Mena Tour top 3 to tackle world's best

Three Middle East and North Africa (Mena) Tour golfers will get to test their skills against the top players in the world at the Dubai Desert Classic next week. England's Jake Shepherd and Peter Richardson and American, Sean McNamara, will join three of the world's top four-ranked players; Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, in the field, along with victorious US Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples, John Daly and defending champion Alvaro Quiros of Spain. The three won special invitations to the $2.5 million (Dh9.1 million) European Tour event, promoted and organised by Golf in Dubai, after finishing in the top three in the Mena Tour order of merit. The competition begins at Emirates Golf Club on February 9 and runs until February 12. "Playing in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic will be just awesome," said 21-year-old Shepherd, who took the Mena Tour order of merit title with total earnings of $17,749, ahead of Richardson with $15,087, and McNamara with $13,271. ‘No regrets' "I thoroughly enjoyed playing on the Mena Tour, which was quite professionally run. The money was good and so was the competition. The fact that it attracted entries from different parts of the world shows the tour is up there with the best. "With the top three professionals getting a chance to play in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, we couldn't have asked for more. That's a huge bonus," added Shepherd, who beat McNamara in a play-off to win the Tour Championship — the fourth and concluding event on the Mena Tour. McNamara said of that defeat: "You do feel a bit disappointed, but I have achieved what I wanted to — an invitation to the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. This is the biggest prize I have won since turning pro in January last year. So no regrets." Richer in experience Richardson, who led from start to finish to win the third Mena Tour event at Al Badia Golf Club, said: "I enjoyed playing on it [the Mena Tour] and I believe so was the case with every player. Now it's time to make our presence felt in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic." The three players were also invited to compete in the final stage of the Asian Tour qualifying school. They missed out on a place on that tour, but returned home richer in experience. Mohammad Juma Bu Amaim, vice chairman and CEO of Golf in Dubai, said: "The Mena Tour is open to both professionals and amateurs and, therefore, has a unique appeal to it. Money is one thing. They offer an opportunity to play golf at the highest level [the Omega Dubai Desert Classic] and this exemption on the Asian Tour Q-School is an added bonus. "The tour will, hopefully, encourage more people to take up golf, because if they can see people they know playing, it's so much easier to relate to that than watching big players like Tiger Woods or Lee Westwood." Golf in Dubai's main sponsor is Omega along with Dubal (Dubai Aluminium). Co-sponsors are CNN, Gulf News, Emirates NBD, Jumeirah, Mercedes-Benz and wasl, while Dubai Duty Free, Carpetland and Motivate are the patrons. Global awareness A major sponsor of the event since 1992, Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) celebrates its 21st year of corporate support for the annual Omega Dubai Desert Classic Golf Tournament this year. Khalid Bu Humaid, vice president, corporate relations and international affairs and official spokesperson of Dubal, said: "Through our involvement, the Omega DDC has evolved from a relatively unknown into a world-class sporting tournament, which attracts the world's top golfers. The growth of the event has raised international awareness of and interest in both our country and our company."