By Joel Beall
There are a number of players missing from this Open Championship, but—with all respect to those not making the trip to Sandwich—most of the game’s marquee names remain in the field at Royal St. George’s, and a pack of them will be paired together during the Open’s first and second rounds.

Before you ask, no, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau are not in the same group. As discussed at Torrey Pines; this is for the best; better to let that rivalry manifest over the weekend when it matters most rather than during the fleeting nature of a Thursday or Friday. So as we wait and pray for that heavyweight battle to come to fruition, here are 11 pairings to keep us entertained during the first two rounds of the Open Championship.

7:41 am local Thursday/2:41 am EDT — Viktor Hovland, Ryan Palmer, Thomas Detry

Hovland is making his Open debut, and historically this is a tournament that favors—and arguably requires—experience. Conversely, what has made Hovland so good so early in his career is a blissful disregard to his surroundings, beholden to an inner command known only to him. Better yet, compared to the other majors, lights-out putting is not a prerequisite for contention, pacifying one of Hovland’s few weak spots. Throw in Palmer’s continued late-career revival and a red-hot Detry (two T-2s in past four starts) don’t be surprised if these names are on the early board.

8:03 am/3:03 am — Brooks Koepka, Jason Kokrak, Garrick Higgo

There’s a “weapons of mass destruction” joke in here, but these three are more than muscle. Kokrak is fighting like hell for a U.S. Ryder Cup captain’s pick and a top-five finish would move him from the “charming story that, realistically, doesn’t have a shot” category to “about to burst some star’s bubble” list of contenders. … Higgo is in a bit of a slump with three missed cuts in his last four starts; he’s also won three times since late April so maybe we should keep an eye on him, yes? … As for the third player, let’s save our words for later in the week. Because this is a major and this is Brooks Koepka, so you better believe we’ll be talking about him in greater capacity come Saturday.

9:25 am/4:25 am — Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau, Branden Grace

Aspiring gamblers could find a worse dark horse than Grace, who is back from the wilderness with a win earlier this year along with a fourth-place finish at the Memorial and T-7 at the U.S. Open. … Augusta National is his playground but the Open has been just as kind to Spieth, and Royal St. George’s profile and past point to that providence continuing this week. The only thing keeping him from contending come Saturday will be finding himself in the wrong weather wave. … As for Bryson, this week ends with DeChambeau winning by three, forcing the R&A to convene an emergency session to declare persimmon and balata will be mandated at next year’s Open at St. Andrews OR Bryson becomes so flummoxed by the wind and ground game that he walks off the course and into the sea. There is no in-between.

9:58 am/4:58 am — Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Louis Oosthuizen

No matter what happens on the score card, this will be a long-overdue victory lap for Lowry. … Rahm will be treated with just as much love coming off his U.S. Open conquest. And amidst that parade Louis will very quietly put together two solid rounds to find himself near the lead because apparently that’s a bylaw for majors now.

David Cannon/R&A

10:20 am/5:20 am — Dustin Johnson, Will Zalatoris, Justin Rose

With two months to go before Ryder Cup rosters are finalized, Rose is shockingly on the outside looking in. He also has top-10s at the Masters and PGA, and a third this week can justify a captain’s pick against a blah record the rest of the year. … Speaking of Zalatoris, despite his strong season he’s trending to be snubbed for Whistling Straits. Yet if he contends at Royal St George’s, that would be four top-10s—highlighted by the Masters runner-up—in his past five major starts. And that is a hard, hard line to bypass. … Sticking with the theme, Johnson has his Ryder Cup spot locked up. He also hasn’t finished better than T-10 since February, which by DJ standards is a drought. Royal St. George’s is the site of one of Johnson’s major misses; can his putter wake up from its slumber (71st in putting this season) to give the 37-year-old his long-awaited payback?

1:04 pm/8:04 am — Patrick Cantlay, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Ryan Fox

Cantlay has finished no better than T-15 in his last eight major starts. Fitzpatrick hasn’t logged a major top-10 finish in his last 21 outings. Both are too talented for these streaks to continue.

