The 26-year-old, whose last victory came at the 2018 Omega Dubai Desert Classic, started the day with a one-stroke lead which he quickly extended with his third eagle of the week on the par five sixth hole and three further gains before the turn.

He came home level par after recording three birdies and three bogeys on the back nine to sign for a five-under 67 and a 20-under total, tightening his grip on the lead he’s held after each round at Golfclub München Eichenried.

Li, who equalled the course record of 62 on Thursday, will be joined in the final group by 2016 Ryder Cup player Thomas Pieters, who won his first Rolex Series title at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January — his sixth win on the DP World Tour.

Pieters was one under par through ten holes but came home in 31 strokes to sign for a six under 66, moving to within three strokes of Li on 17 under.

One stroke further back is Englishman Jordan Smith, who won his maiden DP World Tour title on German soil at the Porsche European Open in 2017. Sharing fourth place are current Ras Al Khaimah champion New Zealander Ryan Fox and Dutchman Darius van Driel on 15-under par.

“I was a lot more comfortable than I thought,” said Li. “Quite surprised. Just another great day again. Germany has been treating me very good so far.

“I didn’t expect an eagle on number six, and didn’t expect that birdie on 15 as well.

“The last time when I won in Dubai I was playing with Rory, and I thought I was trying to finish second that week. There’s no expectation. Even today, I played great, still have a three-shot lead but tomorrow will be a tough day. I just need to hang on in there, play my game. Expect everything. I just need to get comfortable as much as possible.”

Pieters added: “You know people are going to shoot 64, so I was getting a bit frustrated after about six or seven holes because I was only one-under and I had to save par a couple of times. It was very nice to shoot 31 on the back.

“People have come back from further behind. I just look forward to a lovely day tomorrow and hopefully a lot of birdies.”

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The post DP World Tour: UAE champs to the fore as Haotong on course for a momentous Munich moment appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Thursday surprise announcement will see the prize fund for the Jan. 27-30 event at Emirates Golf Club bolstered to $8m – a near $5 million injection – and promises all the associated star player pulling power.

It also means OMEGA’s 12-year association with the oldest European Tour event outside continental Europe is now over. Texas, Dallas-based Slync.io, a technology provider to the global logistics industry, replaces the Swiss watchmaker as naming rights sponsor.

The 33rd (but 1st) Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic will again follow the week after the Abu Dhabi Championship which retains its Rolex Series status for 2022. Add the season-ending, $9 million DP World Tour Championship at Jumeriah Golf Estates in November 2022 and the UAE will be home to three of the European Tour’s five Rolex events next year. The tour’s flagship BMW Championship at Wentworth and the Scottish Open, which was recently granted co-sanction status by the PGA Tour, are the other Rolex tournaments which promote the season’s richest purses, strongest fields, enhanced media coverage and a gold – albeit virtual – star for the eventual champion.

There was no mention of the fate of the Saudi International, the third leg of the Desert Swing for the past three years, in Thursday’s media statement, unsurprising given the ructions swirling the international game. Golf Digest Middle East understands the Saudi event will become part of a reinvigorated Asian Tour in 2022, possibly in the same time slot as Dubai which could lead to a marquee player bidding war.

OPINION: Dubai’s sudden Rolex Series upgrade shrouded in global intrigue

The Dubai Desert Classic becomes Slync.io’s first naming rights sponsorship in golf although the company already enjoys a strong representation in the game. Justin Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champion and 2016 Olympic Games gold medallist, is the biggest name amongst its stable of brand ambassadors. Others include Viktor Hovland, Erik van Rooyen, 2021 Solheim Cup rookie Jennifer Kupcho, Bernd Wiesberger, Sepp Straka, Albane Valenzuela, and Xinjin Zhang.

A new chapter for the Rolex Series ?

Introducing the @slyncio Dubai Desert Classic ??#SlyncDDC | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/Sc2T7eXZd8

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 2, 2021

It was immediately unclear if the Slync.io’s brand ambassadors will be contractually required to tee it up on the Majlis course which will feature freshly renovated greens in January. No mention of big-name signings was made in the media release. Rose made his first appearance at the Desert Classic since 2009 this past January, finishing in a tie for 35th. Paul Casey won the 32nd edition with a -17, 271 total for a four-stroke victory over South African Brandon Stone. The Englishman pocketed €435,485 for his 14th European Tour victory.

Slync.io Founder, Chairman and CEO Chris Kirchner

“We are excited to partner with the European Tour and Rolex on the Dubai Desert Classic,” said Slync.io Founder, Chairman and CEO Chris Kirchner in a prepared statement.

“Dubai is one of the great cities and a key player in global logistics. This event will be a great place for us to kick off our year with our customers and enjoy some world-class golf.”

Desert Classic Executive Tournament Director Simon Corkill welcomed Slync.io and predicted the company’s technological savviness would bring long-term benefits to the event and “Dubai Inc”.

“Slync’s status as a leading global logistics technology provider will help to bring innovative ideas to the tournament and ensure it continues to evolve and grow,” Corkill said. “These changes will bring a host of benefits to Dubai and the tournament, in addition to offering our international fans enhanced coverage of the venue and players.

“We look forward to working with Slync.io and the rest of our sponsors to deliver a world-class event during a pivotal year for Dubai, when all eyes will descend on the city during the UAE’s 50th anniversary celebrations and the landmark hosting of Expo 2020 Dubai.”

