DID YOU KNOW – OMEGA DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC
• The Omega Dubai Desert Classic was first played in 1989 and the roll of honour includes seven 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) and Rory McIlroy (2009, 15). Between them they have won 32 Major Championships.
• Should Rory McIlroy make a successful defence of his Omega Dubai Desert Classic title, this would be the first time he has won the same European Tour event in back-to-back years.
• 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.
• Ernie Els has played 14 times in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic over the Emirates course. In that time he has recorded three victories and nine top threes. His first 11 appearances yielded 11 consecutive top eight finishes. Of his 52 rounds on the Majlis course he is a total of 172 under par, with a stroke average of 68.69. He set the current course record of 61 (-11) on the opening day in 1994, which contained a European Tour record of 12 birdies in a single round. He has broken par in 45 of his 52 rounds. The South African has never finished the tournament with an over par score.
• Since 1989 the tournament has seen 21 different winners from 12 different nations.
• Another player who enjoys the Emirates layout is Rory McIlroy. The 2009 and 2015 winner has been placed in the top ten on each of his last six visits. The World Number Two is 81 under for his last 24 rounds in the event, with 20 of those 24 being at par or better.
• The Majlis Course will be used for the 25th time since the Omega Dubai Desert Classic began in 1989.
• Should Ernie Els, Rory McIlroy or Henrik Stenson claim the title they would move to the top of the list of most European Tour titles in the Middle East. Currently the trio all have four wins apiece.
• To highlight the quality of the field this week, there are eight Major Champions, six European Tour Number Ones’, 89 European Tour winners and nine past winners of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
