Strong field for Golf in Dubai Championship
- 18 Nov 2020
Gulf Today Report
A strong line-up of international stars like Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Danny Willett will headline the inaugural Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World.
The event will serves as a prelude to the season-ending DP World Championship and will be held from Dec.2-5. The European tour culminates in Dubai with DP World Tour Championship, where the winner is crowned champion.
Players on the European Tour play throughout the year and accumulate points for Race to Dubai. The winner at the end of the season takes away a whopping $3 million.
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Two-time Race to Dubai winner Lee Westwood is aiming for more glory in the UAE after securing his 25th European Tour title at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship earlier this season.
The Englishman is currently fourth in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex, and a strong showing around the Fire Course could boost his chances of becoming European Number One for a third time, following his triumphs in 2000 and 2009.
Two-time Major winner and 2010 Race to Dubai champion Kaymer is aiming to continue the career renaissance he has enjoyed this season at the Dubai double-header. The German Ryder Cup star has form in the UAE, with three wins in Abu Dhabi amongst his 11 European Tour titles.
Lee Westwood is on the hunt for a third Race to Dubai title.
Bringing further star power to the Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World is 2016 Masters Tournament winner Danny Willett. The Englishman has previously enjoyed success in the emirate, winning the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai in 2018 and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic two years previously, just two months before he slipped on the Green Jacket at Augusta National.
"It’s always a pleasure to play in Dubai so hats off to everyone involved in adding this new event to the schedule,” said Willett.
"I’ve won a couple of times in Dubai so I jumped at the opportunity of playing another tournament there. The facilities are world class and second to none.
"We’re all very familiar with the Earth course as that hosts the DP World Tour Championship but the Fire course will bring a fresh challenge to us players and it’s a challenge I’m really looking forward to.”
Westwood and Willett will be joined in the field by fellow Rolex Series winners including Aaron Rai of England, Austrian Bernd Wiesberger and Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello, as well as a host of stars who are looking to add to previous wins in Dubai.
Up and coming Australian Lucas Herbert made his European Tour breakthrough at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic this season and he’ll tee it up at Jumeirah Golf Estates alongside 2018 winner Li Haotong of China, Scottish Ryder Cup player Stephen Gallacher — the only man to win back to back Omega Dubai Desert Classic titles — and victorious 2018 Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjorn, who famously beat then World Number One Tiger Woods to the same title in 2001.
The field will also include a number of winners on the 2020 Race to Dubai, including rising Danish star Rasmus Hojgaard, American John Catlin and young Englishman Sam Horsfield — all of whom have two titles to their name this season — Spanish pair Jorge Campillo and Adrian Otaegui, Finland’s Sami Välimäki, Italian Renato Paratore and 2019 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the year Robert MacIntyre. "Dubai is a great destination for golf and I’m excited to get out there, enjoy the warm weather, use the world-class facilities and play back-to-back weeks on two fantastic courses at Jumeirah Golf Estates,” said Hojgaard, who topped the UK Swing’s mini Order of Merit earlier this season.
"The Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World will be my first event since the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown so I can’t wait to get going and hopefully end my rookie season on a high.” The inaugural Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World builds on the long-term relationship the European Tour has with Dubai, which began more than 30 years ago, and many of its Dubai-based Official Partners, including DP World, Dubai Duty Free and Emirates.
Since the inception of the Race to Dubai and the DP World Tour Championship in 2009, the Tour has not only brought the world’s best players to the emirate for its spectacular season ending finale, but it has helped to increase the strength of golf domestically, whilst showcasing Dubai as a world class hub for both business and sport.