European Tour CEO Keith Pelley described Slync’s partnership with the Dubai Desert Classic and the Rolex Series as “a real statement of intent”.

“… we look forward to working together to build on the incredible history of the Dubai Desert Classic and to continue to showcase Dubai as a global sporting and trade hub,” Pelley said.

“Alongside the Genesis Scottish Open and the BMW PGA Championship, the three Rolex Series events in the Middle East mean our five premium tournaments in 2022 will be played at key times in the golfing calendar when the eyes of the world are on the European Tour.

“They will be incredible highlights in what promises to be a momentous 50th anniversary season for the European Tour.”

The post Dubai Desert Classic elevated to Rolex Series status appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
The five-month rebuild of the most recognisable greens in Middle East golf is underway. In the meantime, may we humbly suggest you brush up on your lag putting.

All 18 greens on the Majlis layout at Emirates Golf Club, plus the practice green beneath the club’s famed Majlis clubhouse, are being dug up and rebuilt to full United States Golf Association (USGA) specification.

Originally built as ‘push up’ greens in the late 1980s, the surfaces are subject to the region’s high-stress climatic conditions so had come to the end of their natural 20-25 year lifespan.

That was evident at January’s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic but Dubai Golf CEO Chris May is confident the rebuild will impress members and guests when the course reopens in late September and the pros when they are fully bedded for next year’s European Tour stop.

Like for Arabian Ranches Golf Club’s recent greens rebuild project, Emirates G.C. is having the chosen Tifeagle Bermuda grasses flown into the UAE in refrigerated containers from Atlas Turf in Georgia in the U.S.

The most noticeable change will be the significantly increased size of the surfaces, thus the aforementioned tip to work on your lag putting in the intervening five months.

“The greens will essentially remain the same as Karl Litten’s original design,” said May. “The most noticeable difference on re-opening in September will be the increase in size of the greens. The putting surfaces will be brought back to their original size with the average increase being close to 40 percent.”

Scratch beneath the surface and the big long-term benefits can be found.

“The fundamental change will be enhancing the drainage in the greens complexes by building to USGA specifications.

The 1st green on the Majlis is prepped for the rebuild.

“This will enable the golf course maintenance team to manage and present the greens to the world-class conditions that are expected on the Majlis course. The greens will be hand sprigged to ensure a consistent coverage with this work to be complete by the end of June after which the grow in will take place through to opening.”

Dubai Golf is also investing in drainage to the Majlis’ greenside bunkers to improve playability. Al Naboodah Contracting, the company responsible for the majority of golf courses in the region, is undertaking the construction.

American Terry Baller, who has significant global experience with many of the top design companies, is the design consultant.

“We are very much looking forward to reopening for play in September for our members and guests and providing world-class putting surfaces on the Majlis course for many years to come,” said May.

The post Majlis greens to grow up to 40% as USGA specification rebuild begins at Emirates Golf Club appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Dave Shedloski
“When do you start thinking about Augusta?”

Well, that didn’t take long. The date is January 10, 2001, and Tiger Woods, coming off a historic season in which he won nine times and captured the year’s final three majors, already is being asked about the Masters. Which doesn’t begin until April 5. It’s 86 days away.

Woods is sitting in a lounge chair in a makeshift interview room beneath the clubhouse at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort in Maui, where he is the defending champion of the winner’s only Mercedes Championships. Because of him the field isn’t large. He has taken up nine spots.

But not many members of the media want to talk about his playoff victory over Ernie Els. The story is the Masters and the challenge ahead of him at Augusta National Golf Club. The story has been the Masters since August when Woods defeated Bob May in a three-hole playoff to successfully defend his PGA Championship title at Valhalla Golf Club near Louisville, Ky. It enabled Woods to run the tables in the U.S. Open, the Open Championship and the PGA to wrap up the 2000 majors campaign.

Only Ben Hogan in 1953 previously had won three professional majors in a calendar year. Only one other player had held three of the four modern major championship trophies at one time, when Jack Nicklaus won the 1971 PGA Championship (played in February that year) and the 1972 Masters and U.S. Open.

But no one ever had won four professional majors in a row. And it had been 70 years and change since Bob Jones registered the only recognized Grand Slam, sweeping the Open and Amateur titles of the U.S. and Britain in 1930.

Nicklaus said that he’d start thinking about the Masters as soon as the calendar turned to January. But the Golden Bear never had to think about winning the Masters as a part of a larger, unprecedented, crazy-to-even-contemplate accomplishment.

A spread from the April 2001 issue of Golf Digest.

Woods responded to the inevitable query by saying he wouldn’t give the Masters much thought until he reached the Florida swing. What he meant was that he wouldn’t think about it in earnest until then.

“Have I been thinking about it? Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it,” he finally admitted. “I’ve been thinking about some of the shots I might need. . . .More than anything, going into Augusta, I think it’s always beneficial that you’re playing well, that you feel like your practices are well, your tournament performances going in there, you’ve put yourself in contention to win.”

The observation would prove prescient as the early months of 2001 unfolded.

What ensued next was perhaps less predictable, but also revealing. The discussion veered to the question: what exactly was Woods on the verge of accomplishing? Was it the Grand Slam? Or something else? Woods allowed that the Grand Slam, as commonly identified, is completed in one year. Martina Navratilova completed a sweep of tennis’ four big events in succession in 1983-84. It was not known as a Grand Slam, which Steffi Graf achieved in 1988. (And on the men’s side, completed by Don Budge in 1934 and Rod Laver twice, in 1962 and ’69.) But Tiger had a salient point at the ready. He’d had time to ponder it.

