By IANS
Dubai : World number one Tiger Woods, fresh from his 62nd win on the PGA Tour that tied him with the legendary Arnold Palmer, returns to the Emirates Golf Club this week looking for a second Dubai Desert Classic title.
Woods showed outstanding form while winning the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in California, demolishing the field on his first appearance of the year with an eight shot victory.
That win saw him join Palmer in fourth place in the all-time standings for US PGA Tour career victories. Only Sam Snead (82), Jack Nicklaus (73) and Ben Hogan (64) have won more.
This week he turns his attention to The European Tour and the magnificent Majlis course where he triumphed in 2006, defeating Ernie Els in a play-off, and finished joint third behind Henrik Stenson last year.
It will be Woods’ fifth appearance in Dubai in the past eight years as he sets his sight on a 31st European Tour title which would put him level with Colin Montgomerie in terms of European Tour victories.
On his previous visits he was beaten by Thomas Björn in 2001, Mark O’Meara in 2004, won on his third appearance in 2006 and lost to Stenson last year.
The third and final leg of The European Tour’s Gulf Swing once again has a world-class field with Woods, World Number Six Els and defending champion Stenson leading the way hoping to follow the example of Martin Kaymer in Abu Dhabi and Adam Scott in Qatar as winners in the Gulf.
Els will be seeking an unprecedented fourth Dubai Desert Classic title having again come so close a year ago when he was pipped to the post by Stenson. Els won the title in 1994, 2002 and 2004 and has finished runner-up the last two years.
Dubai-based Swede Stenson denied Els last year with a birdie on the final green at the end of a thrilling finale when any one of five players could have walked away with the title. But it was Stenson – like Els, an ambassador for organisers GolfinDubai – who delighted his many friends and supporters by lifting the famous trophy.
Stenson went on to win the WGC – Accenture Match Play title in Tucson, Arizona, and showed he is back on peak form with his second place finish in last week’s Commercialbank Qatar Masters where he closed with an impressive seven under par 65 and was beaten only by the brilliance of Adam Scott’s 61.
Stenson’s runner-up finish lifted him to second on The European Tour Order of Merit behind Lee Westwood, who secured his third top five in as many events in Qatar, and notched up his 11th top ten in his past 12 events.
The Dubai Desert Classic is also another opportunity for some of The European Tour’s up and coming stars to showcase their skills. A year ago England’s Ross Fisher made the world sit up and take notice as he stood toe-to-toe with Els, Stenson and Woods before finishing joint third with the World Number One, and Rory McIlroy provided an early glimpse of his talent when he competed as an amateur.