Dubai Desert Classic: Top 10 Player Power Rankings

Who’s coming in hot to the European Tour Omega Dubai Desert Classic?

I always look forward to the European Tour Dubai Desert Classic. This year, with the field headlined by Danny Willett and Henrik Stenson, there’s an explicit promise of some extraordinary golf.

But Willett and Stenson aren’t the only high-power players teeing it up at the Major of the Middle East. Our power rankings include young Matt Fitzpatrick as well as Rafa Cabrera Bello, who delivered an incredibly heroic performance at the WGC Match Play Championship last year.

Seasoned competitors like Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood and hopeful challengers like Martin Kaymer and Tiger Woods potentially could add some extra spice to play on the Emirates Golf Club Majlis course.

Carved through the desert, the Majlis track will play 7300+ yards from the tips. Challenges are everywhere. Narrow fairways make sand shots practically inevitable. Slick greens make putting skill essential. Water hazards raise the stakes.

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Keep an eye on play at the par-3 7th hole where tee shots much carry the length of a lake, and the par-5 finishing hole, where another lake demands a long-carry approach to a devilish green. Both the 7th and 18th holes have proved the downfall of some of the best golfers in the world!

With daytime temperatures in the 70s and partial clouds you might think the conditions just about golf-perfect, but the wind is going to blow Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. That could complicate the situation.

Here’s how I see the Dubai Desert Classic field lining up.