Q: There’s going to be a debate at Augusta, if you should win, whether that’s a Grand Slam or whether it has to be done in calendar year. … If you were to win Augusta this year, is that a Grand Slam?

TIGER WOODS: Let me ask you this. Do I hold all four?

Q: Yes.

TIGER WOODS: Then there’s the answer.

Q: Does it have to be in a calendar year?

TIGER WOODS: I [would] hold all four at the same time.

Q: You know Martina Navratilova did that, and they wouldn’t count it in tennis as a Grand Slam.

TIGER WOODS: Hey, everybody has an opinion.

Q: First you have to win it. Then will you let us argue it?

TIGER WOODS: You can do whatever you want as soon as I win.

After beating MacDonald Smith by two strokes in the U.S. Open at Interlachen for his third major title of 1930, Bob Jones had to wait 77 days until the final leg of his Slam, the U.S. Amateur at Merion, began. Long time to wait. To stew. To lose your game or confidence. A long time to not be sick or injured. And a long time to allow another player to prepare, maybe find his game or his confidence and be a little bit better.

When Tiger Woods holed out for that difficult playoff victory on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2000, in the 82nd PGA Championship, he faced an interminable wait of 228 days until the start of the 65th Masters.

Like Nicklaus, Woods would begin preparing for the challenge of Augusta in earnest with the arrival of the new year. He had 85 days to get ready for the grandest quest in golf’s modern era. The following recounts that journey.

Jan. 11-14: Mercedes Championships 70-73-68-69-280 (T-8)
As the defending champion, and after having won 16 of his last 30 tour starts, Woods was the heavy favorite in the field of 33 players in Hawaii. He wasn’t exactly coming in fresh. He competed steadily throughout the fall and played into mid-December with appearances at his own Williams World Challenge and the EMC World Cup in Argentina, where he teamed with David Duval. (Perhaps predictably, they won.)

Paired with Paul Azinger, Woods opened with a 70. No problem. He shot 71 in the first round the year before. The problem was a second-round 73 that left him nine strokes behind Els. The only positive note was extending his streak to 49 of rounds at par or better. Tiger went negative. “It can’t get much worse,” he said after three-putting 18. “I’m hitting terrible. I’m chipping terrible. And I’m putting terrible.”

It didn’t get much better, either. “Just a little off this week,” he said after a decent weekend that enabled him to finish in the top-10 for the 18th time in his last 21 starts but six shots behind winner Jim Furyk.

The Masters begins in 81 days.

Jan. 25-28: Phoenix Open 65-73-68-65-271 (T-5)
Tiger opened strong, trailing a trio of players by a stroke, but the end of his round was marred by a teenager throwing an orange onto the ninth green just as Woods was getting ready to putt. He missed the birdie try, and when he shot 73 in the second round, he fell 13 strokes behind Mark Calcavecchia. Equally frustrating, his streak of par or better rounds on tour ended at 52 dating to the Byron Nelson Classic the previous May.

“I’ll just start another one,” he said, and he followed through by going nine under the final two rounds, though it didn’t much matter, because Calcavecchia went bonkers and finished at 28-under 256.

“I’m not playing badly,” said Woods, continuing to struggle on the greens. “I just need some of those putts that lipped out to go in.”

The Masters is 67 days away.

Feb. 1-4: AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am 66-73-69-72-280 (T-13)
Uh, oh. Tiger’s winless streak in official events reaches an unthinkable six dating to October at the Disney Classic, but that wasn’t the worst development at the famed seaside course where he orchestrated so much magic the year prior by winning twice, including the Slam starter, that record-wrecking 15-stroke victory in the 100th U.S. Open.

On Wednesday, Woods – and all of golf – got a scare when Tiger stepped on the ankle of an aggressive autograph seeker and hyperextended his left knee. Initially, he feared he might have to withdraw. He was fortunate to escape a more serious injury.

He answered the bell on Thursday, however, and opened with an encouraging six-under 66 at Spyglass Hill. “There’s a difference between playing injured and playing hurt,” he said. “If the injury were significant, I would not have played.”

The best that could be said for the rest of the week is that he survived The Battle of Wounded Knee. Even getting a trophy for winning the team competition with his friend Jerry Chang wasn’t fully satisfying; they had to share the title with Phil Mickelson and musician Kenny G. Davis Love III, with a sterling 63, rallied for the individual title.

A closing 72, marred by reports of a few club slams and a watery tee shot at the par-3 17th, left Woods outside the top-10 (T-13) for the first time since winning the Canadian Open in September. He consented to one TV interview, lamented his poor putting, and departed.

The Masters begins in 60 days.

Feb. 8-11: Buick Invitational 70-67-67-67-271 (fourth)
Woods had reason to be motivated returning to Torrey Pines. Not only had Mickelson beaten him by four strokes the year before to end his six-tournament winning streak, but in the run-up, Lefty couldn’t stifle a jab at his rival. “The guy can take a beating and come back for more,” he quipped when Woods committed to the San Diego stop.

If that wasn’t enough, Tiger began answering to slump questions because of his PGA Tour drought – though he had won the European Tour’s Johnnie Walker Classic in November. “It’s not like I’m missing cuts,” he pointed out. “My worst finish is 13th. That’s terrible, isn’t it?”

