Golf across the globe: Tiger takes Dubai by storm

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PGA European Tour

Tiger Woods followed up his Buick Invitational win with a European Tour in Dubai. (Cannon/Getty Images)

Schedules

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• Last week in Dubai, a certain someone named Tiger Woods took his domination overseas and found success, yet again, at the Dubai Desert Classic. In contention ever since the first round, Woods actually fell four shots back by the time Sunday rolled around. However -- in true champion fashion -- Woods overcame the deficit, winning by one shot at 14 under. Germany's Martin Kaymer finished second, and South Africa's Ernie Els and Louis Oosthuizen tied for third at 12 under. Tiger took home around $420,000 in winnings.
• Other notable names in the Dubai Desert Classic field were Henrik Stenson (tied for sixth), Sergio Garcia (tied for 19th) and Ian Poulter and Mark O'Meara (both tied for 39th).
• This week, the European Tour players will compete in the Emaar-MGF Indian Masters at the Delhi Golf Course. Ernie Els, the world's No. 4, is the highest-ranked golfer in the field for the tournament, which the European Tour is co-sanctioning for the first time. India's No. 1 golfer, Jyoti Randhawa, will be among the talented local golfers looking to make some waves in this tournament.
• Other notables in the field at Delhi Golf Course are David Howell, Mark O'Meara, Arjun Atwal and Darren Clarke. India was disappointed not to have Daniel Chopra, of Indian (and Swedish) descent, in the field for the Emaar-MGF Masters, but the PGA TOUR player -- and 2008 winner -- has committed to the field at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
• Next week, look for the European Tour to play in the Astro Indonesian Open.

Asian Tour
• Kicking off its 2008 schedule this week, Asian Tour members will also head to India for the Emaar-MGF Indian Masters.

Sunshine Tour
• Marc Cayeux of Zimbabwe took the win on the Sunshine Tour last week at the Nashua Masters. In a Tiger-esque move, Cayeux started out the final round three shots behind the leader but rallied to close out the event 12-under par and beat the overnight leader, Bradford Vaughan (an eight-time Sunshine Tour winner), by two strokes.
• Other notables in the field at the Nashua Masters were England's Justin Walters (4th place) and South Africa's Deane Pappas (tied for 10th).
• For the first week of February, the Sunshine Tour will play the Africa Open at Fish River Sun Country Club. Last week's winner, Cayeux, will be back in the field.
• Look out for other notable names in the field such as Deane Pappas and Tjaart Van Der Walt.
• Next week, the Sunshine Tour gets set to play the Vodacom Championship.

World Golf Championships -- Accenture Match Play Championship
• The World Golf Championships tournament held at the Gallery at Dove Mountain in Tucson, Ariz., takes place in two weeks, and this weekend's tournaments are the last chance players have to qualify for the field by moving into the top 64 in Official World Golf Ranking.
• The purse for this tournament is $8 million. Henrik Stenson won the tournament in 2007.
• To learn about Official World Golf Ranking, check here.

Not playing this week
• The LPGA has one more week to warm up for its debut Feb. 14 at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay
• The PGA Tour of Australasia also gets started next week at the HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship (which is co-sponsored by the Nationwide Tour).
• The Japan Tour has no upcoming events until mid April.