1:26 pm/8:26 am — Collin Morikawa, Corey Conners, Sebastian Munoz

Morikawa leads the tour in SG/approach by a mile. Conners ranks top 10 in the category (eighth). Munoz is a fine player coming off a strong performance (T-4 at the John Deere Classic) but legitimately worried the poor guy is going to quit after watching Morikawa and Conners pepper flagsticks for two days.

2:48 pm/9:48 am — Phil Mickelson, Tyrrell Hatton, Kevin Kisner

In one sense it’s unfair to Mickelson to view what happened at Kiawah as proof the man can still get it done, rather than recognize what he did defied all we thought we knew about age and sport. In other words, to treat that moment for just that, a moment, instead of extrapolating what is next for Phil. HOWEVER, experience matters at the Open. Creativity matters. Understanding bad breaks are inevitable and possessing the fortitude it takes to bounce back from them really, really matters. In short there’s a decent chance the magic from Kiawah comes alive again in Kent, where Mickelson finished T-2 the last time the claret jug visited Royal St. George’s … As for Hatton and Kisner, our only wish is that Kisner pays tribute to Hatton with his own disgusted club toss at some point. Game recognise game, after all.

GLYN KIRK

2:59 pm/9:59 am — Xander Schauffele, Robert MacIntyre, Rickie Fowler

With Rahm capturing the U.S. Open Schauffele is now the best under-40 player to not have a major. That he’s ditching his ill-fated arm-lock experiment should help the cause … Fowler has shown signs of life over the past six weeks, and did contend at the 2011 Open (T-5). Fowler’s success in the wind is a bit overstated but it’s also not wrong, which is why this week could be the turning point so many hope comes … The Euro cognoscenti desperately wants MacIntyre to be the next big thing. He’s not far away from such status, proving his mettle at the 2019 Open (T-6) and playing well at a number of venues this year. His game is not necessary pretty, yet it’s at its best when things get ugly, the type of game that so often decides who grabs the claret jug.

3:10 pm/10:10 am — Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood, Adam Scott

I know the golf gods are not just but it seems criminal these three men have a combined two majors.

3:21 pm/10:21 am — Rory McIlroy, Patrick Reed, Cameron Smith

Rory McIlroy is an Open champ. He is the fulcrum of the European Ryder Cup team. He is everything a fan could want in a player avatar. So we have no idea what McIlroy did or who he betrayed to get thrown into the crossfire of Reed and Smith, two players who have an interesting past. (Smith called out Reed for his penalty for moving sand at the Hero World Challenge in 2019, then the two exchanged words shortly after at the Presidents Cup.) But if McIlroy traverses this minefield without incident, no one is stopping him from snapping his seven-year major slump.

The post DeChambeau-Spieth, a trio of bombers and a bad-blood pairing highlight our 11 favourite groups at Royal St. George’s appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Get up to speed with all the second round reaction – and the third round draw- in our bumper 20-page OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic magazine, again produced by the Golf Digest Middle East team.

Scroll through the ISSUU link below or download Saturday’s ODDC ‘Daily News’ to your favourite device to read offline and keep for prosperity.

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 Saturday’s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic Daily News is FREE here appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Belgian Thomas Detry has pole-position and the pressure of proven European Tour winners looming large in his rear-view mirror

By Kent Gray
Thomas Detry has the halfway lead, Tyrrell Hatton seemingly the secret to golf – as fleeting as that rare sorcery always turns out to be.

With fast Friday finisher, Tommy Fleetwood among a gaggle of big names somewhere in between the Belgian and the enigmatic Englishman on a quality leaderboard, the 32nd OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic is set up for a fascinating Saturday.

After a pair of 67s, Dubai resident-in waiting Detry enjoys pole-position at 10-under. He’ll take a one stroke lead over Scottish lefty Robert MacIntyre into the third round which is Pink Saturday at Emirates Golf Club in support of breast cancer research. On the evidence of the first 36-holes on the Majlis, expect a lot of red numbers to go with all the pretty polos.