Tiger usually responds to these kinds of provocations with scoring haymakers, but a sloppy opening 70 on the relatively easier North Course derailed his hopes of an “I-will-show you” response, even with three straight 67s on the South Course. Woods ended up a dyspeptic fourth, two strokes out of the three-man playoff eventually won by … Mickelson. Ouch.

No issues with the knee, though.

It is now 53 days until the start of the Masters.

Feb. 22-25: Nissan Open 71-68-69-71-279 (T-13)
Already in the midst of his longest winless streak on the PGA Tour since he won the 1999 Memorial, Woods hoped to break through at Riviera Country Club, where he made his tour debut at 16 years old. The “S-word” was getting thrown around some more. A Los Angeles Times headline blared, “When will Woods win?”

“It’s only four tournaments. That’s not a slump,” he shrugged, obviously counting his World Cup win with Duval to end 2000. “If I went four years, that’s a slump.”

Backing up his assertion was the fact that his stroke average was exactly the same as a year ago – 68.88. But two ominous signals loomed: driver and putter misbehavior. He came into the week ranked 91st on the tour in driving accuracy, and 126th in putting. In 2000, Woods ranked second in putting.

And the putting woes continued in an opening 71 as he didn’t make a putt over four feet. It didn’t help that his approaches gave him looks that required binoculars, so he went straight to the driving range. He flirted with the cutline before two birdies and an eagle got him in contention through 36 holes. (He then went on Larry King Live that evening.)

Amid chilly and rainy weather, Woods stalled the final 36 holes and settled for another T-13 finish, though he was only three shots out of a massive six-man playoff won by Robert Allenby. He hit only 40 greens in regulation. “Not very good,” was his blunt assessment.

The Masters begins in 39 days.

PGA TOUR Archive
Woods faced questions about the Slam at every event to start that season.

March 8-11: Dubai Desert Classic 64-64-69-72-268 (T-2)
Jet-lagged after 25 hours of travel and barely on speaking terms with his putter, Woods wasn’t in the greatest mood when he touched down in the United Arab Emirates for the European Tour event for which he received, according to reports, a $2 million appearance fee. It didn’t help that the slump whispers followed him across 11 time zones. “They don’t understand the game if they think it’s a slump,” he said.

His mood brightened when he sampled the greens on the Majlis Course. “It’s nice to be able to putt on greens that roll,” he said. Little wonder, then, that Woods got that Tiger circa 2000 strut going when he opened 64-64 and broke the 36-hole tournament record.

Everyone liked the greens, though (the cut was a record three under par), and Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, who had a home in Dubai, would not back down, trailing golf’s best front-runner by a stroke entering the final round. They were tied heading to the par-5 18th hole when the world’s No. 1 golfer sprayed his drive right behind low-lying trees. He punched across the fairway for his second and then found a lake from 150 yards with a 9-iron. A double-bogey dropped him into a tie for second with Padraig Harrington at 20 under par.

The loss was just his fourth after holding the 54-hole lead.

“I think this just goes to show how strong the European Tour is becoming. Lee [Westwood] has beaten him head to head, Darren [Clarke] has beaten him head to head, and now I’ve done it,” said Bjorn, who didn’t just pour salt in the wound but ground it in with his spikes. “The intimidation is disappearing.”

The Masters now is less than a month away, just 25 days.

March 15-18: Bay Hill Invitational 71-67-66-69-273 (Win)
“Did it sting? Oh, yes, it did,” Woods said of his Dubai disaster as he met the media at Bay Hill Club in Orlando, where he was defending his third 2000 title. “When you have a chance of winning and don’t win, it doesn’t feel good. But the great thing is that I really started to play well. I putted well. I felt like my game was progressing.”

It was a tough interview, the direction of which Woods admitted was “annoying.” But he came ready. “I went over my stats the other day, and I’m 75-under this year through six tournaments. That’s not bad. … The only problem is I just haven’t got the right breaks at the right time, and you need to have that in order to win.”

But maybe, just maybe, he also was slightly distracted by some kind of impending challenge.

“Yeah, I’ve been working on stuff for Augusta since the beginning of the year,” he admitted. “I knew some of the changes they made to the golf course and some of the things we’re going to have to … be aware of. So I’ve been trying to get ready for that.”

Revealing.

Woods was working on a swell first round at Bay Hill until he dumped a wedge into the water on his penultimate hole, the par-4 eighth, and suffered a triple bogey that left him with a 1-under 71 – and steaming mad. “I played like a dog,” was his only comment.

But he played like Tiger the rest of the way. By Saturday night, he was out front by a stroke over Sergio Garcia, his second 54-hole lead in as many weeks, but his first on the PGA Tour in his last 10 starts. And this time he closed the deal, although Mickelson made him work by firing a 66. Down a stroke with three to play, Woods birdied the par-5 16th and then sank a 15-foot birdie putt on 18 for his 25th tour title. Though he noted that his final-round 69 wasn’t pretty, especially off the tee, it got the job done.

“Obviously, I need to start hitting the ball and controlling my trajectory a little bit better. Going into Augusta, that’s what you have to do.”

The first round of the Masters is in a mere 18 days.

Craig Jones
A win at Bay Hill helped quiet discussion of a slump.

March 22-26: The Players Championship 72-69-66-67-274 (Win)
Perhaps often overlooked in his bid for the Slam is the fact that it was actually the Slam-plus.

