Henrik Stenson retains Dubai golf crown
On Sunday (November 23rd), Henrik Stenson birdied his last two holes to successfully retain his DP World Tour Championship title at the European Tour's season-ending event, which was held in Dubai this year.
The success achieved at the weekend adds more fuel to the fire that Harold Mayne-Nicholls, head of the FIFA team that inspected potential hosts for the 2022 World Cup, started when he described the emirate as the “perfect” location for hosting international sporting events.
He added that Dubai is an ideal place for sports due to the long spells of good weather and its open policy to receive all kinds of activities relating to sport, such as seminars and courses.
During the final round of the DP World Tour, Stenson shot a two-under 70 to secure his victory by two strokes, with an overall 16-under 272 on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
Sunday marked the first time Stenson successfully defended a title and guaranteed that he secured second place, behind team mate Rory McIlroy, in the European Tour Race to Dubai.
The 38-year-old Swede said: 'It was such a great place for me to win here last year, so to come back and successfully defend is very pleasing. I'll be back and try to make it three wins in a row next year.'
Back in September, when revealing that the event would be heading to the emirate, Mohamed Juma Buamaim, vice-chairman and chief executive of Golf in Dubai, said that it was very exciting news and boosted the region's reputation as an ideal golfing destination.
He added: 'Dubai’s economy benefits both directly and indirectly from golf tourism, and there is a positive synergy between golf and the key tourism sectors. Golf is just one of the many reasons that people visit Dubai to savour the experience of playing on courses of international standard.'
It is clear that the emirate's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing is working to appeal to different markets in order to achieve its target of attracting 20 million visitors every year by 2020.