The 2024 Dubai Desert Classic takes centre-stage on the DP World Tour this week as a strong field all eye glory in the first Rolex Series event of the season.
Tommy Fleetwood beat Rory McIlroy to claim a stunning victory in the Dubai Invitational last week.
Fleetwood birdied the last two holes to leapfrog McIlroy and take the trophy after the Northern Irishman drove into the water on 18.
Both stars will now head to the Emirates Golf Club for the Dubai Desert Classic, one of the most prestigious events on the DP World Tour.
McIlroy won the tournament last year, beating LIV Golf rival Patrick Reed by one stroke.
Dubai Desert Classic: Dates and how to follow
The Dubai Desert Classic is taking place from Thursday, January 18 to Sunday, January 21.
It is being held at the Emirates Golf Club in the UAE. The course is a par 72 and will measure 7,428 yards.
Play will begin at 7:10am local time which is 3:10am UK time.
The event will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Golf with coverage set to begin at 6am each morning in the UK.
talkSPORT and talkSPORT.com will also keep you up to date with all the latest.
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Dubai Desert Classic: Field and tee times
The field for the Dubai Desert Classic will be made up of 126 players before the cut on Friday night.
Ryder Cup superstars McIlroy and Fleetwood headline the field once again while Tyrrell Hatton, Adrian Meronk, Alex Fitzpatrick and the Hojgaard twins are also teeing it up.
Open champion Brian Harman is competing as is fellow American and PGA Tour star Cameron Young.
LIV Golf captain Joaquin Niemann is also in the field.
The groupings and tee times has been confirmed and can be found here.
McIlroy will play the opening two days alongside Nicolai Hojgaard and Adam Scott.
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Dubai Desert Classic: What has been said?
Following his dramatic win at the Dubai Invitational last week, Fleetwood said: “I’m very happy. It was amazing winning.
“Like almost everybody else in the world of golf, I don’t win anywhere near as much as I would like to but just that winning feeling is great.
“This is obviously where I live and have a lot of support. It’s great to kick off the year with a great result and push on from here.
“I was very happy with the way I played [the final round] for the large majority of the round, felt like I didn’t hole some of the putts that I wanted to. I just stayed patient and kept playing. I knew I was playing very, very well, and even the last two holes, played 17 and 18 great.”
McIlroy added: “I’m really happy for Tommy.
“He’s played some incredible golf over the last year without actually getting a win. So for him to get the win here, it’s great for him and it will do his confidence a world of good and hopefully he kicks on from it.
“I think first week back out, I think you’re going to expect some of those sloppy mistakes and unfortunately for me those mistakes came at the wrong time.
“But I’ll reflect on it and learn from today and there’s still a lot of good stuff in there. But just need to tidy up some of the edges and if I do that, I feel good going into the Dubai Desert Classic.”
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