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Garcia playing it safe in the absence of Woods and Rory
The tough task of winning this year’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic hasn’t been made any easier by the notable absences of the world’s top two golfers, according to Sergio Garcia.
Tiger Woods has chosen to skip the European Tour (ET) event at Emirates Golf Club this week for the second year in succession, having opted instead to play the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in 2012 and 2013.
Rory McIlroy also won’t be appearing this time around in the emirate, with the Northern Irishman managing his time and prioritising his tournaments meticulously following his stellar season last year.
However, despite the lack of the world number one and two in McIlroy and Woods respectively among the field, Garcia insists there’s enough calibre and class on the ET to put on a superb sporting spectacle regardless.
“They don’t win every tournament. If they won every tournament between them, then you could say: ‘Yeah, it does,” replied Garcia when asked if the two big-name omissions made the objective of success on Sunday simpler.
“But, if I said that, then I would be taking credit away from – and being disrespectful towards – all of the other players out here.
“The quality of the players is great. If you look down at the World Rankings, people might say: ‘Oh, it’s a little bit weaker.’
“But, those guys can still play the game of golf amazingly and – on any given week, if someone gets going – they can shoot ‘lights out.’ It doesn’t make it easier at all.
“They can have a good week and shoot great scores, while you can also get the other good players that miss cuts. Every week is different.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a great week and there’s going to be a lot of good players out there on the board.”
alex@khaleejtimes.com
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