DUBAi Open attracts golfers from around the world

Sport360 staff 11:07 17/12/2014
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  • Focused on glory in Dubai: Tommy Fleetwood is one of the stars who will be playing in the Dubai Open at the magnificent Els Club this

    An eclectic assortment of golfers from the Asian Tour, the European Tour and the MENA Golf Tour will have a crack at the inaugural DUBAi Open title in a groundbreaking week that promises to write a new chapter in the region’s golfing history.

    – Michael Harradine claims fourth Sharjah Men's Open crown

    Fresh from posting fourth at last week’s Thailand Golf Championship, Tommy Fleetwood needs to finish at least solo 16th to break into the top-50 in the world as the Englishman joins compatriots Matt Fitzpatrick and David Howell and Northern Ireland’s major champion Darren Clarke in a 114-strong field that includes four amateurs.

    “This is the last event of the whole year of any tour. So I just need a good result. It’s keeping me occupied trying to get into that top 50. It would be great to do it this week,” said Fleetwood.

    “But the hard thing is just trying to keep it out of my head and play golf like I normally would. We will see how well I can cope with that this week.”

    The Thai duo of Prom Meesawat and Thaworn Wiratchant will spearhead the Asian challenge along with the talented Indian trio of Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa, but, led by England’s Joshua White and Zane Scotland, MENA Golf Tour players could emerge as the surprise package of the tournament.

    White, the 2014 MENA Golf Tour champion, and Scotland, an eight-time winner on the tour, are among 24 MENA Golf Tour players who have made it to Dubai’s newest event following their impressive showing in the 2014 season.

    Many of the region’s home players led by Ahmed Marjane, Faycal Serghini and Younes El Hassani, of Morocco will also take part in the tournament which is being hosted by the Els Club.

    “I congratulate golf in DUBAi on bringing yet another new tournament to Dubai and it will be fun to play on a layout designed by Ernie,” said Serghini, who boasts three runner-up places on the MENA Golf Tour.

    Thailand’s Meesawat, who ended an eight-year title drought with a victory in Taipei in September, is also looking forward to the newest tournament on the Asian Tour.

    He said: “It has been a good season for me and I’m going to try my best in Dubai. I’ve played in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic before and it’s a nice place to visit.

    “I heard the weather is going to be cooler this time of the year and it’ll be good to have our last event there. I’ve been playing well this season and I look forward to ending the year with a good result in Dubai.”

    Other top Asian Tour stars include this season’s winners Mardan Mamat of Singapore, Australian Marcus Both, Englishman Steve Lewton, India’s SSP Chowrasia and Rashid Khan, who is one of the season’s revelations following two victories this year in India and Thailand.

    The DUBAi Open is promoted and organised by golf in DUBAi.

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