A final-hole eagle propelled Fleetwood (68) into a share of third place at eight-under while Lee Westwood, despite a perplexing afternoon on the greens, produced a fighting 68 to join a cluster of six players at seven-under, Paul Casey (70) perhaps the biggest danger among them.

RELATED: Hatton hums as Detry eases to bogey-free OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic lead

But the story of the second round was Hatton who started Friday in 115th place at four-over and ended it 92 places to the good at four-under, just six off Detry’s sizzling pace. The 29-year-old Englishman chipped in from the rough and holed out from a bunker, fluffed chips and rolled in unlikely putts, found unlucky lies and the full array of his anguished and disbelieving facial expressions. The eagle, birdies, bogeys and death stares eventually added up to a brilliant 64, a 12-shot improvement on the Abu Dhabi champion’s weary opening gambit Thursday.

It would be extraordinary should Hatton recover from his opening 76 to go on and collect the Dallah trophy and back-to-back European Tour titles. Then again, he is the hottest player on the planet right now.

Fellow Ryder Cuppers Martin Kaymer (70), Sergio Garcia (73) and Justin Rose (69), at six, five and four-under respectively, are also in the hunt. Even European captain Padraig Harrington (69), also at minus four, has a sniff. The European Tour season may be just six rounds old, and yet it is already so compelling. Roll on moving day.

The post Soon to be Dubai resident Thomas Detry is on top at Desert Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joy Chakravarty
A bogey-free round at Emirates Golf Club this year is not an easy task. The rough is extremely juicy, the fairways have been narrowed and greens are firm, crusty and tricky.

So, when someone has back-to-back bogey-free rounds and interrupts the pars with as many as 10 birdies, he deserves to be sitting right on top of the leaderboard. Which is exactly the position Thomas Detry is enjoying at the halfway stage of the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic.

Perhaps you could say the Belgian, who is planning to shift his residence to Dubai next month, is already feeling right at home.

The 28-year-old is considered one of the brightest talents in the game but hasn’t been able to win any tournament at the elite level. All that could change on Sunday.

RELATED: Soon to be Dubai resident Thomas Detry is on top at Desert Classic

After a round that included two birdies on the front nine and three on the back, Detry was asked how special a first win on the European Tour would be?

“It would be extra special. I’m moving here in a couple weeks, as well, so this is my new residence. Winning at home would be amazing,” said the world No. 86, who finished runner-up in two ‘UK Swing’ events last year.

Detry missed the cut in the season-opening event in Abu Dhabi but hasn’t done anything wrong so far in Dubai. He leads by one from Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre heading into Saturday.

“First thing that comes to my mind is that I am bogey-free. On this course, that’s a pretty good achievement,” he added.

“I’ve been playing some really good golf, keeping it on the fairway and hitting nearly every single green and getting up-and-down a couple good times. So I’m very pleased.

“The course, it can bite you at any time. There’s some thick rough around the green and hazards come in to play on tee shots, as well. Yeah, the key is knowing when to be hitting conservative shot and hitting aggressive shots.

“I’m just going to take the exact same approach into the weekend. It’s been working really well. The front nine can be a bit tricky, but the back nine has plenty of birdie opportunities. So if I can keep it that way and take advantage of those par 5s, it will be pretty special.”

The post Hatton hums as Detry eases to bogey-free OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic lead appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
The USGA announced Monday that 10 players have earned exemptions into the 2020 U.S. Open through their performance in the European Tour’s U.K Swing.

The USGA’s flagship event, which will be comprised solely of exempt players due to the cancellation of local and sectional qualifying in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, invited the top 10 aggregate point earners from the Euro Tour’s five restart events who weren’t already in the Winged Foot field. The 10 are Sam Horsfield, Thomas Detry, Andy Sullivan, Rasmus Hojgaard, Renato Paratore, Romain Langasque (who won the Wales Open on Sunday), Sami Valimaki, Dubai-based Adrian Otaegui, Connor Syme and Justin Harding.

