Emirates GC. Designer: Litten, 1988; Course Type: Desert; Par: 72; Length: 7,428 yards; Water Hazards: 10; Fairways: Bermuda/Rye; Rough: Bermuda/Rye; Greens: Bermuda (TifEagle) 12’6″ on the stimp.
Course Overview. The Majlis Course is our venue once again for this year’s Dubai Desert Classic. As you’d expect with a desert course this is a fairly exposed layout, however the track here at the Emirates Golf Club features a number of dog-leg holes which, when combined with wind which is quite often a factor, creates somewhat of a strategic test.
Navigating successfully from tee-to-green is key on this 7,428 yard par-72 layout – once on board, the putting surfaces are pretty flat and reasonably speedy Bermuda measuring 12-13 on the stimpmeter, and they can appeal to the less adept putters on Tour. The greens themselves were rebuilt ahead of the 2022 event, adding on average 1/3 to the size of each putting surface. As ever, the newly laid turf was firmer than usual back then and has continued to settle down a little since.
The back nine, whilst longer than the front nine, plays far easier with three mid-length par-5s in play, the short par-4 17th and the shortest of the par-3s at the 11th. The 1st, 3rd and 16th holes were extended prior to the 2021 event, adding 67 yards to the total length of the course.
Tournament Stats. We’ve published some key player statistics for this week’s Dubai Desert Classic that will help to shape a view on players who traditionally play well at this event: Current Form | Tournament Form | First Round Leader Stats | Combined Current/Event Form | SG Stats.
Predictor Model. Our published Predictor Model is available here. As always you can build your own model using the variables available.
Winners & Prices. 2024: Rory McIlroy, 7/2; 2023: Rory McIlroy, 16/5; 2022: Viktor Hovland, 10/1; 2021: Paul Casey, 25/1; 2020: Lucas Herbert, 200/1; 2019: Bryson DeChambeau, 10/1; 2018: Hao-tong Li, 110/1; 2017: Sergio Garcia, 20/1; 2016: Danny Willett, 40/1; 2015: Rory McIlroy 7/2; 2014: Stephen Gallacher, 45/1; 2013: Stephen Gallacher, 70/1; 2012: Rafael Cabrera-Bello, 125/1; 2011: Alvaro Quiros, 16/1; 2010: Miguel Angel Jimenez, 66/1.
Weather Forecast. The latest weather forecast for Dubai is here.
Fairly typical conditions for Dubai in January are expected with relatively light winds in the main, sunshine and temperatures up to the mid 70s Fahrenheit. The wind picks up a little in the afternoons here at this time of the year, however there’s nothing much beyond 10-15mph in the forecast at this stage.
Tournament Trends & Key Factors.
Analysing the final stats of the past 14 winners gives us a little more insight into the requirements for this test:
- 2024: Rory McIlroy (-14). 330 yards (1st), 44.6% fairways (49th), 70.8% greens in regulation (9th), 61.9% scrambling (28th), 1.73 putts per GIR (19th).
- 2023: Rory McIlroy (-19). 306 yards (4th), 39.3% fairways (82nd), 72.2% greens in regulation (24th), 75.0% scrambling (11th), 1.62 putts per GIR (3rd).
- 2022: Viktor Hovland (-12). 305 yards (13th), 62.5% fairways (3rd), 69.4% greens in regulation (10th), 63.6% scrambling (34th), 1.71 putts per GIR (18th).
- 2021: Paul Casey (-17). 301 yards (23rd), 53.6% fairways (17th), 75.0% greens in regulation (4th), 66.7% scrambling (16th), 1.73 putts per GIR (22nd).
- 2020: Lucas Herbert (-9). 316 yards (9th), 42.9% fairways (37th), 66.7% greens in regulation (5th), 70.8% scrambling (4th), 1.73 putts per GIR (21st).
- 2019: Bryson DeChambeau (-24). 298 yards (26th), 57.1% fairways (22nd), 80.6% greens in regulation (3rd), 57.1% scrambling (58th), 1.57 putts per GIR (2nd).
- 2018: Hao-Tong Li (-23). 304 yards (18th), 50% fairways (45th), 65.3% greens in regulation (47th), 76% scrambling (13th), 1.49 putts per GIR (1st).
