Stellar cast to vie for Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic honours

DUBAI: Golfing superstars Minjee Lee, Georgia Hall and Lydia Ko will be teeing off under the floodlights at this year’s OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic. The iconic Faldo Course at Emirates Golf Club will host three days of golfing action from Nov.4-6 with 56 players set to compete. Competition for the $285,000 prize fund will be fierce with five players from the confirmed field in the top 50 and one player in the top ten.

The tournament which has been played since 2006 on the Faldo Course, will return in 2020 for its 14th edition. The course was built with night golf in mind. It was redesigned by six-time Major champion, Sir Nick Faldo, in 2005 and reopened as a par-72 layout in 2006, with floodlights being an integral part of the course’s design. This year’s three-day event is set to take place behind closed doors and held within a safe environment.

The Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic will mark the return of sporting events to Dubai and take place under the appropriately named theme “Time To Shine”, after many tournaments were cancelled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking about the challenge of organising tournament golf amidst an uncertain backdrop, Tournament Director, Simon Corkill, commented: “2020 has been a very difficult year globally, not just for sports, and as such we are very grateful to Dubai Sports Council and all our partners; without their support this tournament simply wouldn’t have been possible.

“With some of the game’s best players set to attend this year’s tournament, we’ve gone above and beyond to ensure the necessary safety precautions are in place for November. Whilst we won’t be able to welcome spectators this year, we are delighted that Dubai will host the unique and day and night event which will be broadcast globally to 60 countries and 348m households,” Corkill added.

The 2020 tournament has already secured some standout players from the women’s game, including defending champion Nuria Iturrioz, Solheim Cup players Charley Hull, Georgia Hall, Céline Boutier and the 2021 captain, Catriona Matthew. With the latter being a previous Women’s Open winner, LET ‘Player of the Year’ and famously the victorious Team Europe captain for the 2019 Solheim Cup. Whereas Boutier has been prominent since her breakout as the number-one ranked amateur in 2014, going on to secure four victories on the Ladies European Tour and Symetra Tour in 2017 and 2018, before following up in 2020 with her first victory on the LPGA with a win at the Texas Women’s Open.

Australasian sensations Lydia Ko and Minjee Lee will be hoping to crash the European party. Ko, who in 2017 became the youngest ever number one ranked professional (in either the men or women’s game) as well as a two-time Major winner soon after, will be hoping her first appearance in Dubai will continue her return to form in 2020 after a recent T2 finish at the Marathon Classic. World no.6 Australian Minjee Lee will be hoping to better her T-11 performance in Dubai back in 2014.