Dubai: England’s Barry Lane — the only golfer to play all 24 previous editions of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic — has announced he will quit the event after its 25th anniversary this weekend.
Lane, 53, finished sixth in the first event here in 1989 before going on to record a personal-best third-place finish in 1992, which granted him a 20-year exemption. Organisers extended that exemption when it expired in 2012 in order to see him through to the event’s silver jubilee, but he is now ready to surrender his failed pursuit of the Coffee Pot trophy once and for all.
“I think this will be my last one,” Lane told Gulf News. “I’m 54 this year and I’ve got the seniors tour to play on. If I was exempt I would play on, but for them to give me an invite now takes it away from a younger player and I feel I’ve had my time.
“It would be nice for them to give the invite to someone from Dubai or who lives out here and plays on the Asian Tour. This will be my swansong. It won’t be emotional, I’m happy to have played 25 years but now it’s time to hand it on to someone else to see if they can do the same.”
Having seen first-hand how the event sparked Dubai’s growth as a tourist destination through sports marketing, Lane said he was in awe of the city’s rapid development.
“I remember the first time I arrived, we stayed at a hotel near the airport and between there and the golf course there were only three buildings,” he said. “One was the Trade Centre, then the Metropolitan Hotel and then there was this course in the middle of the desert. There was just a two-lane carriageway all the way up from the city.
“It was literally an oasis in the desert. You looked over the fence from the tenth hole and saw nothing but sand. In 1996 they said they were going to build 200 tower blocks and a marina and every year since then there is a new development, it’s unbelievable.”
Asked if he felt capable of signing off in style this week and whether he felt his unparalleled experience of the Majlis Course gives him an advantage, Lane, who has missed the cut here for the past five years, replied: “You know where the trouble is and you know where you don’t want to hit it, but I don’t think local knowledge is that important nowadays — the yardage books we have are so detailed. If you hit putts and make fairways you’ll have a chance.
“Realistically, if I play my best I could finish in the top ten, but I would have to play my very best. The course is very long for me now. I can still hit the ball a long way but nothing compared to these guys. They can reach the green from the rough with a nine or an eight iron, I can hit it out the rough too, but I’m about 40 yards behind them. It’s never going to reach the green. For me it’s all about driving the ball on to fairways — that’s what I want to do.
“I’m here to enjoy myself but I still feel competitive. If I didn’t feel I could make the cut, I wouldn’t be here. If I make the cut and play well I’ll be happy.”
