This month’s 34th Annual American Century Championship at Tahoe will feature some of the biggest names in (celebrity) golf. Steph Curry, Tony Romo, Charles Barkley, Annika Sorenstam, Josh Allen, Vince Carter and Aaron Rodgers will all be teeing it up. But Paige Spiranac, perhaps the internet’s most recognizable golf celebrity, will not be making the trip.

The golf influencer finished T-24 last year and has become a regular draw for these types of tournaments, but she was apparently not invited back. Spiranac explained what happened on her Instagram story, and it’s certainly a bold choice by ACC organizers.

“Everyone keeps asking if I’ll be in Tahoe for the celeb tournament this year but unfortunately I didn’t get invited back,” she revealed. “Was told I didn’t give them enough exposure on social media. I guess 4 million impressions wasn’t good enough lol. Anyways bummed to miss it!”

The 30-year-old ex-pro has just under 900k followers on Twitter and 3.8M on Instagram so it’s strange to say that she lacks social media exposure. To put it in perspective, that’s half a million more Instagram followers than Tiger Woods, and that guy has won 15 majors.

The 2023 American Century Championship will begin on July 12 without one of the biggest names in (online) golf, but Spiranac made sure to wish good luck to everyone competing, saying, “Hope you all have the best time out there.”

Whether she returns next year, in a Willis Reed-esque comeback for the ages, is yet to be seen.

The post Paige Spiranac explains reason she didn’t get invited back to celebrity event and it makes no sense appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It’s probably not a coincidence, however, that since opening up about that dream — and working with a clinical psychologist this year as part of a golf training programme — those visions have popped into my head much less frequently. But that doesn’t mean golf hasn’t continued to play a major role in my dreams.

It makes sense. After all, I love to play golf. I love to watch golf. And golf is literally my job. So it’s no surprise I still see golf-related things when I close my eyes at night. And as an experiment, I decided to try to keep track when I awoke from a golf-related dream for this entire year. When I could remember what happened during the night, I’d type a note into my phone before going about my day. And now it’s finally time to go through the list and reveal the ones that stand out.

Why did I do this? I’m not really sure, but I thought it might make for a fun year-end post. These are dreams about golf, after all, not about all the other awful stuff going on in the world right now. And again, I’m not looking for any deeper meaning here. But if you want to try to decipher some of them, be my guest.

RELATED: LIV Golf and Tiger Woods most googled golf terms of 2022
Countdown: Your top 25 moments and people of 2022

Jan 14: “Colt Knost gives me a putting lesson.” I don’t remember any other details about this, but hey, the guy won the US Amateur once upon a time. You could do a lot worse for a putting coach. And it stood out enough to get me to start tracking my dreams for the rest of the year. So … thanks, Colt?

Jan 26: “Tiger Woods presser, frustrated by fans asking questions.” OMG I remember this one well! Somehow a few fans had gotten into Tiger’s press conference and asked a few questions. He was not happy. Anyway, if the PGA Tour ever considers doing this, I wouldn’t include Tiger.

Feb 3: “Doing George Gankas shallowing drills.” I watch way, way too many swing tips on Instagram so this one checks out.

Feb 14: “Playing Rock Ridge with Arnold Palmer.” This was a good one, although I’m not sure why we were playing at Rock Ridge, a nine-hole course and frequent site for company outings. It’s a nice spot, but we’re talking about a round with The King! How were we not playing somewhere like Augusta or Oakmont?! Anyway, I’m sure my wife would love to know I was dreaming about a dead golf legend on Valentine’s Day.

Feb 21: “Got emailed to caddie for Bill Haas — forgot to reply.” OMG talk about a nightmare! There are few things that would provide me with a bigger thrill than looping for my former Wake Forest classmate.

March 15: “Interviewed Greg Norman—and forgot to ask about LIV Golf.” Another nightmare! If this ever happened, I would get reamed by my bosses, and even worse, dragged across Golf Twitter!

April 10: “Got to eat at the White House with Golf Digest co-workers.” I wish I remembered more about this dream from Masters Sunday. Sounds electric.

April 23: “Got smoked by Fotch in the championship match of HGGA Championship.” The biggest nightmare of all. Although Fotch, a high-handicap golf buddy, wound up challenging me in an opening-round match of our annual golf trip a couple months later, I beat him on my way to claiming a Green Jacket. Phew. Guess I’m not clairvoyant.

April 27: “Mom on the phone with Bob Harig about Phil.” This is right around when I talked to Harig about his upcoming book on Phil and Tiger for an episode of Golf Digest’s Local Knowledge podcast, but … wow. Just wow. That’s a (particularly) weird one.

