AVIV Dubai Championship added to 2021 European Tour schedule

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The European Tour on Tuesday added the AVIV Dubai Championship to its 2021 schedule, with the tournament returning for a second year to form an end of season double-header in Dubai with the DP World Tour Championship.

The $1.5 million AVIV Dubai Championship will be played on the Fire course at Jumeirah Golf Estates from Nov.11-14, preceding the final Rolex Series event of 2021, the DP World Tour Championship which will bring the curtain down on this year’s Race to Dubai on the neighbouring Earth course.

It was introduced last December, when it was known as the Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World, as part of the revamped 2020 European Tour schedule, with France’s Antoine Rozner finishing two strokes clear of compatriot Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Italian Francesco Laporta and English pair Andy Sullivan and Matt Wallace.

This year, the tournament will be title sponsored by AVIV Clinics, the healthcare partner of DP World, which provides unique, personalised medical programmes to enhance the aging process by improving cognitive and physical performance in healthy aging adults.

The tournament replaces the cancelled Nedbank Golf Challenge Hosted by Gary Player in South Africa, which will now return for its 40th anniversary in 2022.

It forms a new-look end to the European Tour’s 2021 season following the recent additions of the Mallorca Golf Open (October 21-24) and Portugal Masters (November 4-7).

Players in those two events and the AVIV Dubai Championship will be aiming to secure their spot in the $9 million DP World Tour Championship which will comprise the leading 50 available players on the Race to Dubai.

Keith Pelley, the European Tour’s Chief Executive, said: “Last year’s tournament on the Fire course, created to complete our 2020 schedule, was a great success and we are delighted to bring the AVIV Dubai Championship to our schedule as the final piece in our jigsaw this season.

“It means we will have two strong ‘Swings’ to end our 2021 campaign – the Iberian Swing in Spain and Portugal and now this Dubai double-header at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

“Once again, I would like to thank the leaders of Dubai, DP World, AVIV Clinics and Jumeirah Golf Estates for helping us to play this event and we look forward to a terrific fortnight as we conclude another Race to Dubai on the Fire and Earth courses.”

Mike Frayne, CEO of AVIV Clinics Dubai, said: “The AVIV Medical Programme is an evidence based personalized programme which utilizes hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to ignite the self- regenerative capabilities of the body and has been shown to enhance stamina, improve body strength and reduce pain related inflammation.

“We are therefore delighted to be supporting next month’s AVIV Dubai Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates, and we look forward to welcoming the European Tour players to Dubai.”