FROM 1989

History

Rich in heritage

The Dubai Desert Classic was born in 1989 and is regarded as one of the European Tour’s most historic events that has helped to pave the way for golf's presence in the Middle East and create some of the most iconic moments in golf history.

Promoted and organised by Falcon and Associates, the tournament is fondly referred to as the ‘Major of the Middle East,’ because of its legacy and world-class field that it attracts every year.

The roll of honour includes 11 different Major champions. They are: Seve Ballesteros (1992), Ernie Els (1994, 02, 05), Fred Couples (1995), José Maria Olazábal (1998), Mark O’Meara (2004), Tiger Woods (2006, 08), Rory McIlroy (2009, 15), Henrik Stenson (2007), Danny Willett (2016), Sergio Garcia (2017) and Bryson DeChambeau (2019). Between them, they have won 35 Major championships.

South African great Els has played 16 times on the Majlis course. In that time, he has recorded three victories and nine top threes. Of his 58 rounds on the Majlis course he is a total of 188 under par. Els 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.

McIlroy, who was forced to pull out in 2017 because of a rib injury, is now 118 under par for his last eight appearances on the Majlis course that have yielded a first in 2009, sixth in 2010, tenth in 2011, fifth in 2012, ninth in 2014, first in 2015, sixth in 2016 and second in 2018. At 19 years and 273 days, McIlroy became the youngest winner of the Desert Classic in 2009, beating the previous record of England’s David Howell, who had won the 1999 edition when he was 23 years and 236 days old.

Since making his first visit to Dubai in 2001, Woods has won the tournament twice. He is 87-under-par for the 29 rounds that he has played on the Majlis course. The former world number one was forced to pull out in 2017 because of a back problem just before the start of his second round.