Woods added the so-called “fifth major” to his resume, winning the first of his two titles in the tour’s flagship event at TPC Sawgrass, highlighted by his snaking 60-foot “better than most” putt on the island par-3 17th green to punctuate a six-under 66 on Saturday. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, you weren’t paying attention during this year’s Players coverage. Replays of the putt received more airtime than the Kardashians.

A weather-delayed final-round 67, completed on Monday, was good enough to beat Vijay Singh by one stroke. Right on time he was rounding into form and gaining confidence. “I feel I’m headed in the right direction,” he said, adding that he was “pleased.” His peers probably weren’t.

Tiger’s odds for winning the 65th Masters dropped to a mere +150, tied for the lowest of his career (along with the 2000 Open Championship). For 217 days now, the prospect of realizing one of the grandest achievements in golf, if not all of sports, has been weighing on him.

The Masters would begin in 11 days. History would be made in 14. The Tiger Slam.

The post Twenty years ago, Tiger Woods faced more pressure than any golfer in history appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray

Tyrrell’s a treat
Given his giddy run of form over the past 16 months – victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship triumph was his fourth in 20 starts – has Tyrrell Hatton surpassed Tommy Fleetwood as Europe’s chief major champion in waiting? Perhaps. The Englishman unquestionably crept above Rory McIlroy to fifth in the OWGR. The only European above him? Jon Rahm, also the owner of four Rolex Series gold stars. You’ve got to love the ball-striking, the icy-calmness closing out events and the honest self-assessments, both during rounds and afterwards.

“Definitely pinching myself. It’s just very surreal to be that high in the world rankings. I don’t look at myself or — I don’t know how to sort of word it. I guess I’m very — yeah, I’m struggling to find the words how to put it across but I’ll just say it is very cool to be where I am at the moment.”

“Hi, I’m Tyrrell…and I’m an angry golfer”
“If you’re feeling glum, pop up a thumb”. The European Tour’s social media team always seem on point but how about the timing of having eventual champion Tyrrell Hatton front their latest ditty, #AngryGolfers? “I’m not quite sure why they chose me,” Hatton drolly told on-course commentator Tim Barter a round after previewing the soon-to-be-released viral video with a double thumbs up to mock a rare wayward drive on the National layout. Classic stuff and a fun new go-to to help us all defuse potential on course meltdowns.

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What’s the story, Rory?
Rory McIlroy, welcomed back to the UAE capital for the first time since 2018, complied one of those uniquely Rory rounds on Thursday in Abu Dhabi that makes golf look easy. But almost inevitably after the 64 – “a lovely way to start the year” – and two further mostly stress-free rounds to snare the 54-hole lead, the Northern Irishman found a way to let the title slip. Again. A fourth third placing to go with four bridesmaid finishes means the Falcon remains almost as elusive as a certain green jacket for Rors. Here’s hoping he’ll be back next January.

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What next for Abu Dhabi?
Speaking of the 17th Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, anyone else excited to see what the Desert Swing opener will be like co-sanctioned by the mighty PGA Tour? Yup, us too. Nothing’s official yet but it seems Abu Dhabi, the Scottish Open, BMW PGA Championship and DP World Tour Championship at JGE will get the full U.S. treatment in 2022. McIlroy might find it even tougher to snare the fabled Falcon.

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2021 Lev-ity
How good was Alexander Levy’s reaction to his ace (a 9 iron from 177 yards) on the 15th in the third round in Abu Dhabi? It was peak 2020 (rolling into 2021) as the Frenchman looked around for affirmation from the galleries to be greeted by near silence. Damn you COVID. As Levy rolls on into 2021 behind the wheel of a new BMW X850i, here’s hoping there will be even fewer gallery restrictions next year.

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Casey can
If Abu Dhabi champion Tyrrell Hatton is Europe’s new chief major champion in waiting, then countryman Paul Casey is firmly back in the conversation as the best player without a big, with all due respect to Lee Westwood. Casey’s effortless power and a smiling jaunt to the Dallah Trophy ensured the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic has another worthy name on its stellar roll call of champions and leaves us to wonder how he hasn’t landed a major. Yet.

“I think a lot of good stuff [is still to come], honestly I feel like I’ve regained my youth. I mean that sincerely and, yeah, I’m so happy.”

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Majlis makeover
You had to feel for the hard-working team at Emirates Golf Club as patchy pictures of the Majlis’ normally pristine greens were beamed around the globe during the Desert Classic. The great news is it won’t be long until those images are a distant memory with the course to close May 2 for a complete rebuild of the putting surfaces to USGA specifications. The greens had come to the end of their lifespan – roughly 20-25 years in the harsh desert environment – but will be rolling smoothly once more when the course is reopened in late September.

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No.1 for a very good reason
How good is Dustin Johnson, even when he’s not at his best. The most impressive aspect of the world No.1’s second Saudi International win in three years was his unflappable response to a catalogue of miss reads on the tricky Royal Greens putting surfaces. The only time the reigning Masters champion did get angry – if you could call a light slap on his own thigh after bogeying the 16th in the final round “angry” – Johnson responded by very nearly driving the next. A par 4. Job done.

“I’ve been playing some really good golf the last six months. Hopefully, I’m going to continue to play this kind of golf. I’m seeing a lot of the same things each and every week, and that’s what I do… I’ve got a great team around me that helps me kind of stay in that form so that I can perform at the highest level each and every week.”