- 2017: Sergio Garcia (-19). 305 yards (4th), 69.6% fairways (4th), 81.9% greens in regulation (1st), 61.5% scrambling (15th), 1.70 putts per GIR (17th).
- 2016: Danny Willett (-19). 297 yards (10th), 55.4% fairways (38th), 77.8% greens in regulation (19th), 56.3% scrambling (35th), 1.54 putts per GIR (1st).
- 2015: Rory McIlroy (-22). 318 yards (1st), 44.6% fairways (67th), 83.3% greens in regulation (5th), 83.63% scrambling (3rd), 1.68 putts per GIR (14th).
- 2014: Stephen Gallacher (-16). 304 yards (5th), 50% fairways (55th), 76.4% greens in regulation (12th), 41.2% scrambling (65th), 1.66 putts per GIR (8th).
- 2013: Stephen Gallacher (-22). 298 yards (5th), 58.9% fairways (34th), 77.8% greens in regulation (12th), 75% scrambling (18th), 1.61 putts per GIR (4th).
- 2012: Rafa Cabrera-Bello (-18). 289 yards (17th), 64.3% fairways (32nd), 84.7% greens in regulation (1st), 72.7% scrambling (5th), 1.74 putts per GIR (25th).
- 2011: Alvaro Quiros (-11). 311 yards (1st), 48.2% fairways (49th), 72.2% greens in regulation (15th), 75% scrambling (2nd), 1.64 putts per GIR (4th).
One element that stands out from a number of those players above is that many of them had previously produced a strong GIR performance here at the Emirates before winning. Sadly no performance stats were recorded for Bryson DeChambeau’s debut effort in 2016 where he finished 18th, however HaoTong Li’s win in 2018 and Viktor Hovland’s success in 2022 aside, the case is pretty compelling.
Lucas Herbert is a case in point, having hit 75% GIR on his debut here in 2019, ranking 13th in the field on that count, before ranking 5th for the same metric on his way to victory in 2020. Similarly, 2021 winner Paul Casey had previous GIR rankings of 2nd, 4th, 5th and 9th and no worse than 24th in the field from 7 previous starts.
Although his attendance in this event has been patchy, Garcia had previously ranked 1st for GIR here in 2009; Willett had recorded 80.6% GIR on each of his previous 2 attempts before winning in 2016; McIlroy ranked 2nd, 5th ,6th and 4th for GIR here between 2009 and 2012, 5th in 2015, and 9th last year when victorious for the fourth time; Gallacher ranked 1st for GIR the year before winning, plus had achieved GIR ranks of 9/6/8 before that; likewise both Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Miguel Angel Jimenez had ranked 1st for GIR on this layout prior to winning.
Hao-Tong Li’s effort goes against that trend as he’d only played here once before, recording a GIR ranking of 56th in the field, however we wasn’t a great deal better than that when victorious 5 years ago as it was his putter which did the damage. Likewise Viktor Hovland’s 57% GIR was only good enough for 42nd in the field, however that’s a sample of 1 so perhaps not entirely representative. As ever, there’s always scope for an exception to the rule in this game.
Strokes Gained: From a Strokes Gained perspective, we now have 6 years’ worth of results from the Emirates:
- 2024: Rory McIlroy: T: 1st; A: 7th; T2G: 2nd; ATG: 26th; P: 31st
- 2023: Rory McIlroy: T: 2nd; A: 13th; T2G: 4th; ATG: 37th; P: 8th
- 2022: Viktor Hovland: T: 2nd; A: 3rd; T2G: 3rd; ATG: 65th; P: 14th
- 2021: Paul Casey. T: 6th; A: 2nd; T2G: 1st; ATG: 7th; P: 41st
- 2020: Lucas Herbert. T: 9th; A: 54th; T2G: 7th; ATG: 3rd; P: 14th
- 2019: Bryson DeChambeau. T: 4th; A: 12th; T2G: 3rd; ATG: 32nd; P: 5th
Key: T: SG Off the Tee; A; SG Approach; T2G: SG Tee to Green; ATG: SG Around the Green; P: SG Putting.
Some consistency from all 6 winners from the Strokes Gained era with both Off the Tee and Tee to Green field rankings right up there with the best on the week.
For a full Strokes Gained summary for the field over the same 6 years click here.