May 14: “Playing a tournament on Pelham streets.” Pelham is the town I grew up in, and my best friend and I used to do this, whacking wiffle golf balls from yard to yard on his street. And this was right around the two-year anniversary of his death. RIP Kiffy. Those were fun times. Oh, and apologies to his neighbours for making some divots.

May 22: “Tiger and Kuchar on a cruise with Tiger taking the top bunk.” I mean, they’re friends and all, but there’s no way 15 majors wouldn’t earn you the bottom bunk in this scenario.

June 1: “Rory McIlroy struggling in a putting contest in our old office.” This one was really believable! Especially because that Jack Nicklaus design was trickier than it looked.

June 13: “Getting my new clubs.” Not surprisingly, I was dreaming about the pair of fairway woods I had recently ordered. Sadly, supply-chain issues kept them from me for months, but I got them. Eventually.

July 8: “Davis Love III says hi to me like we’re best friends.” DL3 and I have had a few nice chats over the years, but we’re definitely not best friends and I doubt he’d remember my name. But who knows? Maybe he’s had a dream about me saying “Hi” to him. If I’ve learnt anything from this exercise, it’s that dreams are really weird.

August 3: “Steve attends wedding with Natalie Gulbis.” Another wild one. To be clear, all the Steves I know are happily married. And so is Gulbis for that matter. Although, as Season 2 of The White Lotus tells us, you can never be sure. But seriously, this might have been the craziest and most random dream of the year.

Sep 15: “Forgot to embed everything before publishing post.” Another nightmare. A) Because this would look really bad if people clicked on that link without all the embeds, and B) Because that meant I still had to embed everything and that’s the worst hour of my week. I’m sure I woke up in a cold sweat from that one.

An ode to @joohyungkim0621, courtesy of @AlexMyers3. ? pic.twitter.com/b2y1ztwxh3

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) September 27, 2022

Oct 7: “Met Tom Kim and begged him to come on our podcast and told him about the song I made about him. He wrote down my name and the name of my song.” This was the longest description because I wanted/needed to make sure I got it all down. I LOVE me some Tom Kim and I’d love nothing more than to know he enjoyed “The Ballad of Tommy The Kid.”

Oct 31: “Played with Doug Ferguson, who accidentally hit my golf ball. Then didn’t think it was a big deal.” I remember adding some detail to this as well because although I’ve never played with the legendary Associated Press golf writer, I always imagined him to be a real stickler for the rules. I mean, he talks about carrying a 1-iron! Anyway, not exactly a spooky Halloween dream, but still a puzzling one.

Nov 16: “Hit a drive off a tree that bounced backward 200 yards and into a hazard.” I vividly remember this one and it would be the worst break in the history of golf. Also shows what sort of mindset I was in on the eve of the annual Golf Digest Seitz Cup. Not surprisingly, Jerry Tarde and I lost our match the following morning. On the bright side, nothing like that happened, and I didn’t even lose a ball off the tee. Silver linings.

Dec 9: “Something about Paige Spiranac and a goose.” Absolutely no clue about this one. All I know is I’ve been doing this job way too long.

The post I tracked an entire year of golf dreams and the results were, um, interesting appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
There was a time when Paige Spiranac took everything said to her on social media very personally. Every hate-filled comment, every off-color joke about her physical appearance, every jab at her golfing ability during her playing days stung a little harder than the last.

This caused her to become a staunch advocate against cyberbullying, a worthy cause. Looking back, though, Spiranac believes she could have handled some of the more fair criticisms differently. Now she can be seen regularly jabbing fellow tour pros on Instagram and Twitter, where she’s amassed a combined following of just over 3.7 million. A hypocritical heel turn? No, Spiranac explained as our guest on this week’s episode of “Be Right.” Just part of her social-media evolution.

“It was really hard, because when people would come at me, it was about my golf game,” she said. “As we all know, your ego is so tied in to how you play, and publicly for people to be like ‘You suck, you need to quit,’ that was really hard for me and I took it very personally.

“My early interviews I talked a lot about cyberbullying, and I was kind of dealing with other things behind the scenes, so I was a big advocate for that. Things have progressed where I’ve stopped playing professionally and now social media has become my career. It was hard because now I want to have a ‘hot take,’ but sometimes it comes at the expense of someone else, and not in a way that’s bullying. Now I’m tweeting stuff about players, and it’s funny, but I would get so upset about that before [if it were me], but it’s not really bullying. I was just soft. I was a huge baby. You do have to have a good sense of humor, you have to be able to laugh things off.” 

Spiranac has become much better at laughing things off, like when she sarcastically tweeted over the weekend “I can’t believe [Harry] Higgs would oversexualize himself for attention,” referring to Higgs pulling his shirt up over his eyes and revealing his dad bod on the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale. “I would NEVER.” More than a few folks who didn’t get the joke instantly flooded her mentions with some variation of an “isn’t that what you do?!?” response.  