Horsfield, 24, has won twice in August, capturing a breakthrough victory at the Hero Open and returning to the winner’s circle two weeks later at the Celtic Classic. Detry, 27, finished runner-up to Horsfield at both events. This marks Horsfield’s fourth appearance in the U.S. Open with Detry—a former Big Ten Player of the Year at Illinois—making his major championship debut.

Sullivan, 33, a former member of the European Ryder Cup team, is making his first U.S. Open start since 2016 at Oakmont. Harding, 34, was in the mix through 36 holes at the 2019 Masters and will be making his second consecutive U.S. Open start.

Other U.S. Open exemptions still to be handed out will be the top-five point earners from the three-event 2020 Korn Ferry Tour Series as well as the top five in the final FedEx Cup standings who are otherwise not exempt.

The 120th U.S. Open begins on Sept. 17 at Winged Foot Golf Club West Course in Mamaroneck, N.Y. Gary Woodland is the defending champ.

The post Horsfield among 10 European Tour players granted exemptions to 2020 U.S. Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Huggan
For the second time in three weeks—uniquely with a missed-cut in-between—Sam Horsfield is a winner on the European Tour. And for the second time in three weeks—with a tie for 56th in-between—Thomas Detry was second. Finishing in near-darkness after a downpour mixed with the threat of lightning caused a two-hour delay earlier in the day, Horsfield’s bogey-free closing round of 67 at Celtic Manor in Wales gave him an 18-under 266 total for the week and added the Celtic Classic title to the Hero Open he won a fortnight ago. Detry, who also shot 67, was two shots back, one more than was the case last time the pair went at it on the golf course.

Three men tied for third on 15 under par: Thomas Pieters, Detry’s fellow Belgian and the highest-ranked player in the field; overnight leader Connor Syme of Scotland; and the ever-popular figure of Englishman Andrew (Beef) Johnston.

In contrast with the immediate aftermath of his maiden victory on the European Tour, Horsfield was a lot more coherent on this occasion—and rightly proud of the fact that he had not dropped even one stroke to par after the triple-bogey 6 he made at the short 17th on Friday. There were, however, one or two moments of near crisis for the long-time Florida resident over the next 37 holes, especially down the stretch in the fast-fading gloaming.

A badly-pulled tee-shot off the 16th tee saw Horsfield playing from heavy rough, the ball well below his feet. A huge heave from there put him in a greenside bunker, from which he conjured up a beautiful recovery to no more than four feet. Par was saved. Likewise, from way left of the 17th green he was able to again get up-and-down, this time by way of a 18-foot putt that all but killed off any hope his rivals had of even a playoff. And Horsfield’s routine par on the 575-yard 18th confirmed that impression.

RELATED: Thomas Bjorn discusses his walk from Euro Tour HQ to Celtic Manor—while walking

“It was pretty crazy,” said Horsfield, now a two-time winner on tour, who will move into the top 80 on the World Rankings and is guaranteed a spot in next month’s U.S. Open. “But I was a lot more relaxed this time. My goal this weekend was to have no bogeys. And I was able to do that. The putt on 17 to keep that alive was huge. But I was solid all week and it was nice to have that little cushion coming to the last.”

Winning so recently had benefits, too. Claiming to never feeling either nervous or uncomfortable, Horsfield, who is managed by Terry Munday, Ian Poulter’s long-time caddie, appeared outwardly calm even if the waywardness of those shots coming in betrayed at least some anxiety. Then again, his strategic thinking and course management was hard to fault.

Warren Little
Sam Horsfield plays his approach shot on the 18th hole as he wraps up the victory at Celtic Manor in Wales.

“On [the driveable] 15th, I laid-up rather than go for the green,” he explained. “It was a perfect 3-wood number, but there is so much trouble around that green. The birdie on 14 was huge because it gave me that option. Had I been only one-ahead I probably would have gone for the green.”

