Stenson to iron out mistakes

Dubai: He required a win in Abu Dhabi to be crowned 'King of the Desert Swing' but if he successfully defends his Dubai Desert Classic title in two weeks, then Henrik Stenson can certainly be considered the man to beat.

With victories in Dubai and Qatar already under his belt, Stenson must have been a little more disappointed than he let on with his joint second in the recent Abu Dhabi Golf Championships.

But new kid on the block, Martin Kaymer, blew away the whole field when he blazed his way to the top of the leaderboard on day one and stayed there for the next three days.

The 23-year-old German endured a challenging last day where he shot a nervy two-over-par 74 to finish four ahead of Stenson and Lee Westwood and finish with a 15-under-par total of 273.

"It was stunning," said Stenson yesterday at a press conference for the Dubai Desert Classic.

Good result

"Kaymer showed last year that he had some great potential and then he came here and almost killed the tournament after two rounds."

He may have missed out on the title that would have completed his Gulf Swing collection nicely, but new-father Stenson has a lot to smile about as he goes into the Qatar masters and the Desert Classic with more than a fair chance of winning.

He says he just needs to iron out a few wrinkles in his long game.

"I was happy to be able to achieve such a good result in Abu Dhabi and I hope to defend my Dubai title but I didn't hit enough fairways. If I had a strong driver in the bag, I feel like I could have given Kaymer a run for his money," he explained.

"I hope I can get some good work in Doha now and get that driver sorted. If you're not feeling good with the driver you're not really going to get your score together."

With the spectre of Tiger Woods, the world number one who will be keen to wrest the trophy back from the 15-ranked Swede, looming over him, Stenson will be eager to get back to his big-hitting ways as soon as possible.

"It's always hard to defend a title," he said. "You are just one of 120 again although I fancy my chances maybe a little bit more given that it's a course that I like and know well and I won it before and this is my home.

"But when you are up against Ernie Els and Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia and some of the other guys its always going to be very difficult."

The Dubai Desert Classic is sponsored by Dubal and Gulf News and the first round takes place on January 31.

Tickets to the tournament, Pro Am, and Challenge Match are available from www.dubaidesertclassic.com