“Welcome to Twitter,” Spiranac said. 

In addition to being a social media influencer, Spiranac is now an ambassador for the PointsBet Sportsbook, which will debut a weekly free-to-play pick ’em contest in partnership with the PGA Tour for this week’s Genesis Invitational. Spiranac gave us her picks for this week at Riviera, as did we, and we discussed much more, including all the chaos at the WMPO. Please, have a listen to the full episode below:

The post LISTEN: Paige Spiranac on her social-media evolution, and why the Phoenix Open is good for golf appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
The 13th edition of Dubai’s annual Ladies European Tour stop enjoyed a grandstand finish with Spaniard Nuria Iturrios edging German’s Olivia Cowan and Esther Henesleit by a stroke on The Faldo Friday evening.

We explore why the new-look Pro-Am format worked and how organisers Falcon Golf can take the world’s first professional day-night event ahead in 2020.

? What a day …. Take a look back at the exciting final round of the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic! Congratulations to our 2019 Champion @nuriagolf ??
@LETgolf @EmiratesGC @visitdubai
#ODMC #OmegaDubaiMoonlightClassic pic.twitter.com/8CFFkVzcRg

— OMEGA Golf Dubai (@OMEGAGolfDubai) May 4, 2019

The format
Moving from the garden variety 72-hole strokeplay event to a shorter Pro-Am format was a masterstroke. The LET apparently weren’t sold on the concept originally but few left Emirates Golf Club grumbling. For the 168 amateurs who played the opening 36-holes in the company of one of the event’s 56 professionals, the ‘Texas Shambles’ format was a hoot, allowing rotten shots to be quickly forgotten while they enjoyed a front row seat to the stress and strain of the pro-game. Unlike stock standard Pro-Ams on the day before a professional tournament, the Moonlight Classic allowed the lucky ams to see the pros with their game-faces on and ride the emotional roller-coaster of putts holed and missed, the latter costing potentially thousands of euros. It was a unique, money-can’t-buy experience that was particularly memorable for Camille Chevalier’s team with the Frenchwoman leading Caroline Rosenstock (17 handicap), Glory Xavier (6) and Ashok Sindhu (3) to a mightily impressive 246 total over 36 holes – 42-under-par. They edged the team captained by LET life member Trish Johnson on a countback.

Champions: The winner Pro-Am team, captained by French pro Camille Chevalier (second from right) included Glory Xavier (6 handicap) Caroline Rosenstock (17) and Ashok Sindhu (3).

The Faldo
All 12 previous LET events in Dubai were staged on the Majlis course at Emirates G.C., the number one ranked layout in the most recent Golf Digest Middle East Top-10 courses ranking. The move to The Faldo made a refreshing change, showcasing just how lucky we are in the UAE – the Faldo doesn’t rate in the top-10 but offers a stiff, strategic challenge that arguably surpasses many above it.

A doff of our cap to Dubai Golf Director of Golf Course Maintenance Matthew Perry and his team on turning The Faldo out in pristine condition. The greens were grainy, took plenty of break at the hole and weren’t as fast as they looked – they never are on the Faldo – but it was just about perfect given the Pro-Am mix of abilities. That tartan striping on the fairways sure looked good for those lucky enough to enjoy the hospitality suite – nicknamed the toaster because of its shape and especially so if you couldn’t park yourself in front of one of the air conditioning units – above the 18th green.

New lights, more cameras needed, great action
Playing a professional event in the heat of May was a gamble but how good were those images of The Faldo under lights, particularly with the sparkling Marina skyline as a backdrop?

= ??

It’s time for more NIGHT GOLF! ??#ODMC #OmegaDubaiMoonlightClassic pic.twitter.com/hYGzJhFhoU

— OMEGA Golf Dubai (@OMEGAGolfDubai) May 2, 2019

A major part of the Moonlight Classic’s remit was to showcase Dubai Golf’s night offering and show potential tourists the UAE golf season extends well beyond the window between the European Tour’s DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in November and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in late-January. Job done. Well, partly.

The lack of TV cameras was a disappointment, albeit probably a smart financial decision. There will apparently be a highlights show produced for worldwide distribution but going forward it would be great if the pros play one at least one round entirely under lights, as opposed to the three or four holes this time, and especially if it is captured live. The logistics might prevent that – the still photographers on site struggled to produce quality imagery after dark despite the Faldo’s brilliant new LED lights. But a late finish in Dubai would be ideal timing for European viewers, the very tourists the game here so covets. Even new champion Nuria Iturrios would like to see it: “It would be so fun, so yeah, it could be a good option.”