Earlier in the day, incidentally, former Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn completed what he called the “hardest thing I’ve ever done,” the roughly 130-mile trek from European Tour headquarters at Wentworth to Celtic Manor. Along the way during the four-day journey, the 49-year-old Dane generated much in the way of donations to UNICEF U.K. and the Golf Foundation. And, judging by his gradually deteriorating “pace of play” towards the end of his journey, nearly as many blisters.

The post Sam Horsfield makes it two wins in three starts on the U.K. swing with victory at the Celtic Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Huggan
You have to go back to last year’s Oman Open and Kurt Kitayama’s victory to find the most recent American winner of a regular European Tour event (non-major or World Golf Championship). The Californian still holds that mildly esoteric claim to Old World fame, but this week’s champion comes close to pushing Kitayama aside. The record book will show that England’s Sam Horsfield won the Hero Open at Forest of Arden by one shot from Thomas Detry of Belgium. But any audio of the event will quickly reveal Horsfield’s accent is a twang grown in Florida, where the Manchester-born 23-year-old has lived since he was 5.

Whatever, Horsfield’s maiden victory on his “home” tour was achieved with a curious mixture of aplomb, alarm and, ultimately, some semblance of serenity. Six shots clear of the field and 18 under par after making his sixth birdie of the third round at the 422-yard par-4 11th, the former Palmer Cup player (yes, he represented Europe against the U.S.) stumbled all the way back to 14 under before getting into the sanctuary of the clubhouse. By the time he signed his Saturday scorecard, his advantage was down to a single stroke.

Ten holes—five birdies, four pars and one bogey—would pass in the final round before Horsfield made it back to 18 under par, his fragile overnight edge doubling in size as a result. That was the good news. Not so cheery was the fact that the 3 he made at the 435-yard 10th was his last dip under par until the 516-yard par-5 17th, a hole Horsfield reached tied with Detry on 17 under the card. The Belgian had actually gotten to 18 under, but a miss from no more than four feet on the final green meant a closing bogey.

Cue the shot of the week, given the context. After finding the fairway with a 3-wood from the tee, Horsfield’s 5-wood approach from a slightly downhill lie—Sky Sports on-course commentator Wayne Riley described as “both fluffy and cuppy”—flew the waterfront and right of the putting surface and finished just off the back edge, no more than 20 feet from the flag. Two putts later the world No. 224 was back (yet again) to 18 under and armed with a vital advantage, one that proved to be just good enough. A two-putt par from 50-feet on the difficult 211-yard par-3 18th saw him round in a closing 68 and, more importantly, over the finishing line.

“I wasn’t aware of what Thomas had done on 18 until I got to 17 tee,” said Horsfield, a long-time protege of fellow Englishman Ian Poulter. “So I knew we were tied. My caddie and I were like, ‘Go do this thing, just hit some good shots coming in.’ I wanted to leave myself a good 5-wood number. That is my favourite club. I had 233 yards with the wind into and off the left. So it was playing maybe 245. It was a perfect hold-up, cut 5-wood, but I had to ‘man-up’ and hit a good shot, which I did. That’s my favourite shot in the bag and I executed it perfectly. It was one of the 5-woods of my life.”

RELATED: Watch this Euro Tour pro use a boat (yes, a boat) to hit a recovery shot of an island

All of which sounds pretty straightforward. But it wasn’t long before Horsfield, who shot a third-round 61 in last week’s British Masters en route to a T-10 finish, was showing a bit more emotion. Confronted by a FaceTime link with his mother, sister and grandmother back in Florida as he left the 18th green, Horsfield was barely able to speak.

“That was awesome,” he said. “My mom has always told me that she hoped I would be the first person I call after I win. And when I was talking to [Sky’s] Tim [Barter] by the green I could hear her and my sister celebrating. So it was pretty emotional.”

Speaking of which, a ways down the leader board, Miguel Angel Jimenez rounded off his record-breaking 707th European Tour appearance with a even-par 72 that left the 56-year-old Spaniard at seven-under for the week and in a tie for 34th place.

