Top field for Dubai Desert Classic

Dubai: Four of the world's top 10 golfers will arrive in Dubai for the 2006 Dubai Desert Classic, which takes place at the Emirates Golf Club from February 2-5.

And making a return to Dubai after a two-year absence will be one of the sports biggest names Tiger Woods.

Joining Woods will be former champions Mark O'Meara and Thomas Bjorn the latest to confirm their participation for the European PGA tournament.

"Other big names such as Els, Goosen, Montgomerie have also confirmed, thus making this a very exciting field," noted Mohammad Al Abbar, Chairman of the recently-formed Golf in Dubai (GiD), the organisers and promoters of the event at a press conference yesterday.

Star quality

With a record prize money of $2.4 million, the 2006 Dubai Desert Classic will be the richest in the 17-year history of the PGA European Tour event.

However, what will appeal much more will be the star quality of the 120-player field. Taking into consideration the light factor, organisers have decided to cut the field down to 120 players, instead of the normal 144 in previous years.

As the world's best player, Woods continues to dominate the game with an amazing 10 Majors to his name.

He came close to etching his name on the trophy two years back, only to be outdone on the final hole by the Dubai-based Dane, Thomas Bjorn. "Besides the players, what comes across as a strong challenge is that the course has to be laid out each year for this tournament," Al Abbar said.

Ernie Els too will be among the top favourites as the South African returns to defend his title. The Big Easy is the only player to have won the Desert Classic thrice so far.

And Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, presently standing at No 9 on the world ranking, will not be too far away with his challenge especially after securing the top spot on the European Tour Order of Merit for a record eighth time.

Besides Dubal as the main sponsor, CNN International, Arabian Ranches by Emaar, Nakheel and Samsung are the co-sponsors.

Other sponsors include Emirates, Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa, National Bank of Dubai, BMW and Gulf News.

PROGRAMME

January 29-30: GolfEx Dubai (Jumeirah Convention Centre)

January 31: Annual Challenge Match (Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa)

February 1: Pro-Am sponsored by Emaar (Emirates Golf Club)

February 2-5: Dubai Desert Classic (Emirates Golf Club).