Nuria Iturrios
Let’s not sugar coat things. The field for the Moonlight Classic lacked big-name appeal, save for Cheyenne Woods whose major contribution aside from some welcomed pre-event PR, was an ace on The Faldo’s second hole, a six iron from 169 yards, in the final round. The niece of you know who finished T-47 among the 56 professionals. At 128th, Swede Caroline Hedwall was the highest ranked player as big names such as Georgia Hall, Ann Van Dam and Aditi Ashok either decided to stay away or play on the richer LPGA Tour. Indeed, the LET is desperate for new players to give the tour some much-needed star appeal. Step forward Nuria Iturrios. With rounds of 67-68-71 on The Faldo, the 23-year-old Spaniard joined a rare-band of back-to-back LET winners following her triumph at the Lalla Meryem Cup the previous week. Iturrios now enjoys a handy 131-point lead over Marianne Skarpnord in the Order of Merit race and the Norwegian, with seven starts, has played four more events than Iturrios.

???? Campeones! Campeones!

Superb all-Spanish celebrations for our back-to-back @letgolf winner @nuriaitu!@NoemiJimenezMar @ECabreraBello @Silvia_2110 @carmenalonso6 & Marta Sanz Barrio ??
#ODMC #OmegaDubaiMoonlightClassic pic.twitter.com/q5i4XMgrtW

— OMEGA Golf Dubai (@OMEGAGolfDubai) May 4, 2019

Night golf, nailed it ??

? @nuriaitu ?#ODMC @omegagolfdubai pic.twitter.com/DIDiajT8TE

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) May 4, 2019

Iturrios scooped 105 OOM points and €38,193 for her victory and the potential for the LET’s PR team is priceless if the bubbly youngster can keep the momentum going. We loved her honestly throughout the event, including the gem about her loving bunker shots, not something you’d have heard from many of the amateurs in the field.
“I think I’ll have to go home and realise what I did,” Iturrios said after hoisting the Dallah trophy and adding her name alongside the likes of Annika Sörenstam, Lexi Thompson and four-time champion Shanshan Feng
“I’m so nervous now and so excited. It’s amazing to win again and the work is great, so let’s keep going. It was so cool [the format]. I really liked it and I hope next year it will be the same and I will come back for sure.”

.@nuriaitu Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic winning formula ??#ODMC @OMEGAGolfDubai pic.twitter.com/5Q1L89Jg5D

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) May 3, 2019

Social Media
With no live TV footage, Falcon Golf and the LET had to work hard to drum up publicity.
Paige Spiranac was flown in from the U.S. by the former and hosted the winner of a global competition, Washington DC amateur Sara Wiedenhaefer, in a round on The Faldo along with Ryder Cupper Rafa Cabrera Bello and the head of the Saudi Golf Federation, Majed Al-Sorour.

What a wild day! I played an awesome casual round with @PaigeSpiranac and @RCabreraBello at @EmiratesGC’s Faldo course thanks to @OMEGAGolfDubai #OmegaDubaiMoonlightClassic #instagramcontestsarereal pic.twitter.com/1cnwbOcnjw

— Sara Wiedenhaefer (@SaraWied) May 3, 2019

Spiranac also enjoyed some light-hearted fun under the lights earlier in the week. Check it out here:

??? @PaigeSpiranac takes on the @LETgolf Lights Out Challenge, teeing off the 11th hole on the @EmiratesGC Faldo Course blindfolded!

See how she gets on…#ODMC #OmegaDubaiMoonlightClassic #Dubai #MyDubai@visitdubai @MyDubai @lovindubai pic.twitter.com/bnpq7krY31

— OMEGA Golf Dubai (@OMEGAGolfDubai) May 2, 2019

But for the best social media of the week, look no further than this viral “Lights Out!” effort from the LET’s media team.

?LIGHTS OUT?

18th hole @EmiratesGC ?
Blindfolded ???@camillalennarth @amy_boulden ? @NoemiJimenezMar @Silvia_2110
Night golf, nailed it ??#ODMC @OMEGAGolfDubai pic.twitter.com/iQDLSLRfbl

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) April 30, 2019

Night Golf, Nailed It! Indeed.

? Here’s the final Leaderboard of the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic 2019.

A thrilling finale and a ground-breaking 3 days here in Dubai.

Thanks to all the players for a phenomenal effort though the day and night @EmiratesGC ??#ODMC#OmegaDubaiMoonlightClassic pic.twitter.com/S9KTCgIgJm

— OMEGA Golf Dubai (@OMEGAGolfDubai) May 3, 2019

The post Five reasons why Falcon Golf are onto a winner with the Moonlight Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray

1. Tommy Take Two

No one can ever take the 2017 Race to Dubai title off Tommy Fleetwood but the fact Justin Rose so nearly did on the final Sunday of the season lingered in the younger Englishman’s craw as 2018 opened.

