Dubai: Bryson DeChambeau is raring to go in his bid for back-to-back Omega Dubai Desert Classic titles as the tournament gets under way on Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis Course on Thursday.
The big American, known as ‘The Scientist’ for his methodical approach to the game, romped to glory on his first visit to Dubai 12 months ago, winning by a massive seven shots from England’s Matt Wallace and he can’t wait to go again in a venue and city he says is ideal for his game.
“I approach it like any other week and I’m honoured to be back,” he said. “I love this city. I think it’s an incredible place, and desert golf has always suited my style of play.
“I’d say all in all, it’s one of my favourite places to be, just because of how technologically advanced I feel like the place is, and the golf course is in immaculate shape. The greens are perfect. The rough is longer this year, which is pretty interesting and I also just love hitting it off the fairways out here. It’s a lot of great fun, and a lot of scoring opportunities.
“It’s a great test of golf and I had a lot of fun last year. Let’s hopefully do it again. It’s going to take great ball-striking, iron play, and making a lot of putts.
“My wedge game is much improved I feel like and personally I’m looking forward to the new test this week — the rough is a little bit longer, so being in the fairway is going to be key, and if you have a great wedge game, you can get up-and-down and fix those mistakes you have, it’s definitely a viable option to win.”
DeChambeau loves the city as much as the course and he could almost be a tourism ambassador when he describes enjoying life in Dubai.
“I know that the Dubai Expo 2020 is coming up,” he said. “That’s something I wish I could be here for. From a technological perspective, the buildings just seem way more advanced. They are beautiful to look at and fun to walk into. The Dubai Mall, going in there, it seems like everything is so nice and just clean, simple and easy. The tech, just going up to see the information boards, simple stuff like that, that may not mean much, but it’s pretty cool. Even down to the stoplights, the way they flash green, letting you know it’s going to turn yellow and then red. Some of that stuff’s really kind of cool to me, and I think it could be implemented in more places.”
Sergio Garcia, another past winner here in Dubai, is looking to kick on from an eighth-place finish at his season-opening Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship last week.
“It was definitely a good week to start with,” he said. “I would love to have played a tiny bit better on the weekend and have a little bit better chance at winning. Overall, it was consistent. You know, four rounds under par, and so that’s always a positive. You know, to start with a Top-10, it’s always a nice thing.
“We’ll try to keep building on that, have another good week here, and go on to Saudi (for the International) and hopefully have another one, another good one there.”
