Dubai, UAE …Rory McIlroy’s controversial ‘too easy’ comments late last year at St. Andrews has had a dramatic impact on the set-up of this week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic host layout.
That’s the view of double Dubai winning Scot Stephen Gallacher and plenty more teeing-up in the 31st edition of the event at the Emirates Club in Dubai.
Gallacher won back-to-back in 2013 and 2014 with a respective 22-under par and 16-under tally.
The Bathgate pro’s first Dubai win was a dozen shots more than when Mark James won the inaugural event in 1989 while a year ago American Bryson DeChambeau muscled his way to a seven-shot success with a record-setting 24-under par total and admitting he didn’t drive the ball that well.
Gallacher said: “It is a totally different course set up to when I won and to the course we played last year.
“They have changed the shape of the fairways. They have raked the sand, let the rough grow and dragged it against you.
“The course is brilliant, don’t get me wrong but they are clearly seeking to make the winning score higher as it is certainly tougher.
“If you miss the fairway, you can’t reach the greens. The greens are brick-hard, so it is tough to get the ball to hold on them.”
McIlroy was point-blank candid at last October’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship declaring he was ‘honestly sick’ of European Tour host courses too easy and citing shooting 15-under at St. Andrews and finishing T26th, and with his and father, Gerry just missing out on the team title.
The four-time Major winner also took a pot shot at the Tour for their set-up of The Renaissance Club and host venue again for this year’s Aberdeen Standard Investment Scottish Open declaring: “I finished 14-under and finished T34th. It’s not a good test. I think if The European Tour want to put forth a really good product, the golf courses and setups need to be tougher.”
Gallacher’s backing McIlroy’s call saying: “There was a consensus at the end of last year that was they wanted the courses to be a bit tougher.
“Rory was vocal about it, including having some thoughts on the Scottish Open, and I think when guys like that talk, people listen and I think here they have tried to make it a bit tougher.
“The Emirates is tougher this week for sure but it’s fair and I think they have got it pretty much right here.”
Aussie-born Dion Stevens has the Tour contract to produce yardages books to players and caddies and this week marks his 13th Desert Classic while he’s provided yardage books for the past three Women’s Dubai Desert Classic’s.
He said: “The course is now a brute compared to when I first produced a Desert Classic yardage book.
“We saw 24-under win last year and then 23-under in 2018 but in speaking with many of the caddies this week it will be more like 11 or 12-under will be the winning margin.
“Yes, you can call it the ‘Rory McIlroy Factor’ but it seems the Tour is all for making this year’s course tougher.
In fact, Stevens confirmed the rough is up appreciably on every hole, the fairways have been ‘pinched-in’ on one, five, six, 12, 13, 14, 16 and the 17th fairways.
There’s a new green at six while the ninth hole that winds its way to the clubhouse is 30-yards longer and no more can players easily choose to drive the 17th green as they’ve grown deep rough on both sides and the back of the green.
The tougher version of the Emirates Course proved no concern for top-ranked Scot Robert MacIntyre who seemed to brush off any left-hand injury concern launching a 325-yard ‘bomb’ off the 18th tee during Wednesday’s Pro-Am.
He later then gave both thumbs up to making his 2020 European Tour debut this week after sitting out last week’s Tour stop in neighbouring Abu Dhabi.
He said: “I’m going out there to play aggressive, play free and hopefully pain free.
“I’ve still got my wrist strapped but I don’t know if that’s doing any good. I’m just doing it because is my head, I’m saying to myself, this is strapped up, it’s strong just now, so I’ll give it a go (smiling).”
And in returning to Dubai for a first time since capturing the 2019 ‘Rookie of the Year’ title, the 23-year was quizzed what his aspirations were at the start of this now second full season on the main Tour.
MacIntyre said: “I’ve not looked further than April. I’ve got one goal and that is to be in the to-50 in the world by April and earn a Masters invitation, and if I can achieve that, then I think the start of my season would have been as good as the end of last year.”
Gallacher and MacIntyre head a field of eight Scots teeing-up in Dubai.