The 27-year-old admitted as much on the Tuesday of his Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship title defence.

“The biggest thing for us after last year, I had had the year of my life by a long way, was to make sure that we kept progressing, kept improving,” the Southport lad said. “We sort of really wanted to look at the year like, you know, if Justin Rose had shot level par on that back nine on Sunday [at the DP World Championship; Rose was two-over, slipped to T-4 and eventually finished runner-up in the season standings to Fleetwood], then I wouldn’t have had The Race to Dubai title.

“So it was sort of important to maybe try and prove as if you were hurt and you had not had that whole euphoria of achieving something amazing in your career.”

Fast-forward to Sunday evening at Abu Dhabi G.C. and it was mission accomplished. With masterful ball-striking and some equally silky putting, Fleetwood scorched around the back nine of a wind-swept National course in a scarcely believable 30 strokes to sign for a 65 and join Martin Kaymer as a back-to-back winner of the Falcon trophy.

Talk about vindicating the Seve award he received on the Tuesday after being voted Players’ Player of 2017 by his peers.

“To sort of validate your position of Race to Dubai champion or Player of the Year so early on is really sort of nice and satisfying,” Fleetwood said after capturing his fourth European Tour title.

The scintillating finish didn’t go unnoticed by Rory McIlroy who hailed Fleetwood as a “great addition to the world of golf, a great addition to The European Tour and will be a great addition to The Ryder Cup team in September.” The latter is still to be achieved but the world No.12’s defiant grittiness looks set to make him an integral figure in golf’s global conversation more and more.

“I want to go places in the game. So to have your peers talk about you like that, Rory, obviously has done it all in the game, is very nice.”

2. Tom Buchanan – Dreams are made of this

Ain’t golf great. Big Tom Buchanan mightn’t have survived the weekend in Abu Dhabi but the fact the Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club head pro got to peg it up in the €3 million European Tour event proves even the giddy upper echelons aren’t out of reach for your Average Tom, Dick or Harry.  Bobby Jones famously said “Nicklaus played a game of which I am not familiar” after Jack won the 1965 Masters so you can imagine what Buchanan, teeing it up in the same field as world No.1 Dustin Johnson and returning Rory McIlroy, felt. But just to have a shot at testing himself in such esteemed company after winning a UAE PGA qualifier at Saadiyat Beach before Christmas was something out of The Boy’s Own Annual.

“For us guys to have the chance to play an event like this is incredible. Hopefully, the people who have come with me [Buchanan’s Brigade] are enough to cement it for the next wee while as well because for us as club PGA pros, for an 18-hole shootout to get into what is now the premier event in Europe, is just incredible.”

Buchanan lapped up every minute of it and even saw the funny side of the odd ropy swing during rounds of 74-75 which left him 119th in the 126-man field and very much in awe of golf’s best.

The Scot, who celebrated his 38th birthday on the Tuesday of the championship, was asked if he had any regrets moving to the UAE six years earlier?

“When I left Duddingston I came over here with a holdall and my set of golf clubs. Now I’ve got a wee bit more than a holdall; a wife, two kids, and still the same set of golf clubs [laughter].” And now, golf memories to last a lifetime. Well played Tom, the UAE PGA, IMG, Abu Dhabi Sports Council and Abu Dhabi G.C.

3. We’ve got a Topgolf Crush

Every year the organisers of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship somehow up the ante with their off-course entertainment but they truly outdid themselves this time.  The double-decker  Top Golf Crush in the always family-friendly Championship Village was a brilliant innovation. Who knows, maybe a future Fleetwood, Rory or DJ will recall making his first tentative swings there someday. It certainly has us amped for the introduction of TopGolf proper to the Middle East at Emirates G.C. next year. We can’t conclusively say Abu Dhabi does the best championship village on the European Tour, but if last year’s Open at Royal Birkdale is any measure, it’s surely close.

4. The Tiger effect

What a week it was for Todd Clements at the Desert Classic, the world amateur No.30 making the cut on the record -5 number with rounds of 69-70 before finishing 68th with weekend rounds of 71-76.

The 21-year-old former English amateur champion is a product of the MENA Tour and fits the profile mentioned by another MENA Tour star, Jamie Elson, the latter sadly unable to cash-in on a fine opening 68 as the scoring got seriously silly on Friday and spilt into the weekend.