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The dirty D word
With distance almost a dirty word in golf nowadays, Bryson DeChambeau finds himself the game’s new anti-hero, with all due respect to Patrick Reed. Thankfully, Saudi was another reminder that ridiculous length off the tee doesn’t guaranteed fairways in reg, much less trophies (Dustin Johnson’s victory notwithstanding). In the clamber to dial back the ball, we should remember that and the fact the next-gen love seeing athletes hit bombs. Are we trying to lure newcomers to the sport or tell them that improved athleticism isn’t really wanted? Remember too that Kevin Na contended. As DeChambeau (T-18) said himself, a distance advantage will always be a distance advantage no matter how long the course is or how far the ball flies. But that doesn’t mean the big boofers will always win. This is golf after all. The only guarantee is that you’ll never beat this maddeningly brilliant game.

The course Jack is building
The Kingdom might be home to the youngest of the Desert Swing events but boy, aren’t Golf Saudi in a hurry to make up for lost time. Even before one of this year’s strongest fields (it was only early Feb.) teed it up at Royal Greens, the governing body announced Jack Nicklaus has put his name to a new private course in the Qiddiya megaproject 40 minutes south-west of the capital Riyadh. And that Saudi Aramco was backing a four-event, $4 million series of Ladies European Tour events in New York, London, Singapore and KAEC. Talk about Kingdom come. It’s going to be fascinating to see what the golf landscape looks like in a decade’s time.

Enough already COVID
Just when we all thought the horrors of 2020 were behind us… Here’s hoping the cancelled Oman Open can be rescheduled for later in the year because Greg Norman’s Al Mouj Golf design in Muscat is one of the courses that give Middle East golf tourism a great name.

Getty Images

Qatar Quality?
Anyone else surprised a year has passed since the European Tour put its 2020 season on ice following Jorge Campillo’s victory at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters? Yeah, it feels much longer than that to us too. With the coronavirus-enforced demise of the Oman Open a timely reminder to take nothing for granted, the return to Education City is our last chance to enjoy some top-level desert golf before the long haul to the Race to Dubai decider at JGE in late November. The quality of the field in Doha, now that a potential two-tourney Middle East detour has become a one event hit and run mission, will be telling. Whatever happens, at least it looks like we’ll all play on after Qatar. What a year – and a Desert Swing – it has been.

The post That’s (almost) a wrap! A dozen reasons why the 2021 Desert Swing was (and still is) a doozy appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Just as the Middle East plays a pivotal role in the beginning and end of the men’s European Tour season, the region will again play a decisive role in the outcome of the Ladies European Tour’s (LET) record-breaking 2021 campaign.

The €260,000 OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic is the 23rd of 27 events in the just-released Race to Costa Del Sol schedule which will see the LETs membership play in 19 countries for a record €19 million prize fund.

Scheduled for The Faldo course at Emirates Golf Club from Nov. 4-7, the Moonlight Classic again precedes the Saudi Ladies International presented by Public Investment Fund (Nov 4-7) and the final of the new, four-event Aramco Team Series. Both events at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City will carry US$1 million (€830,000) purses.

RELATED: Golf Saudi’s Aramco-backed, LET-sanctioned women’s golf series takes sport to ‘whole new level’

The 2021 LET season will open at the South African Women’s Open in Cape Town from May 13-16. It is followed by the first of the Aramco Teams Series events in New York from May 27-29.  London (July 8-10) and Singapore (Oct. 7-9) will also host Aramco events. Other than Royal Greens, host clubs for the Golf Saudi-inspired series are “TBC” although all four will boast $1 million purses.

The 2021 Race to Costa Del Sol includes nine new events and will feature more than 200 hours of live TV coverage.

Click here for the full 2021 LET schedule.

The post Middle East to play pivotal role in LET’s record breaking 2021 Race to Costa Del Sol season appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington has withdrawn from the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am after testing positive for COVID-19, the PGA Tour announced Tuesday.

He will be replaced in the field by first alternate Sangmoon Bae.

Harrington, 49, has continued to play a full-time schedule as he evaluates candidates for his team that will take on the Americans at Whistling Straits on Sept. 24-26.

Harrington is the latest scratch from a field at Pebble Beach that is missing some of its usual star power. With Dustin Johnson’s withdrawal on Monday evening after his victory last week at the Saudi International, there is not a single top-10 player in the field and just three among the top 20 of the World Ranking. This year’s event is also being played without the usual amateur/celebrity component and with no fans in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A three-time major winner, Harrington will have three captain’s picks to fill out his roster, while his American counterpart Steve Stricker will have six. The nine automatic qualifiers for the European side will be comprised of the leading four players on the European Points list, which is determined by a player’s finishes on the European Tour, and the leading five members not otherwise qualified on the World Points list, which corresponds to the amount of world ranking points a player has earned. Both captains will make their captain’s picks a few weeks before the event.

Harrington finished T-6 in last month’s Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour but does not have a top-10 on the PGA Tour since January 2016.

Thanks very much for everyone’s well wishes. At the moment I’ve just the symptoms of a cold. If it doesn’t get any worse I’ll take that as a piece of good luck. https://t.co/Ka5fMCpDxn

— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) February 9, 2021

The post Padraig Harrington tests positive for COVID-19, out of AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
After capturing the ‘Major of the Middle East’, Paul Casey’s name is again firmly back in the ‘best player not to win (an actual) major’ conversation. It’s a good thing then that the 43-year-old Englishman feels like a kid again.

