Tiger Woods will tee off with the two players ahead of him on the world rankings – Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer – in the first two rounds of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on Thursday and Friday.

THE European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic beginning over the Emirates Course on Thursday, offers $2.5m (€1.8m) in prize money while, across the Atlantic, The AT&T Pro-Am on the US PGA Tour carries a purse of $6.3m (€4.6m).

Tom Watson may be 21 years older than the combined ages of his US Open playing partners today but Rory McIlroy believes the veteran American still has the game to be a contender at Pebble Beach this week.

RORY McILROY’S back problem is just a slight nerve impingement and will not prevent him taking his place in next week’s line-up for the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona.

Rory McIlroy’s back problem is just a slight nerve impingement and will not prevent him taking part in next week’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona.

NOT even Pádraig Harrington, widely regarded along with Vijay Singh as the hardest worker in the game, has been able to get in some practice since the cold spell kicked in just before Christmas.

Tiger Woods has been invited to consider Dubai his “second home” by the organisers of the Desert Classic – a tournament which now looks set to go ahead without the world number one in February.

Phil Taylor will meet Mark Dudbridge in the pick of the first round matches at the Las Vegas Desert Classic VI, while John Part begins his title defence against Steve Maish at Mandalay Bay.

Raymond Van Barneveld prevailed in a deciding leg shoot-out against Terry Jenkins to win the inaugural Las Vegas Players Championship.

Tiger Woods has warned Ernie Els he will not give up his world number one position lightly as the South African continues his pursuit of the top spot at the Dubai Desert Classic this week.

Colin Montgomerie has pulled out of this week’s US PGA Tour event in an effort to bring his game back together in time for the Masters.

Colin Montgomerie and Ian Poulter are in desperate need of some inspiration as they head into one of the biggest weeks of the golfing year.

TIGER WOODS admitted his dramatic play-off win at the Dubai Desert Classic was more satisfying having been below his best throughout his final round.

Tiger Woods has joined the list of top golfers to criticise the decision to stage all the World Golf Championship events in America.

Darts ace Wayne Mardle is hoping that a combination of hard work and natural talent will take him to the top of the sport.

Former Las Vegas Desert Classic champion Peter Manley was among eight seeded players to be knocked out of this year’s event in the first round.

Phil Taylor, who was at ringside to watch his friend Ricky Hatton defeat Kostya Tszyu last weekend, produced his own masterclass in Bolton this afternoon to book a place in the semi-finals of the Budweiser UK Open.

WATERVILLE'S David Higgins recently proclaimed in this column that "I will get my card back this year, of that I have no doubt."

BERNHARD Langer has revealed he intends to take part in the next Ryder Cup - as a player. The German's successor as captain of the European team for 2006 will be announced on Wednesday on the eve of the Desert Classic.

DAVID HOWELL boosted his chances of qualifying for the Masters with an impressive 65 at St Andrews yesterday to jump to the top of the leaderboard at the Dunhill Links Championship.

David Howell boosted his chances of qualifying for the Masters with an impressive 65 at St Andrews to jump to the top of the leaderboard at the Dunhill Links Championship.

THE many who believe Europe will have an even stronger team in the 2006 Ryder Cup match at The K-Club had their view strengthened at Mount Juliet over the weekend when Thomas Bjorn made such a dramatic return to top form.

PAUL MCGINLEY had been down in the dumps about his status as a professional golfer prior to finishing a splendid second behind Mark O’Meara in the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday.

SIX years on from his last big win, 47-year-old American Mark O'Meara came, saw and conquered in Dubai yesterday.

TIGER WOODS yesterday reminded golf spectators the world over that heckling has no place in the sport.

RONAN KEATING was amongst the celebrities competing in yesterday's Dubai Desert Classic Pro Am.

Tiger Woods today reminded golf spectators the world over that heckling has no place in the sport.

Tiger Woods was out and about in Dubai today, doing the sort of things that the world’s most famous sportsmen are asked to do, much though he might have liked a day to recover from a marathon journey across 12 time zones,

ERNIE ELS, bidding to take the world number one spot from Tiger Woods, is to curtail his travelling this year.

South African Ernie Els has confirmed his entry to March’s Dubai Desert Classic, joining world number one Tiger Woods in the field.

Robert Karlsson has the chance to complete consecutive wire-to-wire victories in the Omega European Masters – but will have to hold off Ernie Els to do so.

WITH war seemingly just over the horizon, security has been increased for the European golf tour event being played in Qatar this week.

With war seemingly just over the horizon security has been increased for the European golf tour event being played in Qatar this week.

EUROPEAN PGA tour players were in a quandary last night over whether or not to play in next week’s Qatar Masters tournament because of the military build-up against Iraq.

I’LL be there if I can walk, if I can play golf, I’ll be there — the reassuring words yesterday of Tiger Woods in the immediate aftermath of his decision to withdraw from this week’s Desert Classic in Dubai.

TIGER WOODS finally gave the answer to the question he has been asked all week last night – and the answer was that he will not be playing in the Dubai Desert Classic starting on Thursday.

While organisers of next week’s Dubai Desert Classic waited to hear from the camps of both Tiger Woods and Ernie Els – there were rumours that both would be pulling out – Ryder Cup hero Paul McGinley is already in the United Arab Emirates.

DARREN CLARKE is set to play a minimum of 11 tournaments in America this year but is adamant that he will not be joining the US Tour full-time.

Rocket Ronnie Baxter ensured there was no slip-up to 'Top Banana' Mark Holden to book a place in the second round of the PDC Stan James World Matchplay in Blackpool with a convincing 10 -1 victory.

Thomas Bjorn’s mind went back to Dubai last year when he teed off with Tiger Woods in Heidelberg today.

Ernie Els signalled his intention of winning back-to-back titles in the £1m Dubai Desert Classic today.

Tiger Woods emerged from the fog to take the opening steps towards his first victory of the year in Dubai.