By Aroonim Bhuyan, IANS
Dubai : Defending champion Henrik Stenson Tuesday said he was optimistic of his chances of retaining the Dubai Desert Classic golf trophy in 2008, making it two in a row.
“You’ve got the picture in there and you’ve got your name on the trophy. So it’s always nice to come back to the Emirates Golf Club (tournament venue) when you have won the Desert Classic, and at least have a chance to win it twice, two in a row,” he said at a pre-tournament interview here.
Dubai-based Stenson will be joined by World No. 1 Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Colin Montgomerie, Thomas Bjorn, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Sergio Garcia, Nick Dougherty and India’s Jyoti Randhawa among others in this European Tour event, which starts Wednesday.
Stenson, who lost to Germany’s Martin Kaymer in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship earlier this month, said it was important that he left behind his recent performances so that he can take a shot at the Dubai title.
“…If I can move up from last week or the previous two weeks, it’s kind of hard to tell but I will give it a try and you never know, I might not need to move up or I might need to move to a level I’ve never been before,” he said.
About his chances against Tiger Woods this year, he said: “Yeah, he is an all round player, the best player in the world and there’s other things, his putting and his short game and getting out of trouble with the wedges and stuff like that … a lot of times that’s what’s impressed me over the time I’ve played with him.
“I guess the only slight weakness at times he has is his driving, but overall he’s the No. 1 player by far,” he said.