With a closing 70 full of split fairways, flushed irons and quality putting when there was just the faintest hint of late Sunday afternoon wobble, Casey added his name to the quality roll call of OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic champions.

With a 17-under total of 271, the world No. 27 snared the Dallah by four strokes from South African Brandon Stone while Scottish lefty Robert MacIntyre was left to settle for third at -12 after a brutal afternoon on the Majlis’ unusually tricky greens.

Win number 15 on the European Tour ?@Paul_Casey | #ODDC pic.twitter.com/w0MSRNqBXr

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 31, 2021

Casey’s 15th European Tour win saw him edge ahead of luminaries such as Rory McIlroy and Greg Norman and up alongside Thomas Bjorn and Padraig Harrington in joint 16th place on the Old World circuit’s list of all-time winners. He also joined McIlroy, Ernie Els and Henrik Stenson atop the list of most wins in the Middle East. His fourth title, after wins in Bahrain (2011) and Abu Dhabi (2007 and 2009), is perhaps the sweetest of them all.

“It’s very, very special mate, yeah it’s an unbelievable roster isn’t it,” Casey said when reporter Tim Barter reminded the Arizona-based champion his name would soon be inscribed alongside those of Ballesteros, Woods, Els, Garcia and McIlroy.

“I’m all emotional with wins, but with this one, you said it, this one is such a prestigious event, the history which is behind you, and I can see it from here with amazing winners, is basically a Who’s Who in world golf. Dubai have given so much to golf, European Tour golf in general and across the globe.

“And 15 wins is pretty cool. I wanted 15. The Porsche European Tour victory in 2019 is the last, and this is 15 and this is an iconic event, so I’m so happy.”

RELATED: Paul Casey and Robert MacIntyre primed for Dallah doozy

Likely to be around 15 in the OWGR come Monday, suddenly Casey suddenly finds himself in contention to represent Team GB at the summer Olympics if the Tokyo Games go ahead, a big ‘if’ admittedly. He’s also taken a huge jump in the Race to Dubai (to third) and Ryder Cup rankings to the point where he is looking a lock for September’s matches at Whistling Straits even if he says there’s “still a lot of golf to be played”.

The elephant in the room remains a major but his 21st worldwide win on Sunday is proof enough that Casey has the effortless power, and undying ambition, to convert in a big someday soon.

With a win this early in the season, what do you think you are capable of going forward?

Warren Little/Getty Images
Casey acknowledges the gallery after his gritty par save on 16th during the final round on Sunday.

“I think a lof of good stuff, honestly I feel like I’ve regained my youth. I mean that sincerely and, yeah, I’m so happy,” said Casey who has 10 top-10s in major championships including a runner-up finish to Collin Morikawa as recently as last August’s PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

But the majors are for later. Right now, Casey is in a happy and very fortunate place.

“Seve. My heros,” Casey started as he surveyed the names on the Dallah. “Yeah, it’s one of the coolest trophies in golf, isn’t it. There are smaller, there are more important, but it’s one of the iconic trophies without a doubt, and yeah, look, being in the winner’s circle always feels amazing.

“I think the whole of 2020 has been very strange, still is very strange, and I’m very, very thankful to be able to do what I do and still be out here playing golf. We had some fans this week. They were amazing. Obviously not a lot because we’re still in the middle of a pandemic, but look, myself, just like a lot of other people, it’s not been enjoyable.  So to have something like this happen, hopefully, that can bring happiness to other people, as well.”

Casey is especially chuffed for caddie John McLaren who he revealed is in the sixth year of a five-year commitment to get the Englishman back into the top echelon of world golf.

“I can’t thank him enough because he’s came back for a sixth. I said to him, come back only if you want to and we talked it out, and like I said to you earlier this week, I have the biggest respect for that guy. He’s my mate more than he is my caddie.”

For a good portion of Sunday, it looked as though Casey might challenge Bryson DeChambeau’s record for the biggest winning margin at Emirates Golf Club – seven strokes set two years ago. He led by as many as five shots courtesy of solid shot-making and another piece of wedge wizardry when he outrageously holed out for a birdie on the par-3 4th from lush rough.

The irons shots he struck into 13 to set up a two-putt birdie and into 14 were sublime but not half as important as the gutsy 13-footer he holed for bogey when catastrophe loomed from short-sided hay on the 15th, nor a similarly gritty “clean up” par on 16 after his drive found another lush lie.

Warren Little/Getty Images

But Casey was not to be denied, not after MacIntyre cruelly watched an 18-inch putt go in and then horse-shoe out on the 8th in a horror run for four successive bogeys that put the kybosh on what was shaping as a private match for the Desert Swing title.

Talking of matches, we noticed that embrace with European Ryder Cup captain Pádraig Harrington who hung around after his impressive tie for 6th. Do you think that’s cemented your place on the team for Wisconsin?

“No, no, no. There is a long way to go. There is a lot of golf to be played,” he said. “I was quoted this week as saying that Paris [2018] might be the greatest golfing experience I ever had. I think I can take the “might” out. It was the greatest golfing experience I’ve ever had. And I would love to be part of his team, and if I’m not playing, I’d still love to be part of that team and help.

“Yeah, Ryder Cups are something special. There’s a long way to go, though. Got a lot of golf to play and need to keep this form up.”

On the evidence of this week, It’s going to be a lot of fun if he does.

