World No. 1 Tiger Woods seems almost certain he will arrive into Dubai a day earlier than expected after posting his equal third highest PGA Tour round after missing a necessary third round cut in the defence of his Farmers Insurance Open in the States.

Woods shot a disappointing seven over par 79 in an event he’s won seven times in the past, to fall to six over par on day three, a score which rules him of Sunday’s final day of action after another cut was required to get the field down to 70 for the fourth round.

The 14-time Major winner was one under for his round after eight holes but back-to-back double bogeys followed by five consecutive dropped shots saw him tumble down the leaderboard and a birdie on the last was not enough to save him.

It is the second time in as many years Woods has missed the cut in his very first event of the New Year.

Twelve months ago he joined fellow Nike player Rory McIlroy in sitting out the closing two rounds of the Abu Dhabi HSBC  Golf Championship and only after being hit with a two-stroke penalty for an illegal drop during his second round.

Woods is competing in this week’s 25th anniversary Dubai Desert Classic and that will entail teeing-up on Tuesday in a 21-man $600,000 ‘Former Champions Challenge’ on the Emirates Course.

The American will then play in Wednesday’s Pro-Am ahead of the tournament proper, and that’s a likelihood of six rounds.