“I think it’s the Tiger Woods effect really,” said Elson, a worthy ambassador for region’s developmental circuit. “I think the kids that he inspired to start the game are now 25 years of age and they’re pros, and they’re, you know, flying it 300 yards through the air. I mean you look at the scores, never used to shoot scores like that around this sort of golf course, but you know that’s the standard these days and that’s what you have to do.”

There are those who prefer a stiffer test for the best, Pablo Larrazabal apparently among them as this tweet from the 2014 Abu Dhabi champion pointed out. “We must tight[en] the fairways, grow the rough and firm the greens to make it tougher…nowadays, all about hitting it hard and a putting contest…-5 cut at the #ODDC18 is crazy.”

It sure was crazy…crazy good to watch. We get where the Spaniard is coming from and yes, balls that spin less from drivers with larger sweet spots are apparently an issue… blah, blah…

But there’s a reason nobody goes to watch the monthly medal. We’ll take birdies and eagles over a par snore-fest any day. That’s no way to grow a game the likes of Clements and co. are now making an utterly absorbing watch.

5. Rory was the story

Haotong Li richly deserves these column inches for his spirited performance down the stretch on the Majlis. Rory McIlroy, despite the expert predictions, simply didn’t bring his best stuff to the final round of a historically low Desert Classic, two back nine bogeys in a 69 leaving him contemplating what could have and probably should have been back-to-back wins in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

By contrast, Li “hit some of the best shots in my life” to match the three-under 69 and ride the one stroke cushion (over McIlroy) he started Sunday with all the way to a -23 aggregate, a score that eclipsed by a shot, the previous Majlis benchmark jointly held by Thomas Bjørn (2001), Stephen Gallagher (2013) and McIlroy (2015).  In golf, you can only control your own game and Li did that better than McIlroy; the plaudits and associated riches – $500,000 and a giddy ride up the world rankings from 60th to 32nd – flowed and will continue to do so.

But for all Li’s grittiness and that glorious putting, McIlroy dominated the over-arching narrative from the first half of the now split Desert Swing.

Save for a sloppy Sunday on The National where he carded a 70 (compared to Fleetwood’s 65), the three-putt par on 13 and an off-piste bogey on 16 at Emirates G.C, the world No.11’s comeback would have been utterly exceptional rather than merely brilliant.

“If someone had told me at the start of the year you’d finish third and second your first two events, I’d say, yeah, I’d take that.” Except McIlroy couldn’t accept it. “But being in the positions I’ve been in and having two close calls the first couple of weeks of the year, it’s a little difficult. The competitor in me is very disappointed right now. I wanted to win. I always want to win, and I just didn’t do enough when I needed to.”

The consolation was a swing that looks more silkily synchronised than ever before. The 324-yard 3-wood on 13 Sunday was exhibit A (just don’t mention the three-putt!) and he has plenty of reps before Augusta to iron out the slight big stick misses and those uncharacteristic “mental errors” that marred his Dubai bid. If his blade comes to the party, watch out world. Sure, a first Falcon and a record-tying third Dallah would have been nice, but we suspect a career Grand Slam-sealing green jacket will be ample consolation. McIlroy MkII certainly looks capable.

6. Bjørn again…and again

Thomas Bjørn couldn’t have scripted a better start to the Desert Swing, what with Sergio Garcia winning in Singapore and Jon Rahm in California on the same weekend as Tommy Fleetwood repeated in Abu Dhabi (it didn’t hurt that he made the cut on the National either). But the smile was short lived and not because Europe’s Ryder Cup captain had an unwanted weekend off in Dubai. These are going to be a stressful nine months for Bjørn as we witnessed first hand playing the Pro-Am with the quiet but oft-volcanic Dane on the eve of the Desert Classic. Not a hole went by when either a fan or a TV cameraman wanted a piece of the 46-year-old. He handled it with aplomb but clearly has the weight of Europe on his ample shoulders. Walking off our final green Bjørn agreed it was going to be nice to get his quiet life back post Le Golf National “but we’ve got some Americas to beat first”.  Here’s hoping he gets some breathing space to achieve just that.

7. The stars align

Not to be outdone by Abu Dhabi, the Omega Dubai Desert  Classic’s ‘Constellation Clinic’ was a doozy. A doff of our cap to Rory McIlroy for giving his precious time, a lesson and a shiny new set of TaylorMade sticks to young Arjun Gupta, and to the organisers for coming up with competition that saw young Irish lass Saoirse Lambe play the Pro-Am with McIlroy and Niall Horan. There are those unconvinced by the increasing influence of social media on golf and more than a few naysayers when Dubai announced Paige Spiranac, golf’s Instagram Queen would be the event’s official starter. But you only had to see the gaggle of teenage girls swooning over Horan to understand that golf is going in, ahem, one direction. Whether many or any, will be lured to the game by the boy band heartthrob is a moot point; you’ve got to get the next generation through the turnstiles somehow and Dubai leads the way on that front. The 600,000 and counting (even past its used-by date) impressions a tweet we posted, merely mentioning golf nut Horan was starring at the clinic, was a case in point. The birdie count on the Majlis almost matched those metrics and it all added up to a Ror-ing success.

