Tyrrell Hatton arrives at this week's Omega Dubai Desert Classic with a spring in his step as the Englishman targets back-to-back victories in the Middle East, following his triumph last week in Abu Dhabi. The 29-year-old climbed to a career-high fifth in the Official World Golf Ranking courtesy of his four-stroke win, for his third title in just under a year on both the European Tour and PGA Tour. Hatton has a strong record at Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, including a pair of top three finishes and another top ten, so he is feeling confident of a title challenge in the second event of the 2021 Race to Dubai. The man just ahead of Hatton in the world rankings, World Number Four Collin Morikawa, makes his debut at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic but enjoyed his last visit to the Emirate - clinching a top ten at last year's season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. Ryder Cup stars Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia, meanwhile, make their first appearances of the European Tour campaign as they target crucial qualification points with a view to making it onto Padraig Harrington's European side for the September showpiece at Whistling Straits, Wisconsin. Player quotes: Tyrrell Hatton: The win last week still feels a little bit surreal, alongside with where we’ve moved up to in the World Rankings. It doesn’t feel like it was me who won the tournament. Looking forward to this week. It’s nice to be back here in Dubai, I missed the event last year because I was still recovering from wrist surgery. I’ve had some good finishes in the past and I’m hoping I can have another good week this week. I played the Pro-Am, the game still felt pretty good. "I wouldn’t say I’m uncomfortable with the position I’m in, I just don’t see myself as anything different. It’s not something that I really worry about. I’m just trying to play good golf and the World Rankings take care of themselves if you’re able to do that. Fortunately for me, the last 14 months, I’ve been on a really good run and I’m hoping that continues." Collin Morikawa: "I'm excited to be back. It's obviously a long trip over here from the West Coast, 12-hour time difference, but for me it's exciting, to come out here and compete with some guys that I know and some guys that I've obviously seen a lot. And this week is going to be a great test. I look forward to it. Done some pretty good prep. Started off the year on a decent note, and look forward to having a solid week here. "This has been an event I kind of knew I was going to come out and play. There were no second thoughts. Obviously with what's going on with COVID and regulations and bans to travel in and out of countries, you just have to be aware and stay up-to-date with what's coming at us. But for my sake, the people around me, my team, all we're trying to do is be as safe as possible.

Richard Sterne produced an impressive eight under par round of 64 to open up a one-shot lead after day one of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. The South African, a six-time winner on the European Tour, birdied his final hole of the day at Emirates Golf Club to jump ahead of American Kurt Kitayama on seven under par, with Major Champion Sergio Garcia and fellow countryman Justin Harding a further shot back. Garcia won this event in 2017 before going on to claim his maiden Major Championship at the Masters Tournament later that year and the Spaniard enjoyed his return to the United Arab Emirates, recording a flawless round of 66. Englishman Paul Casey made a fast start before settling for a five under 67 despite leading for most of Thursday morning, and was later joined at that mark by Spaniard Adrian Otaegui, Belgian Thomas Detry and Scot Robert MacIntyre. Player quotes Richard Sterne: “It's always good to get off to a good start. It helps you for the rest of the week, I think. I've come close here before so it would be nice to have a chance going into the weekend. I haven't had many chances going into weekends for a long time, so it would be nice to get through tomorrow and place myself well and see how the weekend goes. “I had a wrist operation in March last year, so I was out basically for the whole of last year. Played the last few events, which I played pretty decently considering I had not played for so long. “And then last week gave me a lot of confidence. I struggled the first few days, and played really nicely on Saturday. But finishing 25th there has given me confidence. I'm just trying to watch my back, so I haven't put much preparation into this week. Just got nine holes in Tuesday yesterday and I didn't even come to the course yesterday. So today, I was pretty happy with the performance.” Kurt Kitayama: “I haven't played this well in a while, so nice to get a round like this. Just played as many games as I could back home and tried to feel pressure under the gun like in tournament conditions. Pretty much how I tried to stayed sharp. “(The eagle on 17 was) a little into the wind. Hit it just short of the green in the fairway. It was just pretty standard chip up into the grain and I just holed it. It was nice.” Sergio Garcia: “I felt comfortable out there for sure. I felt like I hit a lot of good shots. Conditions obviously were good, but they were tricky. “I think that it's a big year, and hopefully I can be in good shape because I want to be a part of a lot of things this year. “I still love to compete. I love to practice, try to get better and that's what I try to do all the time. So it's nice to see rounds like one today, because it shows that I'm putting some good work in there and just got to keep doing more of that."

