Tiger Woods will play alongside Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer at this week’s tournament in Dubai.
The Dubai Desert Classic, which begins in Dubai on Thursday, brings together golfers ranked first through third in the world standings. Organizers made a gift to all golf fans and matched Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Tiger Woods against each other in rounds one and two.
All three have had success on the Emirates Golf Club course before – Woods won the tournament twice (in the 2006 and 2008 seasons), Westwood was second last year, and Kaymer was second in 2008, one stroke behind Woods, and fourth 12 months ago.
All three were happy with the current draw.
Martin Kaymer, for example, has never played the course with Woods, the man who once inspired him to take up golf.
“I’ve wanted to play alongside Tiger ever since I saw him win the U.S. Masters on TV in ’97,” the German admitted. – It was one of the first tournaments I watched. I’ve been golfing since I was 15, and to see the best golfer in the world win a tournament like that was the best source of inspiration and motivation.
“Sure, I’ve met Woods before, but what it’s like to play alongside him – I have no idea. It must be very interesting,” Kaymer added. – For the tournament as a whole, it’s just great to have three world ranking leaders playing together. Personally, I’m looking forward to it.”
“I don’t think we’re going to see it as a rivalry,” the world number two noted. – We’re going out there to have fun, play good golf and show people that we’re doing our job with love and passion. It’s not about being the winner or the loser in the end. It’s about competing against each other and having fun.”
Woods himself also likes the prospect of playing alongside Westwood and Kaymer.
“It should be fun,” the American told reporters. – The last time I played in a group of three of the best golfers in the world was at the U.S. Open in 2008. It was me, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott. We had a lot of fun playing.”
While Woods, 26, had never met the 26-year-old Kaymer before, he had played with the 37-year-old Westwood quite often. “We always had a great time with Lee,” Tiger recalled. – He and I are on tour about the same amount of time. We ended up in the same group several times at the majors, and I always got to play well next to him.”
“It’s a fantastic draw for the tournament and for the people who will be watching,” Westwood stressed, for his part. – That’s what viewers like. Other tournaments where the ranking leaders play each other – the PGA Championship, for example – always turn out to be exciting.”
“The fact that a player like Tiger, who has dominated world golf for the last 15 years, and the number one and number two world rankings play each other in the same group is great for the European Tour,” the Englishman added.
Curiously, the three world ranking leaders will not play each other at the majors or the World Championships, but at an ordinary European Tour tournament for the first time in 17 years.