The post Seven Things from the Desert Swing appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

“It was amazing, [we were] just screaming, it was great!”

The Irish lass was understandably a little anxious when she walked onto the first tee and was confronted by a sizeable crowd gathered for Wednesday’s afternoon Pro-Am.

“It took me the front nine to get into it, I was very nervous. The back nine I relaxed a lot and I think I had a good few birdies, so that’s always good.”

It didn’t take long for the six-handicapper to relax and take in what an unbelievable opportunity she had.

“Really good, so good, definitely beats club golf!” said Lambe who contributed successive birdies on 15 and 16.

“It was a good taste of the tour life. It was amazing, it was a once in a lifetime thing. You see him [McIlroy] on TV all the time, so to see him up close, right there, it was just the chance of a lifetime. I’m never going to forget this, this is amazing.”

The all-star cast didn’t stop at McIlroy and boyband heart-throb Horan. As well as having her own caddy, Lambe had pro golfer and Instagram superstar Paige Spiranac tending her bag and fetching her flags. The doubling up of efforts was appreciated and seems to have given Lambe a taste for the professional game.

Saoirse gets some advice from Paige.

“I had two caddies. So I had Paige, and my caddy. Yeah it was great, their support and to have them there with you to ask everything twice was amazing. I could really get used to that.”

The group finished 11th in the afternoon Pro-Am, with Saoirse contributing more than her share of the points, alongside Mr Shankar, Horan and McIlory. The course
was set up challenging but was nothing new for the competition winner.

“The greens were hard to hold, but the ground, I play on a links course as well, so the ground was very similar, it was good and hard. Definitely the greens you had to go a club less to get it on the green and keep it on the green. But it was good for the game and beats playing in the rain.

“On five I sank a huge putt from off the green for a decent bogey; Plonked one in the lake and had about 45 feet for a bogey so I sank that, sank a good few putts. The two birdies will definitely be my best memories, the two on the 15th. I had a two, and Rory McIlroy had a three, same distance and everything so that was good.”

Horan and McIlroy look on as Lambe stripes a drive.

Horan’s highlight was a chip in at 16, just before he was mobbed for autographs and selfies by teenage girls giddy with excitement. They weren’t the only ones.

“I’m playing more golf tomorrow [Thursday], then we’ll definitely watch it [The Desert Classic proper] over the weekend. We’ll walk around, see what’s happening Friday, and try to come down from this high,” said Lambe.

It might take a while longer than that.

The post Luck of the Irish as Saoirse tees it up with Rory and Niall appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Purchase a ticket to the $3 million European Tour event starting Jan. 25 between now and the online ticketing closing date of Jan. 21 and you’ll go in the draw to be part of the Omega ‘Constellation Clinic’ with McIlroy, Paige Spiranac and entertainer Niall Horan.

Four-time major champion McIlroy will run his eye over the winner’s swing before offering tips at the clinic which starts at 5.30pm on the Friday of the tournament (Jan. 26) on the Emirates G.C. driving range.

Related: Thomas trending nicely for Classic return

“Not only am I excited to be competing once again in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic but I’m really looking forward to the Omega Constellation Clinic and welcoming a ticket holder to come and take part. It should be great fun and the first of its kind for fans to enjoy.”

Tickets are priced from AED 175 per day with season passes from AED 500. Children aged 16 years and under enter free when accompanied by a paying adult.

omegadubaidesertclassic.com

The post Fancy a lesson with Rory McIlroy? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Golf’s undisputed social media queen has just upped the ante by vowing to caddy for the winner of the global competition on January 24. The American made the announcement overnight:

Can’t wait to be apart of the #OmegaDubaiClassics with @RoryMcIlroy and @Niallofficial in the gorgeous city of Dubai! Be sure to follow @omegagolfdubai to find out how you can WIN the chance to meet me! #MadeForGreatness pic.twitter.com/OLTecxfsWA

— Paige Spiranac (@PaigeSpiranac) November 30, 2017

Rory, boy band tunes and Spiranac on your bag. What are you waiting for – read the full story and enter here:

Partner McIlroy and One Direction star Niall Horan in the Desert Classic Pro-Am

Spiranac is in for a busy week at Emirates Golf Club after agreeing to be the official starter for the $3 million European Tour event.