Incoming Form: Each of the last 14 winners had recorded at least one top-10 finish in their previous 9 performances, so some recent form seems a fair pointer. Last year’s winner Rory McIlroy successfully defended his title having finished runner-up the week before at the season-opening Dubai Invitational:
- 2024: Rory McIlroy: 9/2/7/1/6/3/4/11/16/7/22/2
- 2023: Rory McIlroy: 1/5/19/3/MC/8/1/2/4/4/1/4
- 2022: Viktor Hovland: 14/36/43/17/4/49/44/18/1/1/30/4
- 2021: Paul Casey: MC/67/2/31/49/16/17/MC/69/35/38/8
- 2020: Lucas Herbert: 55/62/MC/8/22/MC/MC/34/14/MC/64/67
- 2019: Bryson DeChambeau: 51/13/30/MC/1/1/19/19/1/12/7/10
- 2018: Hao-Tong Li: 3/MC/MC/25/62/48/50/66/4/13/19/MC
- 2017: Sergio Garcia: 1/5/5/5/MC/8/24/47/17/9/19/11
- 2016: Danny Willett: 1/17/54/3/52/46/11/3/28/4/4/54
- 2015: Rory McIlroy: 14/1/1/1/22/5/8/2/2/2/15/2
- 2014: Stephen Gallacher: MC/9/MC/3/53/63/25/34/38/29/8/28
- 2013: Stephen Gallacher: 24/40/6/34/MC/5/6/MC/4/16/MC/59
- 2012: Rafa Cabrera-Bello: 33/34/MC/30/2/41/19/72/15/26/48/35
- 2011: Alvaro Quiros: 39/MC/42/34/5/57/55/53/3/23/8/2
Event Form. Some semblance of course form looks like a positive factor here at the Emirates, with last year’s winner Rory McIlroy adding to a long list of winners here who’d previously recorded a top-25 finish around these parts. Going back to 2005, the only exceptions to the rule are Rory himself in 2009 and Haotong Li in 2018:
- 2024: Rory McIlroy: MC/52/MC/1/6/10/5/9/1/6/2/3/1
- 2023: Rory McIlroy: MC/52/MC/1/6/10/5/9/1/6/2/3
- 2022: Viktor Hovland: 23
- 2021: Paul Casey: 12/16/20/4/11/37/9
- 2020: Lucas Herbert: 7
- 2019: Bryson DeChambeau: 18
- 2018: Hao-Tong Li: 39
- 2017: Sergio Garcia: 31/MC/19/11/20/17/MC
- 2016: Danny Willett: MC/48/33/MC/13/13
- 2015: Rory McIlroy: MC/52/MC/1/6/10/5/9
- 2014: Stephen Gallacher: 4/MC/38/34/51/22/44/44/MC/31/10/2/1
- 2013: Stephen Gallacher: 4/MC/38/34/51/22/44/44/MC/31/10/2
- 2012: Rafa Cabrera-Bello: MC/20
- 2011: Alvaro Quiros: 59/MC/13/6
General experience of the Emirates looks positive too: there are no debutant winners in that list above and you need to go all the way back to Richard Green in 1997 before you’ll find a first-timer walking away with the trophy here. The occasional debutant has placed here in recent years – Patrick Reed (2nd) in 2023 and Cam Young (3rd) last year for instance – however they are the exception rather than the rule.
When the breeze picks up around these parts it can accentuate the requirement for shot-shaping and almost links-like qualities to a player’s game, an assertion that’s backed up when you look at the list of winners which includes a number of Open Champions including Mark O’Meara, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson. Even Haotong Li has some Open Championship form having finished 3rd there in 2017 courtesy of a sparkling final round. This event also appears to be quite specialised with Els, McIlroy, Woods and Stephen Gallacher all winning this multiple times.
Conditions here are likely to shape the type of winner we see from year to year. When there’s any kind of breeze around these parts, the emphasis shifts towards ball-striking first and foremost, however in more placid years where scoring has been lower, those with a hot putter have also contended.
A bit of breeze in 2022, coupled with firm greens following the renovation work to the putting surfaces, contributed to a 12-under winning total as scoring proved to be a little tougher than the previous year. Softer conditions in 2023 allowed Rory McIlroy to reach 19-under as he came out on top of his tussle with Patrick Reed. Light winds but firmer conditions last year saw Rory retain his title at 14-under and something similar this week could be the order of the day.
My final Dubai Desert Classic tips are as follows: