Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, and defending champion Danny Willett have been confirmed for the 2017 Omega Dubai Desert Classic, organisers announced on Monday.
Held at Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis course from February 2-5, the Dubai Desert Classic will be the fourth European Tour event of 2017 and will conclude what is known as the ‘Desert Swing’ following the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
World No 2 McIlroy, 27, will be aiming to become just the second three-time winner in Dubai, after Ernie Els, having triumphed in 2009 and 2015, the former his first victory on the European Tour.
Meanwhile Stenson, the reigning British Open champion and Race to Dubai winner, will hope to replicate his 2007 success when he edged Els by one stroke to win the trophy.
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Both players, along with the rest of a competitive line-up, are out to dislodge Willett as champion, with the Englishman returning to defend the first of his two 2016 titles.
Willett, who also won the US Masters in 2016 to claim the first major title of his career, will be aiming to emulate Stephen Gallacher by becoming the second back-to-back Dubai Desert Classic winner.
“I have great memories of this course and tournament,” said McIlroy, who will be making his 11th Dubai Desert Classic appearance. “I made the cut here for the first time in a European Tour event as a 17-year-old amateur in 2007 and it was here I secured my first professional win two years later.
“I will always cherish those important moments in the early part of my career. That first win was a real stepping-stone for me, helping my confidence and leading to the successes that followed.
“My great relationship with Dubai was pretty much set in stone from then.”
Stenson, the 2016 European Tour Player of the Year and Olympic silver medallist, will return to the emirate he used to call home before he relocated to the United States in 2012.
“It feels nice to get back to a golf course where you have played a number of times,” Stenson, 40, said. “Playing well in front of family, friends and supporters always gives you that extra bit of satisfaction.
“I am really looking forward to playing in Dubai. It would be great fun to win in Dubai again, but they (the organisers) have once again assembled a strong field and nothing can be taken for granted. We will have to see how things unfold,”
Mohamed Juma Buamaim, vice chairman and CEO of ‘golf in DUBAi’, has expressed his delight at the announcement of the Dubai Desert Classic line-up for 2017.
“Both Rory and Henrik are familiar faces to Dubai fans, having competed in this event a number of times,” he said. “They are exceptionally talented and a source of inspiration for young sportsmen even from beyond their own sport.
“Also, it will be interesting to see if the winner of the 2017 Omega Dubai Desert Classic can follow in the footsteps of Danny and goes on to win the Masters.
“Over the years, the ‘Magic of the Majlis’ at Emirates Golf Club has treated fans with some great theatre and, like all of you, I also look forward to seeing who emerges from the evening shadows to add a slice of Dubai history on Sunday, February 5.”
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