Reigning champion Mark O’’Meara will return to defend his Dubai Desert Classic title when the 16th staging of the event is held at the Emirates Golf Club from March 3-6.
The 1998 Masters and Open Champion will revisit the Majlis Course where he saw off the challenges of Ernie Els, Ryder Cup stars David Howell and Paul McGinley and Tiger Woods.
Sponsored by Dubai Aluminium Company (DUBAL), the 2005 event, which carries a prize fund of $2.2 million, sees O’’Meara honour the promise he made to return when receiving the famous Desert Classic Trophy from HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence.
“Mark O’’Meara is without doubt one of the most popular champions we have ever had at the Desert Classic,” said Dubai Desert Classic Executive Committee Chairman Mohamed Ali Alabbar. “He has been coming for a number of years and has been a great friend of the tournament promoting the name of Dubai on his travels across the US. It was perhaps fitting that he should celebrate his return to the top of the leaderboard with victory at last year’’s Classic.”
O'Meara's last official win prior to Dubai was the 1998 Open Championship. He had already won the Masters Tournament that same year and while there were a couple of unofficial victories since the Majors - the 1998 World Match Play Championship and the 2002 Skins – the Desert Classic was his first Tour win in six years.
"To go almost six years without a victory… it was a special moment for me," O'Meara said. "I'm very thankful, I felt very privileged. At 47 years of age, it told me I can still do it."
After a number of years in the shadows, the oldest man ever to lift the Desert Classic trophy firmly rates last year’’s title triumph as one of the most important of his playing career. “Certainly, winning the Masters and the Open Championship was a dream come true,” he added, “but to be honest with you, winning the Dubai Desert Classic last year is also up there with anything in my career.
“Certainly, it's a long way to travel but every time I've come the hospitality shown me by the people in Dubai has been tremendous. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed has put all of this time and effort to develop Dubai into a world-class city - it's just unbelievable. I certainly look forward to coming back and defending my title because I feel blessed to have so many wonderful friends there.”
Besides DUBAL as the main sponsor of the Desert Classic, CNN International, Arabian Ranches by Emaar, Nakheel, and Samsung as co-sponsors, other sponsors include: Emirates as official airline and Hole In One Sponsor; official caterer, hotel and challenge match sponsor Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa; Official Bank National Bank of Dubai; official courtesy car BMW; and event newspaper Gulf News.
