Dubai World Championship

November 20th, 2009

The first port of call on the Blog this week is to take a quick look back to last week’s event in Hong Kong where Titleist Ambassador Gregory Bourdy edged out fellow Titleist player Rory McIlroy to take the UBS Hong Kong Open title. Gregory plays Titleist right through the bag and his victory comes shortly after a switch to the new Titleist MB irons. The win vaulted the likeable Frenchman into 47th on the Race to Dubai standings and into this week’s Dubai World Championship. Félicitations Gregory!!!

And it is the Dubai World Championship that is the focus of this week’s Blog. Quite simply; this is the big one!! Following a long season of intense European Tour competition the top 60 players have come together at Jumeirah Golf Estate in Dubai for their shot at a €7.5 million prize fund. For a select few, the event is also the final opportunity to take their shot at the Race to Dubai title and claim the Harry Vardon trophy award to Europe’s #1 golfer. Titleist is well represented among the four players still in contention with Ambassadors Rory McIlroy and Ross Fisher occupying 1st and 4th spots respectively going into the event. Englishman Lee Westwood is another player in contention who has Titleist on his side with the Pro V1 loyalist currently occupying 2nd place in the rankings.

Click here to view the Dubai World Championship slideshow

The Earth Course is not only a brand new venue for the European Tour but an entirely new golfing venue full stop. The event marks the official opening of the course at the Jumeirah Golf Estate and early signs are that the Greg Norman designed par-72 layout will be a hit with the players. The course features large areas of bark mulch which provides an interesting contrast with the Bermuda grass fairways, whilst the bunkers and water hazards are large and plentiful. The Earth Course is by no means a push-over but the quality of field coupled with an excellent weather forecast should ensure low scoring for the event.

With so much riding on this week’s event there was very little by way of equipment chatter in Dubai. Most of the players will be taking time off in the coming weeks to recuperate after a long season and there will certainly be more to report in terms of equipment changes as we move into the 2010 season. That said, the team did spend some time with Ross Fisher in Dubai discussing a new fairway metal. Ross was keen to try a few different options to ensure he was getting the most out of his fairway metal and, having spent time testing on the range, decided on a 909F2 13.5° adjusted to 14.5°. As was the case with Rory McIlroy and Michael Hoey last week in Hong Kong, Ross’ new fairway will feature the new True Temper Project X 7A3 shaft. The new 909F2 will be delivered to Ross in South Africa in time for the Nedbank Open.

Another Titleist Ambassador in the field this week is Australian Adam Scott. Adam is undoubtedly one of the most talented players in world golf but has not had his best season on Tour in 2009. That said, in recent weeks Adam has definitely shown signs of a return to form and was looking forward to a strong week in Dubai. Adam is a long-time Titleist Ambassador and has recently added a set of the new Titleist MB irons to his bag alongside his 909D2 driver, 909F2 fairway, Vokey Design Wedges and Scotty Cameron Studio Select putter. Feedback from the players on the new MB irons has been unanimously positive and Adam is no exception – he is extremely happy with the performance. At the time of writing Adam is off to a solid start and currently sits in a tie for 20th at three under par. We wish him well for the weekend and look forward to seeing him back at his best in 2010.

The marathon that is the Race to Dubai is now approaching its sprint finish with just two rounds remaining and it’s the players in 1st and 2nd position that look to be heading for a weekend showdown. Both Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood are off to fast starts in their pursuit of the Harry Vardon trophy with McIlroy currently lying in a tie for 2nd at 7 under par with Westwood leading the field by two strokes on 9 under. It promises to be a fascinating showdown over the course of the weekend and is building up to being the finish to the season that we were all hoping for. So sit back, relax and enjoy the action from Dubai; there’s going to be fireworks!!!

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