DUBAI, (Pakistan Point News - 18th Nov, 2020) Two-time Race to Dubai winner, Lee Westwood, will be joined by Major champions, Martin Kaymer and Danny Willett, as a strong international field gathers at the inaugural Golf in Dubai Championship, presented by DP World.
The new event, to be played on the Fire Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates from 2nd to 5th December, 2020, forms part of a double-header with the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, where the latest European Number One will be crowned.
Westwood is aiming for more glory after securing his 25th European Tour title at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship earlier this season. The Englishman is currently fourth in the Race to Dubai Rankings, presented by Rolex, and a strong showing around the Fire Course could boost his chances of becoming European Number One for a third time, following his triumphs in 2000 and 2009.
Two-time Major winner and 2010 Race to Dubai champion, Kaymer, is aiming to continue his career renaissance he has enjoyed this season at the Dubai double-header. The German Ryder Cup star has found form in the UAE, with three wins in Abu Dhabi amongst his 11 European Tour titles.
Bringing further star power to the Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World is 2016 Masters Tournament winner, Danny Willett. The Englishman has previously enjoyed success in the emirate, winning the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai in 2018 and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic two years previously, just two months before he slipped on the Green Jacket at Augusta National.
"It is always a pleasure to play in Dubai so hats off to everyone involved in adding this new event to the schedule," said Willett. "I have won a couple of times in Dubai so I jumped at the opportunity of playing another tournament there. The facilities are world-class and second to none.
"We are all very familiar with the Earth course as that hosts the DP World Tour Championship but the Fire course will bring a fresh challenge to us players and it is a challenge I am looking forward to."
Westwood and Willett will be joined in the field by fellow Rolex Series winners including Aaron Rai, of England, Austrian, Bernd Wiesberger, and Spain’s, Rafa Cabrera Bello, as well as a host of stars who are looking to add to previous wins in Dubai.
Up and coming Australian, Lucas Herbert, made his European Tour breakthrough at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic this season and he will tee it up at Jumeirah Golf Estates alongside 2018 winner Li Haotong, of China, Scottish Ryder Cup player, Stephen Gallacher – the only man to win back-to-back Omega Dubai Desert Classic titles – and victorious 2018 Ryder Cup Captain, Thomas Bjørn, who famously beat then World Number One, Tiger Woods, to the same title in 2001.
The field will also include several winners on the 2020 Race to Dubai, including rising Danish star, Rasmus Højgaard, American, John Catlin, and young Englishman, Sam Horsfield, – all of whom have two titles to their name this season – Spanish pair, Jorge Campillo and Adrian Otaegui, Finland’s, Sami Välimäki, Italian, Renato Paratore, and 2019 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the year, Robert MacIntyre.
"Dubai is a great destination for golf and I am excited to get out there, enjoy the warm weather, use the world-class facilities and play back-to-back weeks on two fantastic courses at Jumeirah Golf Estates," said Højgaard, who topped the UK Swing’s mini Order of Merit earlier this season.
"The Golf in the Dubai Championship presented by DP World will be my first event since the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown so I cannot wait to get going and hopefully, end my rookie season on a high."
The Dubai Championship builds on the long-term relationship the European Tour has with Dubai, which began more than 30 years ago, and many of its Dubai-based Official Partners, including DP World, Dubai Duty Free and Emirates.
