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When the first players took to the Majlis course in early March 1989, they were stepping into an idea that really shouldn’t have worked. At the time, there was no established golf culture in the Middle East, no blueprint for staging a major international tournament here, and certainly no precedent for building a championship course on acres of sand. Yet the view of the emerald fair emerging from the desert set the stage for what would become one of Dubai’s many success stories: courage rewarded.
The inaugural Dubai Desert Classic attracted approximately 15,000 spectators and saw Mark James crowned champion after a tense play-off. It became the first European Tour event to be held in the region, and by 1995 it was broadcast live on Golf Channel in the US, a first for the Middle East. What had started modestly had already made its intentions clear: Dubai was putting itself on the sporting map.
From sand to spectacle
That sense of ambition never really waned. In the decades that followed, the tournament expanded along with the surrounding city. Prize money increased, crowds swelled and parades of major champions began to mark it as essential territory. Tiger Woods, who claimed titles here in 2006 and 2008, summarized its appeal: “This is a tournament I enjoy playing… The Majlis course will always be immaculate, and the tournament continues to grow and improve every time I compete.” In Dubai, growth is the expectation rather than the exception.
No player captures the event or Dubai’s attraction to emerging talent quite like Rory McIlroy. He first taught it here as a 16-year-old amateur in 2006, completely raw, but missed the cut by a slim margin. A year later he made the weekend for the first time in his professional career. Two years later, at just 19, he won his first title in Dubai and became the youngest winner in the history of the tournament. He has since added three more wins, most recently in 2024 after a dramatic comeback from 10 shots behind. For McIlroy, who returns for the 20th anniversary of his debut this January 2026, the event is “one of my favorite tournaments” and Dubai a “second home”. The feeling seems to be mutual.
A platform for champions
Yet Hero Dubai Desert Classic Legends has never relied solely on its champions. It has produced some of the most memorable acts of golf theatre: Colin Montgomerie’s audacious “miracle shot” on the 72nd hole in 1996, which sent his driver off the deck into the air and ended his chances of victory; Bryson DeChambeau tore up the course with a record-breaking 24-under-par in 2019; Mark O’Mara became its oldest champion at the age of 47. These are the moments that gave rise to its reputation as “the flagship of the Middle East”.
Innovation is driving the future
However, what is striking today is how strongly the tournament looks to be going back and forth. While many global sporting events struggle to modernize without losing their heritage, the Hero Dubai Desert Classic has decided to embrace innovation as part of its identity. It is the only GEO-certified golf event in the Middle East – the internationally recognized standard for continuously running tournaments – and has retained this status for three consecutive years. The recognition reflects real operational changes: solar panel power facilities, extensive waste-reduction systems, and refill stations replacing thousands of single-use plastic bottles.
There has also been no consideration for the welfare of the players. The Mental Fitness and Recovery Zone, introduced in 2024 and now emulated by other DP World Tour events, provides players with sleeping pods, VR meditation tools and nutrition designed to keep the mind as sharp as the swings. This is, in many ways, a sign of how much the elite sport has changed, and how the event has chosen to be at the forefront of that change.
Even the cultural landscape around the tournament is changing. The Creators Dubai Desert Classic, a tournament launching in 2025 for global golf influencers, reflects the global reality that millions of people now watch their golf through clips, creators and personality-driven storytelling. The event engages a new generation of golf fans, many of whom may have never seen a DP World Tour broadcast.
more than legendary golf
Beyond the barriers, the Hero Dubai Desert Classic has also become a community touchpoint. Tournament Town offers live music, comedy, family activities and a chance for newcomers to experience golf without the stuffiness traditionally associated with it. Partnerships with groups such as Heroes of Hope, a charity supporting people with disabilities, underpin a wider social objective, while the Junior Clinic and Junior Dubai Desert Classic help foster the region’s next generation of players.
It’s tempting to see all this as a simple success story – the classic Dubai tale of rapid progress. But the sustainability of the tournament depends more on consistency than scale. The Majlis course remains one of the game’s most acclaimed stages; The field remains reliably world-class; And the January sunshine now attracts more than 66,000 visitors each year.
Thirty-seven years after its debut, the Hero Dubai Desert Classic is a reminder of what sport can become when ambition meets consistency. What began in a remote stretch of sand is now one of the world’s most elite tournaments – not just a showcase of elite golf, but a living snapshot of Dubai’s evolution. And like the city, its story is far from over.
The 37th edition of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic will take place at the Emirates Golf Club from 22-25 January 2026. For more information or to purchase tickets go here www.herodubaisertclassic.com