Tiger & McIlroy paired in all-star Dubai Desert Classic group

Sport360 staff 17:27 28/01/2014
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  • Practice makes perfect: Woods (r) & Gallacher (l) are grouped for the first two rounds.

    Top draws Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will go head-to-head over the first two rounds of the 25th anniversary Dubai Desert Classic on Thursday and Friday.

    They will be hoping for a better showing than a year ago when both opted to start their season in nearby Abu Dhabi and, playing together, miserably missed the cut.

    This time, both players have already lit the fuse to their new seasons with contrasting fortunes. The 38-year-old Woods missed a Saturday, third round cut at Torrey Pines after matching his worst-ever score on US soil, a seven-over 79 for the most inauspicious of starts.

    He made no comment afterwards other than a – "No I'm done" – when asked to comment on his round.

    Of course Woods has rebounded from a poor showing in double-quick time before, notably last year when he went straight from Abu Dhabi to win the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines – the first of five titles in the year en route to another Player of the Year award.

    In contrast, McIlroy came within a two-stroke rules violation of winning in Abu Dhabi which would have seen him take back-to-back titles following his victory in the Australian Open late last year.

    He believes all is in place for him to produce another stellar year, rebounding from his travails of 2013 when an equipment change and business-related distractions left him befuddled.

    "I have started off the year well," McIlroy said. "I was a little disappointed coming off the second place in Abu Dhabi. I felt like I should have won but there were a lot of positives to take from the week. I played very well.

    "I felt like I could have done a few things better which I have worked on over the last week to go into this tournament in Dubai but all in all I am in a good place and really looking forward to 2014."

    What is sure is that he will be wary of the wounded Tiger, missed cut or no missed cut. The two biggest names in golf have played together in tournaments several times but never down the home stretch in a major and they have yet to produce fireworks when in the same grouping.

    "It's great to have him here [in Dubai]," said McIlroy of Woods' return to the bustling emirate after a two-year absence. "He got off to a bit of a slow start to the season so he will be wanting to make up for that this week. I think he has still got a few good years left so I am looking forward to battling with him down the stretch a few times."

    Joining Woods and McIlroy will be defending champion Stephen Gallacher of Scotland, who is desparate to stash up some big Ryder Cup points to give himself a chance of making the European team for the showdown with the United States on home turf at Gleneagles in September.

    For golf fans heading down to the Emirates Golf Club to witness the action first hand, there are a number of other groups to watch out for. In the group immediately follwing Woods and McIlroy, two Abu Dhabi champions in Jamie Donaldson (2013) and Pablo Larrazabal (reigning) are joined by golf sensation and Abu Dhabi golf ambassador Matteo Manassero. 

    Elsewhere in a battle of former champions, three-time Desert Classic winner Ernie Els is joined by 2001 winner Thomas Bjorn and European No1 and Race to Dubai champion Henrik Stenson, who won the tournament in 2007. 

    FIRST ROUND GROUPS & TEE TIMES

    Teeing off from the 1st:
    (07:15) Roope KAKKO, JB HANSEN, Brooks KOEPKA
    (07:25) Adrian OTAEGUI, Johan CARLSSON, Gaganjeet BHULLAR
    (07:35) Victor RIU Fabrizio, ZANOTTI, Niclas FASTH
    (07:45) Paul LAWRIE, Craig LEE, Ricardo SANTOS
    (07:55) Søren KJELDSEN, Michael HOEY, Marcel SIEM
    (08:05) Eduardo DE LA RIVA, David HORSEY, Jin JEONG
    (08:15) Steve WEBSTER, Hennie OTTO, Faycal SERGHINI
    (08:25) Ricardo GONZALEZ, Shiv KAPUR, Daan HUIZING
    (08:35) Paul WARING, Gareth MAYBIN, Magnus A CARLSSON
    (08:45) Carlos DEL MORAL, Romain WATTEL, Eddie PEPPERELL
    (08:55) Mustapha ELMAOUAS (AM), Lee CORFIELD, Marco CRESPI
    Teeing off from the 10th:
    (07:15) Thomas LEVET, Richard GREEN, Robert-Jan DERKSEN
    (07:25) Anthony WALL, Alvaro QUIROS, Gary STAL
    (07:35) Dawie VAN DER WALT, Grégory BOURDY, Fred COUPLES
    (07:45) Mark O'MEARA, David HOWELL, Mikko ILONEN
    (07:55) Richard STERNE, Branden GRACE, Peter UIHLEIN
    (08:05) Rory MCILROY, Stephen GALLACHER, Tiger WOODS
    (08:15) Jamie DONALDSON, Rafa CABRERA-BELLO, Matteo MANASSERO
    (08:25) Tommy FLEETWOOD, Julien QUESNE, Colin MONTGOMERIE
    (08:35) Darren FICHARDT, Peter HANSON, Ross FISHER
    (08:45) Simon DYSON, Grégory HAVRET, José COCERES
    (08:55) Seung-yul NOH, Andy SULLIVAN, Derek MCKENZIE 
    Teeing off from the 1st:
    (11:35) Danny WILLETT, Jbe KRUGER, Justin WALTERS 
    (11:45) Lee SLATTERY, Damien MCGRANE, Jorge CAMPILLO
    (11:55) Thorbjørn OLESEN, Robert KARLSSON, José María OLAZÁBAL 
    (12:05) Paul CASEY, Morten Ørum MADSEN, Shane LOWRY 
    (12:15) Joost LUITEN, Francesco MOLINARI, Miguel Angel JIMÉNEZ 
    (12:25) Thomas BJÖRN, Ernie ELS, Henrik STENSON 
    (12:35) Brett RUMFORD, Thongchai JAIDEE, Pablo LARRAZÁBAL 
    (12:45) Scott JAMIESON, John DALY, Raphaël JACQUELIN 
    (12:55) Marc WARREN, Bernd WIESBERGER, Chris WOOD 
    (13:05) Javier BALLESTEROS (AM), Wayne WESTNER, Soren HANSEN 
    (13:15) Stephen DODD, Barry LANE, Scott HEND 
    Teeing off from the 10th:
    (11:35) José-Filipe LIMA, Richard BLAND, Nacho ELVIRA
    (11:45) Matthew NIXON, Peter WHITEFORD, Chris DOAK
    (11:55) Kristoffer BROBERG, Maximilian KIEFFER, Andrea PAVAN
    (12:05) Sihwan KIM David DRYSDALE Peter LAWRIE
    (12:15) Tom LEWIS, Jamie MCLEARY, François CALMELS
    (12:25) Garth MULROY, Jeev Milkha SINGH, Robert ROCK
    (12:35) Alejandro CAÑIZARES, Marcus FRASER, Simon THORNTON
    (12:45) Tyrrell HATTON, Edoardo MOLINARI, Graeme STORM
    (12:55) Mark FOSTER, Seve BENSON, John PARRY
    (13:05) Robert DINWIDDIE, Emiliano GRILLO, Matthew BALDWIN
    (13:15) Alexander LEVY, Zane SCOTLAND, Jaco VAN ZYL

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