DID YOU KNOW – OMEGA DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC
• The Dubai Desert Classic was first played in 1989 and the roll of honour includes nine different Major Champions. They are: Seve Ballesteros (1992), Ernie Els (1994, 02, 05), Fred Couples (1995), José María Olazábal (1998), Mark O’Meara (2004), Tiger Woods (2006, 08), Henrik Stenson (2007), Rory McIlroy (2009, 15) and Danny Willett (2016). Between them they have won 34 Major Championships.
• Should Danny Willett make a successful defence of his crown, he would become the first Englishman to win the same event in back-to-back years since Luke Donald (2011-12 BMW PGA Championship).
• On his way to victory in 2011, Alvaro Quiros made a hole-in-one at the 11th hole in the fourth round. He became only the then third player in European Tour history to win a European Tour event and record an ace in the final round. He followed Thongchai Jaidee (2004 Malaysian Open) and Miguel Angel Jiménez (2008 BMW PGA Championship).
• The 2011 event witnessed four holes-one. All of them were in separate rounds. The only other time this has occurred on the European Tour was the 1991 Fujitsu Mediterranean Open.
• Since 1989 the tournament has seen 22 different winners from 12 different nations.
• Should Henrik Stenson claim the title for a second time, he would move to the top of the list for most European Tour titles in the Middle East, with five. The 2016 Open Champion won the 2006 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, 2007 Omega Dubai Desert Classic and 2013 and 2014 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
• To highlight Henrik Stenson’s European Tour career in the Middle East he has played 50 events, winning four and been placed in the top ten 20 times overall.
• Tiger Woods is making his first appearance in a European Tour event since the 2015 US PGA Championship. This tournament represents the first time the 14 Major Champion would have played in a regular European Tour event since the 2014 Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
• The 2006 and 2008 champion, Tiger Woods will make a return to the Omega Dubai Desert Classic for the eighth time during his career and first since 2014. The American has finished in the top five on five occasions from his seven appearances. He is a total of 92 under par for his 28 rounds in the event, with a stroke average of 68.71. All but three of his 28 rounds have been worse than par or better.