READ MORE:
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ preview edition
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ round 1 edition
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ round 2 edition
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ round 3 edition

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The post Casey predicts a ‘lot of good stuff’ to come after emotional OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic triumph appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
An Englishman with proven desert pedigree, effortless power and a game as sharp as it’s ever been so early in the season. A Scot high on confidence, striking it as sweetly as ever and learning to accept when he occasionally doesn’t.

There are no guarantees either Paul Casey or Robert MacIntyre will win the 32nd OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic but the way the duo stole the narrative on moving day at Emirates Golf Club, it will be a surprise if one of them doesn’t hoist the fabled Dallah.

Casey leads the way, a sensational birdie-eagle finish capping an equal best of the week 64 that he was reluctant to call flawless but kind of did anyway. Few would dare argue as the 14-time European Tour winner eased to 15-under, a shot clear of MacIntyre who snared an eagle of his own early on Saturday before recovering from a potential title-ending blip to sign for a 67. The Scottish lefty described his third round as “eventful”, others tenacious and ultimately terrific.

At 13-under, South African Brandon Stone shapes as the most likely plot spoiler on Sunday although 2017 champion Sergio Garcia and Englishman Laurie Canter won’t have given up yet at five adrift.

But as statements of intent go, Casey’s bogey-free romp and MacIntyre’s gritty third round fightback are hard to ignore.

READ MORE: Sunday’s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ is FREE here

“Same as always: Go for it. I’m not going to hang about,” MacIntyre said of his final round game-plan. “I’m going to put it all on the line whether it’s good or bad. Hopefully it’s going to be good and I’ve just got to enjoy it again. It’s another experience that I want to get, you know what I mean. It’s something that not many people get the chance at my age to do, and it’s just…I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”

A second European Tour title to go with his Cyprus Showdown breakthrough 10 weeks ago will take all of MacIntyre’s aggression and newfound acceptance of inevitable mis-hits.

“Yeah, I feel like I’m starting to appreciate that there’s nothing I can do once [the ball] has left the club,” he said “That’s something I struggled with last year. But this year, it’s been drilled into me by many people: Accept what comes. Just control what you can control. And it’s working well.”

Equally, a 15th European Tour title sure sounds sweet to Casey, twice a winner in Abu Dhabi and the champion of the Volvo Golf Championship when it was held in Bahrain in 2011.

“Behind you, I can see the very impressive list of winners, those photos of them behind the 18th green. It’s cool. Iconic trophy. Iconic event. Dubai has given so much to golf, especially European Tour, so yeah, that would be very, very cool,” Casey said.

Like MacIntyre, Casey has new clubs in his bag, a driver and 3-wood. His game feels sharper than normal to the courtesy of less range time and more off-season money games with the likes of Jon Rahm and Chez Reavie back home in Arizona.

RELATED: Caddie Confidential: Helen Storey takes us inside the ropes with Lee Westwood

“Like I’ve said many times it seems so far this week, I’m enjoying my golf, and that was an example of it today,” Casey continued.

“Today, I mean, really good. You can never say flawless, can you, because there’s always errors but it was very controlled. Really enjoyable round of golf; challenging yet at the same time with a little bit of wind here and there, I mean, it’s good stuff. “

It got better as it went on as well. After committing the cardinal sin of missing the fairway after taking an iron off the 17th tee, and then leaving his wedged approach short, Casey promptly chipped in for an unlikely birdie. A 296-yard drive and 3-iron flushed from 238-yards to 10 feet then set up the closing eagle, Saturday’s pivotal play.

“Yeah, it was the perfect club. It’s a glorious finish. I said to Johnny [caddie John McLaren] on the fairway there, that was a cool-looking shot when Monty hit a driver off the deck without the skyline you get now, and it might be cooler now with the skyline. It’s one of the iconic shots in golf, isn’t it? To have a perfect 3-iron in there and finish off with an eagle is pretty cool.”

After his opening 67 Thursday, Casey seem bemused to learn that his T-8 start to the year at the American Express didn’t warrant any Ryder Cup points as the PGA Tour event was played opposite Abu Dhabi, one of the European Tour’s gold-star events. Winning the ‘Major of the Middle East’ would be swift retort, just as a victory for MacIntyre would advance the former MENA Tour winner into the world’s top 50 with all those major championship sand WGC privileges. Whatever transpires, both men have become much larger targets on Padraig Harrington’s radar for the 43rd Ryder Cup matches at Whistling Straits. But that is for September. For now, enjoy the final round of January. It shapes as a doozy, perhaps even a Ryder Cup warm-up match of sorts. If the drama is anything like Saturday, the Desert Classic is poised to celebrate another very worthy British champion.

READ MORE:
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ preview edition
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ round 1 edition

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30 things for 30 years at Emirates Golf Club

The post Paul Casey and Robert MacIntyre primed for Dallah doozy appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Prep for the final round of the 32nd OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic with our bumper 20-page ODDC ‘Daily News’ featuring all the reaction from ‘Moving Day’ at Emirates Golf Club, plus the draw for Sunday.

Scroll through the ISSUU link below or download Sunday’s edition to your favourite device to read offline.

This was a historic OMEGA Dubai Dubai Classic after all, the 30th edition held on the Majlis (after two editions at sister-club Dubai Creek in 1999 and 2000) as the UAE celebrates its Golden Jubilee.

The post Sunday’s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ is FREE here appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.