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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The latest crop of young stars to emerge on the European Tour will be aiming to add to their burgeoning trophy cabinets as the prestigious Dallahtrophy is once again up for grabs at the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic from January 28-31.<\/p>\n
Reigning Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Sami V\u00e4lim\u00e4kiwill be joined by fellow first-time winners from the 2020 season; Robert MacIntyre, Romain Langasque, Min Woo Lee and Rasmus H\u00f8jgaard, all looking to take the next step in their careers at one of the Tour\u2019s most prestigious tournaments.<\/p>\n
Big-hitting South African Wilco Nienaber will also tee it up with the aim of emulating his illustrious compatriot Ernie Els by winning his maiden European Tour titles at the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic.<\/p>\n
While the tournament can boast the likes of Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros and Colin Montgomerie among its past winners, the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic has been a breeding ground for upcoming talent, with Els (1994) and Rory McIlroy (2009) breaking through on the Majlis.<\/p>\n
V\u00e4lim\u00e4ki\u2019sascent has been rapid.After earning his European Tour card through Qualifying School in November 2019, he won on his sixth start on Tour at last year\u2019s Oman Open and went on to finish 11th in the Race to Dubai.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month he was named the \u2018Breakthrough Athlete of the Year\u2019 at the Finnish Sports Personality of the Year awards.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast season I achieved the main goal I had, which was to win and get a better category on Tour, and now I can\u2019t wait to make my OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic debut this year,\u201d said the 22-year-old from Finland. \u201cTo be able to progress to this point after only turning professional in 2019 is something I\u2019m very proud of and I want to keep going and keep improving. I know this is an important event in the world of golf when you look at some of the past winners and it would be amazing to join them.\u201d<\/p>\n
MacIntyre was named the 2019 Rookie of the Year after he had three runner-up finishes and he broke through late on in 2020 with victory at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown. Now the 24-year-old is ready to kick-on and underline his status asone of Europe\u2019s rising stars.<\/p>\n
\u201cI finished eighth in my OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic debut last year and felt good on the Majlis course throughout the week,\u201d said the left-hander from Scotland. \u201cAs a whole, last year was up-and-down for me on the golf course,but I\u2019m looking forward to a clean slate this year and hopefully making some more progress \u2013 and this\u00a0 will be a great test against a world-class field and I\u2019m excited to return.\u201d<\/p>\n
H\u00f8jgaard was one of the in-form players when the Tour resumed after the initial halt to the 2020 season to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The young Dane posted four top-tens in succession during the UK Swing last summer, ending that run with his second victory of the campaign at the ISPS Handa UK Championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy debut at the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic last year didn\u2019t quite go as planned as I missed the cut, but I enjoyed the tournament and the experience,\u201d said H\u00f8jgaard, 19, who was born a week after his compatriot Thomas Bj\u00f8rn won the 2001 Dubai Desert Classic. \u201cThe golf course was hard but playable and now I know what to expect when I return so I\u2019m looking forward to getting back there again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s Lee sealed his first victory on home soil at last year\u2019s ISPS Handa Vic Openand he will be hoping to follow in his elder sister\u2019s footsteps as a winner in Dubai after Minjee won the OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic in November.<\/p>\n
\u201cWatching Minjee win in Dubai last year was special and I can\u2019t wait to get out there and try and emulate her,\u201d said Lee. \u201cIt felt great to get my first win early in the year and I\u2019m feeling good about the new season and making my debut in the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic.\u201d<\/p>\n
FrenchmanLangasque, who clinched the prestigious Amateur Championship at Carnoustie in 2015, won his first European Tour title with two-stroke win over V\u00e4lim\u00e4ki at the ISPS Handa Wales Open at Celtic Manor last August. Prior to the victory, the 25-year-old has posted nine top tens on Tour including a runner-up finish at the 2019 South African Open.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Nienaber has firmly established himself on Tour after a string of impressive performances last year.<\/p>\n
The 19-year-old launched a 439-yard drive en route to a runner-up finish at the Joburg Open in November and earlier in the season posted a 4th place finish at the English Championship after receiving a last-minute place in the field as an alternate.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year went beyond my expectations and I can\u2019t wait to see what 2021 has in store,\u201d said Nienaber. \u201cI\u2019m really excited about being able to tee it up in events like the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic for the first time, hopefully I\u2019ll be able to play my best and write my name alongside some of the game\u2019s greatest players who have won this famous event.\u201d<\/p>\n
An elite field has been assembled for this year\u2019s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic, with a host of Major champions and Ryder Cup stars including Collin Morikawa, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Tommy Fleetwood and Ian Poulter all set to mix it with the stars of tomorrow.<\/p>\n
In what is the 32nd staging of the tournament, attendance will be for invited guests only but the action will be beamed to a worldwide audience on mainstream broadcast sports networks, and highlights and exclusive content will be shared on the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic social media channels.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The latest crop of young stars to emerge on the European Tour will be aiming to add to their burgeoning trophy cabinets as the prestigious Dallahtrophy is once again up for grabs at the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic from January 28-31. Reigning Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Sami V\u00e4lim\u00e4kiwill be joined by fellow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34980"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34984,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34980\/revisions\/34984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}