Related: On the tee…Paige Spiranac

Masters champion Sergio Garcia is confirmed to defend the Desert Classic’s famed Dallah alongside PGA Tour star Pat Perez, former Open champions Henrik Stenson and Darren Clarke, Race to Dubai winner Tommy Fleetwood, Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn, Spanish cult hero Miguel Angel Jimenez and European Tour royalty Colin Montgomerie.

Tickets – priced from AED 175 for a daily pass – are available via www.omegadubaidesertclassic.com. Children aged 16 years go free if accompanied by a paying adult.

The post You, Rory and Niall – and Paige Spiranac as your caddy…wait, what? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 24-year-old American confirmed the news, first revealed by Golf Digest Middle East last month, in this short video overnight.

Spiranac’s appointment is another shrewd promotional curve-ball from Tournament Director David Spencer, designed to keep the Desert Classic front an centre as one of the European Tour’s preeminent events. Reigning U.S. Masters champion Sergio Garcia, who has just announced new bride Angela Adkins is expecting the couple’s first child in March, is already confirmed to defend the famed dallah (Arabic Coffee Pot) on the Majlis while Golf Digest Middle East exclusively revealed PGA Tour cult hero Pat Perez is set to headline the $3million event.

Related: Pat Perez set to bring his brand of PGA Tour pizzazz to 2018 Omega Dubai Desert Classic

Spiranac made her professional debut, and created a global media storm, at the 2015 Dubai Ladies Masters courtesy of a controversial sponsors’ invite.

When the Instagram superstar returned to Dubai last December, she tearfully admitted to an on-going struggle with depression and anxiety due to cyber bullying in the wake of her rounds of 77-79 the previous year.

She had toyed with quitting the game after “the hardest experience of my life” but felt compelled to fight on and speak out given concerning teen suicide rates. “Hopefully I can save someone’s life, I think that’s so much more important than if I make the cut or miss the cut,” she said at the time.

Sadly, Spiranac continued to harassed by faceless trolls after carding rounds of 77 and 80 on the Majlis layout to finish 13 over par, nine shots shy of the cut which fell at +4, last year.

Spencer took plenty of heat when he first invited Spiranac to Dubai and expects fall-out from the lastest decision. But he remains unapologetic, insisting Spiranac had significantly raised the profile of the Dubai Ladies Masters and will do the same for the men’s event in her ambassadorial role.

He reveals why in this piece which appears as part of a special “9 for 9” feature in out 100th issue.

Read the story here: Paige Impressions

Meanwhile, ticket prices for the Desert Classic have been released. Daily tickets for the four-day main competition are priced at AED 175. A season pass, which provides access all week, is available for AED 500. Children aged 16 and under will be allowed free entry to the course if they are accompanied by an adult who is holding a valid ticket for the day.

The post On the tee… Paige Spiranac appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
There are few more polarising figures in golf than Paige Spiranac and the American’s anointment as the most influential female to play in the Middle East this past decade will undoubtedly fuel the fevered divide.

What’s not at question is the staggering amount of eye-balls the wannabe professional golfer-cum-social media goddess has drawn to the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters in the past two years.

The Ladies European Tour is a tough sell as the LET itself has found this season with six events dropping off the schedule, including Qatar. With due golfing respect to 2011 champion Lexi Thompson and the brilliantly kooky Shanshan Feng who has captured four of the last five titles on the Majlis, Spiranac has played a pivotal role in ensuring Dubai remains a beacon amid that gloom.

Her golf scores – 77-79 in 2015 to finish +12 and 77-80 last year for another cut missing +13 aggregate – invited trolls the world over to have a pop. But the faceless cowards were drowned out by much bigger numbers, those enticing new fans to the royal and ancient game.

“The Daily Mail ran a story on Paige in 2015 and they contacted us later to tell us that in the history of the Daily Mail, it was the first time golf had ever been the No.1 story read worldwide,” Tournament Director David Spencer says. “The readership was larger than football. I mean I think we had 500 million media impressions that year and we’ve broadened that since”.

The more satisfying figure for Spencer were the number of young girls – and boys – who showed up for a clinic on the Friday of last year’s tournament, chiefly due to Spiranac.

“There is obviously a connection to golf via social media and we’ve got to be competitive with other sports. It’s not easy to get sponsorship.”

Spiranac won’t be put through the “trauma” of playing a third straight year from Dec. 6-9 but will be back in late Jan. to serve as the official starter at the Dubai Desert Classic. The men are secretly excited too, patently aware what the 24-year-old’s 1.5+ million social media followers could do for their own profiles.

Tweet about it all you like, but the new age of celebrity driven pro golf is here to stay.

The post Paige Impressions appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.