All you need to know about the Dubai Desert Classic
It’s been tamed by Tiger on two occasions and has also been graced by everyone from everyone from Ballesteros and Els to McIlroy and Couples, the Dubai Desert Classic is one of golf’s iconic events and is back at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai in January. Kit Alexander tells us what we need to know...
Collin Morikawa at the 2022 Dubai Desert Classic
The first Dubai Desert Classic was held in March 1989 on the Majlis Course at the Emirates GC. It was the first European Tour event to be held in the Arabian Peninsula. The inaugural edition was won by Englishman Mark James with a score of -11.
The Emirates Golf Club has hosted the tournament on 32 of the 34 times it’s been played. There was a two-year stint at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club in 1999 and 2000, with those events won by David Howell and Jose Coceres respectively. Emirates GC also hosts the Dubai Ladies Classic, which has been played since 2006.
Emirates Golf Club was the first grass golf course in the Middle East when it was opened in 1988. The 36-hole complex was designed by American Karl Litten. The honorary first ball was hit at the grand opening by then Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq, who was a keen golfer and had recommended opening a golf course to the Dubai royal family. President Zia was given a gold tee and a club with a gold shaft to hit the shot and he knocked it 200 yards down the middle of the driving range. The stunning clubhouse represents a cluster of Bedouin tents.
A look back down 9 & 18 to the Emirates Golf Clubhouse
The Majlis Course is a par-72 layout that measures 7,353 yards. It was named the Best Course in the Middle East by Golf Digest in 2020. The 18th hole is a dramatic 564-yard par-5 that features a dog-leg from right-to-left off the tee and an approach shot over water. Water also comes into play on seven other holes.
Tiger Woods won the Dubai Desert Classic in 2006 and 2008. The 15-time major winner finished birdie-birdie and beat Ernie Els in a play-off after the pair tied on -19 in 2006. Two years later, he edged out Martin Kaymer by a single stroke after playing the back nine in six-under-par, including holing a long downhill putt on the final green. Woods has played the event a total of seven times, also teeing it up in 2004, 2007, 2011, 2014, and 2017.
Tiger Woods teeing off at the iconic 8th hole on the Majlis
The lowest winning score in the tournament’s history is -24 by Bryson Dechambeau in 2019. The big-hitter romped to a seven-shot victory with rounds of 66, 66, 68 and 64. He notched an impressive two eagles and 26 birdies over the four days to clinch his first European Tour win.
Colin Montgomerie hit one of the most famous shots in European Tour history at this event in 1996. The eight-time Order of Merit winner hit driver off the fairway for his second shot into the par-5 18th and got it to land softly and finish 15 feet from the hole tucked on the right of the green. He two-putted for the birdie he needed to get his hands on the trophy. He has since described it as the “best shot of my career”.
Alvaro Quiros made a hole-in-one at the 11th in the final round on his way to winning in 2011. It was arguably the most dramatic winning round the tournament has ever witnessed as the Spaniard also made an eagle two on the par-4 2nd, made a triple bogey on the 8th and had four birdies and a bogey on the card.
Ernie Els, Dubai Desert Classic Winner
Ernie Els is the only man to win the Dubai Desert Classic three times. The smooth-swinging South African took home the title in 1994, 2002 and 2005. He cruised to six and four-stroke victories for his first two triumphs, but he had to make a sensational closing eagle to beat Miguel Angel Jimenez and Stephen Dodd by just one shot to complete the hat-trick in 2005.
Rory McIlroy won his first professional event here in 2009, aged just 19. He’d led by six shots with six holes left to play after firing four straight birdies from the 9th, but three bogeys in three holes saw Justin Rose move within one of his playing partner standing on the final tee. A par on the last was enough to secure his first win in his 38th European Tour start as a professional.
Stephen Gallacher, back-to-back winner
Stephen Gallacher is the only player to win the Dubai Desert Classic in back-to-back years. The Scot secured his second European Tour win, nine years after his first, with a three-shot victory in 2013. He made a crucial hole-out for an eagle two at the 16th en route to that win. He defended the title in 2014 with a closing 72 after a sensational Saturday 63 had given him a two-shot lead through 54 holes. Those two wins would prove pivotal in Gallacher securing a captain’s pick for the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
It’s a truly international tournament with winners coming from 14 different nations across six continents. Those countries are Argentina, Australia, China, Denmark, England, Ireland, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and USA.