Belgium’s Thomas Detry leads the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at the halfway stage after a flawless first 36 holes. He matched his opening round of 67, five under par, and remains bogey free after the first two days of play as he goes in search of a maiden European Tour title. Since graduating from the Challenge Tour in 2016, the Belgian has three runner-up finishes to his name, two of them coming last year during the UK Swing. Detry is one stroke ahead of Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, who carded a bogey-free second round of 68 to reach nine under par. MacIntyre broke his duck at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown in November and is seeking a strong finish to secure his place inside the Top 50 in the world - he is currently 52nd on the Official World Golf Ranking. In a share of third place are South African Justin Harding, Kalle Samooja of Finland and five-time European Tour winner Tommy Fleetwood, who eagled the 18th hole to join them on eight under par. The reigning Race to Dubai champion Lee Westwood shares sixth place with five other competitors, including his Ryder Cup teammate Paul Casey. Player Quotes Thomas Detry: “First thing that comes to my mind is bogey-free, on this course, that's a pretty good achievement. Let's keep it that way. “I've been playing some really good golf, keeping it on the fairway and hitting every single green and getting up-and-down a couple good times. So I'm very pleased. “The course, it can bite you at any time. There's some thick rough around the green and hazards on tee shots, as well. Yeah, the key is knowing when to hitting a conservative shot and hitting aggressive shots.” Robert MacIntyre: “It wasn't as pretty as yesterday's round, if I'm being honest. Wasn't as solid. But that's the way golf is. You can't have a 72-hole tournament where you hit it absolutely perfectly. Today I felt I was out of rhythm early on; the group itself, we couldn't get any momentum within the group, which was difficult. “You've got to be in the fairways. If you miss the fairways and you're in that second cut of rough, it's a lottery. Sometimes you can advance it 180 yards and sometimes you can only move it a hundred. It's about finding fairways and greens and yeah, just try and hole some putts.” Tommy Fleetwood: “Felt like after the first, didn't play all that bad. It's pretty tough out there. In the afternoon, the course kind of firms out and the rough around the greens, put together with firm greens, and again, pretty quick, makes it pretty hard. “So I think I played really well. The irons were good again. So felt like I was in control for a lot of the day. Managed to get it going a little bit when you had to stay really patient early doors. I think, you know, pars are pretty good out there, really, and then if you can just pick shots up, that's the best way to do it. “I started getting it going a little bit and then it became a little bit more frustrating. Yeah, eagle on the last, makes that right.“

Paul Casey stormed to a four-stroke victory at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, winning his 15th European Tour title at the iconic Emirates Golf Club. The Englishman started the day one stroke ahead of Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre but increased his advantage to two strokes after birdies on the third and fourth holes. The 43-year-old finished the front nine in level par after bogeys on the sixth and eighth holes but three consecutive bogeys from the seventh hole ended MacIntyre’s title tilt. Casey steadied the ship with gains at the 11th and 13th holes and a closing birdie saw him sign for a final round of 70 and a total of 17 under par, finishing four strokes ahead of South African Brandon Stone. MacIntyre signed for a 12 under par total, two strokes ahead of England’s Laurie Canter and Kalle Samooja of Finland. The win propels Casey inside the Top 15 of the Official World Golf Ranking. Player Quotes Paul Casey: “I'm so over the moon. Not just 15 [victories]. The fact it's Dubai. It's an iconic event on The European Tour. You guys all know that. One of the coolest trophies around. “You know, and kind of the fact that last year, we're still in the middle of a pandemic, last year was just, you know, like a lot of people, rubbish. I didn't enjoy last year. This year is still, obviously we're still difficult times, isn't it. But yeah, something very cool because it's not been great. I've not enjoyed my golf -- I didn't enjoy my golf in 2020. I mean, I played well one week but that was about it. So this is, yeah, this is really cool. “It was tough. Didn't look at scoreboards all day. Got off to a great start. Really only hit one poor shot on the front nine and that was the 7-iron into the 8th I pulled into the bunker. But I walked to the 10th tee and said to Johnny, look, when you can say you've only hit one bad golf shot in nine holes, that's pretty good. And then really only hit one more poor shot on the back nine and that was another 7-iron into the bank on 15. “I didn't look at the scoreboards until I got on to the 18th green and then I saw I had a three-shot margin there. It doesn't really tell the full picture. It was a lot tougher out there. “And, for the record, playing with Rob today, great player. He's got a very strong possibility of being on Paddy's Ryder Cup team come later this year. He was brilliant. So it doesn't really paint the whole kind of picture.” Brandon Stone: “I’m obviously extremely proud of the performance I put up this week. Played some lovely golf, considering I was -- I think I was two or three over through five holes on Thursday. So it's a fantastic fight back. And you know, any time you're going to be in contention here at the Emirates, it's quite special. “The media have been supporting this tournament for many years, and the illustrious list of winners that have their name on the trophy is quite special. And on top of all that, I got to play with Sergio which is like a boyhood dream come true.”