Although the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, the third and final tournament of the European Tour's "Desert Swing," begins next Thursday, there will be various players looking to get their games in shape after playing poorly in either Qatar or Abu Dhabi. Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Jose Maria Olazabal, Colin Montgomerie, Scott Jamieson, Jeev Milkha Singh, Niclas Fasth, Edoardo Molinari, Thomas Levet, and Kristoffer Broberg have not made a halfway cut in 2013's two full-field events.
*Note: The first tournament of 2013, the Volvo Golf Champions, was a limited-field, no cut event.
Darren Clarke: Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship- MC (+10)
All signs were pointing up when Clarke posted his best results, a tied-22nd in Thailand and a tied-8th in Australia, since his 2011 Open Championship victory. Those events were at the back end of 2012. Unfortunately, he hasn't carried the form into 2013. He's now down to 154th in the world rankings. The reason that he took his name out of the running for the European Ryder Cup captaincy was because he wanted to focus on trying to take advantage of the next three years of his majors exemption courtesy of his Open Championship win. Also, he feels like he has the opportunity to play in one more Ryder Cup, presumably at Gleneagles in 2014. He will almost certainly be named the 2016 Ryder Cup Captain at Hazeltine, so these next two years may be his final years competing at a high level. As with many other players, he's working incredibly hard on all facets of his game, but he's not seeing the results just yet, at least not on a consistent basis. Putting is his main concern. Last season, he averaged 31.03 putts per round (181st on Tour). Worse enough, his stroke average was 72.83 (182nd on Tour). He's had average success on the Emirates course in recent seasons, with a 20th-place being his best finish in his last five appearances. It's imperative that he has a productive week because playing opportunities will be scarce due to his position in the world rankings. The Dubai Desert Classic might be his last tournament, at least on the European Tour, until the Masters (week of April 11th).
My projection: I believe Darren Clarke will finish inside the top-30 in Dubai.
Recent worldwide results ("Desert Swing" excluded):
Volvo Golf Champions- T22
Australian PGA Championship- T8
Thailand Golf Championship- T22
BMW Masters- T63
Portugal Masters- MC
Recent results at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic (Emirates Golf Club):
2011- 48th (+1)
2010- 27th (-2)
2009- 54th (+1)
2008- 103rd (MC)
2007- 20th (-9)
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