The post European Tour up-and-comer Sam Horsfield wins first title on his ‘home’ tour at Hero Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

After going four under on his first 16 holes, Belgium’s Thomas Detry ran into some serious trouble at the par-4 17th at Gary Player CC. His first tee ball found the water down the left side, and it was apparently so poorly hit that he had to re-tee, rather than take a drop from the lateral hazard. His next tee shot, which was his third stroke on the hole, threatened to find the water again, but Detry was the beneficiary of one of the all-time fortuitous bounces you’ll ever see:

One of the luckiest breaks we’ve ever seen ?

Hitting a flagpole to not go into the water! #NGC2019 #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/DJY1MW7Niy

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 15, 2019

You could stand on that tee the rest of your life and not hit the pole of that windsock with a golf ball. One in a million, perhaps even a billion.

Detry might remember that one on Sunday in South Africa. Thanks to that pole, he was able to save a double bogey. Had he gone in the water again, he’d be dropping near that windsock and hitting his fifth from the rough, bringing 7 or 8 into play. Even with a bogey at the 18th, Detry is at seven-under for the week, putting him alone in third place and four off the lead of Zander Lombard.

The post This is it, the luckiest break in the history of golf appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Thomas Bjørn’s buildup to the European Tour’s newest stop has been nothing if not emotional.

The Ryder Cup captain savoured having his son Oliver along for the walk during the Pro-Am on the eve of the $1.75 million NBO Oman Open at Al Mouj Golf in Muscat.

“He’s mad keen on golf and he’s had a bit of a hard time with an operation on his leg recently so it was nice for him to get out of the cold and wet back home and enjoy some sun,” said the 47-year-old. “We’ll see if he can make it around the golf course – he’s struggling a little bit – but it’s always nice to spend some time with him at golf tournaments.”

Not the only Dane father/son duo in Oman this week…@thomasbjorngolf and his son Oliver ?? pic.twitter.com/engJad2esD

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 14, 2018

The special father-son moments are a bit of a Danish theme this week; Søren Kjeldsen has his son Emil on the bag this week.

Father/son goals ?‍?

Søren Kjeldsen has his son Emil on the bag this week. pic.twitter.com/NVF3hcP16V

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 14, 2018

There was, however, a somber tinge to the day for the Danish contingent in Muscat after news filtered through that Denmark’s Prince Henrik had passed away late on Tuesday night. He was 83.

Sad day for our nation.
HRH Henrik, prince of Denmark, thank you for everything you have done for our country.
Heart and thoughts go out to our wonderful royal family at this time.
RIP

— Thomas Bjorn (@thomasbjorngolf) February 14, 2018

With September’s 42nd Ryder Cyp matches at Le Golf National looming, Bjorn’s main golf focus remains on preparations for Paris. But he’s still plugging away with his own game and will be looking to make it three cuts and four starts at Al Mouj.

After an encouraging T-30 finish in Abu Dhabi, Bjørn was a victim of the historically low scoring at the Desert Classic where he missed the cut by two shots despite being three under. He followed up with a T-39 effort in Malaysia at the Maybank Championship and is delighted to be one of the headline acts this week.

Related: This is your Ryder Cup captain speaking

“It’s great to have new events come up on the European Tour like this one. In golf you lose some events over time and you gain some, and if this kind of event – with such a beautiful golf course, a great venue and a great place to come – is the kind that we gain, it bodes well for the future,” said Bjorn who will tee it up with Kjeldsen and Belgian Thomas Detry at 7.25am in Thursday’s opening round.

“It’s just a great place to come and play golf. We enjoy all of our events in the Middle East but the Challenge Tour guys had been saying this was a great venue and a great golf course and they weren’t wrong.

“You look at some of the views on this course and some of the holes along the water, it’s spectacular. The course is great, the facilities…it’s one of those places where you come through the gate, see what’s here and realise it’s a really nice place to play golf. I’m sure anyone playing with these views will be up for it and I’m just looking forward to a nice week.”

