for blemish-free 61, the new Fire course record, to earn an early two-stroke lead at the Golf in Dubai Championship. It was some way to mark the UAE’s 49th National Day at another new, hastily arranged event in this Race to Dubai season like no other.

“COVID really changed everything for me,” said Sullivan after his lowest European Tour round to par, 11 under, eclipsed the 10-under 61 he scored at last year’s Portugal Masters.

Sullivan’s lowest European Tour round to par @Workday #GolfInDubai

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 2, 2020

“I had time to sit down and reflect on how I was being on the golf course. I [don’t] like to say, but I was being an idiot. It’s not nice to say that about yourself. I could think about what I wanted from the game and where I wanted to go with it. I refocused and started enjoying it again. I’ve started to play a lot better.

“Going out there and enjoying it, I know I’m giving myself the best chance to shoot a low score. Coming back to Jumeirah, I’ve always played pretty tidy here on the other course. It’s nice to get off to a flier on this one.”

Indeed. Starting on the 10th, Sullivan was six-under at the turn and capped a run of six successive birdies when the hole got in the way of a putt from another postcode on Fire’s tricky par 3 2nd. Check it out here:

Highlights of Sullivan’s back nine ?#GolfInDubai pic.twitter.com/LQ4QEYYpQa

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 2, 2020

Sullivan needed birdies on his last two holes to join Olivier Fisher as the second player in European Tour history in the 59 club after the Englishman achieved the feat at the 2018 Portugal Masters. It wasn’t to be although it was agonisingly close; Sullivan burned the cup with a birdie putt on the par 3 8th and hit a dart into the 9th hole, only to miss his putt for 60 on the low side.

Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

“It’s funny, I played the front nine yesterday and I played the back nine a year ago when we came over to warm up, you do all this prep on these courses and try and work out where to hit it. This week I turned up and clattered it around and found myself being ridiculous under par through seven or eight holes on my front nine. You think ‘here we go’.

“I changed my putting routine with Mike yesterday and it’s helped me trust my instincts more instead of second-guessing myself which really helped. The putter was extremely hot today.”

Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

One round, even one this low, doesn’t make a tournament but Sullivan has pedigree at JGE after pushing eventual champion Rory McIlroy all the way at the 2015 DP World Tour Championship on neighbouring Earth before finishing a shot adrift of the Northern Irishman.

He lead by two strokes from countrymen Matt Wallace and Ross Fisher and Frenchman Antoine Rozner who opened with 63s. Scots Marc Warren and Craig Howie, along with Swede Oscar Lengden were tied for 5th after 64s.

A pair of 63s for Rozner and Wallace

That’s Antione’s lowest career round on the European Tour, while Matt ties the 63 he shot at the 2017 Open de Portugal.#GolfInDubai pic.twitter.com/SjH90Iehxz

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 2, 2020

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