Related: We preview the key first round groups for your viewing pleasure

Bjorn’s praise for Al Mouj echoed around the Twitter-sphere with 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie and Ryder Cupper Andy Sullivan giving their seal of approval.

Very enjoyable pro am this morning with three very nice locals and the golf course is mint @NBOGolf pic.twitter.com/aGdZgewKur

— Paul Lawrie (@PaulLawriegolf) February 14, 2018

Great finishing hole here in Oman. Going to be a great watch stunning course #pure pic.twitter.com/t0wFHqW62B

— Andy Sullivan (@andysulligolf) February 14, 2018

The European Tour social media team are certainly impressed with the Greg Norman design, the par 3s in particular. It’s no surprise to us of course; Al Mouj rated third in our 2018 Top 10 Courses in the Middle East.

“Infinity” 11th green (left)
“Island” 5th green (right)

This week’s par 3s are epic pic.twitter.com/T5WYUDOc0C

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 14, 2018

The post Bjørn on NBO Oman Open venue Al Mouj: ‘It’s amazing here’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 21-year-old Indian is the surprise early leader of the season-long Race to Dubai after winning the Joburg Open and Maybank Championship in the past two months to scoot up to No.71 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Sharma will peg it up with 2016 Ryder Cupper Andy Sullivan and Frenchman Alexander Levy at 7.15am in the marquee morning three-ball as Al Mouj Golf graduates to full European Tour status after a five year Challenge Tour apprenticeship. He’s clearly expecting a challenging week.

“I’m surprised this is the first time Al Mouj Golf has hosted a European Tour event as it’s such a great course,” he said. “It’s a tough, long course that can get windy; I definitely think that it’s a championship course. Now they have the event here I’m sure it will continue for many years to come.

“It would mean a lot to win an event in the Middle East especially at such a great course as Al Mouj Golf. I’m playing well at the moment so hopefully I can have four good rounds and we will see what happens. Every win is special to me so hopefully I can keep going and pushing my career on.”

Levy, whose ace during last month’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic earned the European Tour shot of the month award, has his eyes on a 2018 Ryder Cup spot and will tee off the 10th, 10 minutes before European captain Thomas Bjorn who is grouped with Soren Kjeldsen and Thomas Detry.

January’s Shot of the Month ?️???

Fans voted this @AlexLevyGolf shot as the European Tour’s best shot in January. pic.twitter.com/iAT9XutwdD

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 13, 2018

Fan favourite Andrew “Beef” Johnston will look to rebound from an unwanted weekend off at last week’s World Super 6 Perth when he heads off at 11.55am with former Ryder Cupper Robert Karlsson and Joost Luiten.

Thai Thongchai Jaidee, Welshman Jamie Donaldson and England’s David Horsey are off 10 minutes earlier, also from the 1st tee, while the threesome of Darren Clarke, Brett Rumford and Stephen Gallacher are sure to lure their share of the first day galleries at 12.05pm.

There will be great local interest in the performance of Omani amateur Azaan Al Rumhy (8.15am, 10th tee) and Bahrain’s Nasser Yaqoob (1.15pm, 10th tee) who qualified via the Oman amateur qualifier.

With just Sharma and Jorge Campillo in the current Race to Dubai top-10 and Levy, at No.62, the highest placed entry in the OWGR, the new Desert Swing event is wide open.

One of the stars could be Al Mouj Golf itself. The Greg Norman design, ranked third in our latest Top 10 Courses of the Middle East ranking, is in sparkling condition and set to be showcased to a global audience in excess of 400 million.

Related: Our 2018 Top 10 Courses in the Middle East ranking

Coverage of OSN Sports runs from 10.30am to 12.30pm on Thursday and resumes at 2pm-5pm.

The @NBOGolf course is ??#NBOOmanOpen pic.twitter.com/x6XcCKPj7n

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 13, 2018

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