Thursday 29 January 2015 06:48, UK
This week's "Desert Double" could turn out to be one of the golfing weeks of the entire year, with plenty of big names on show at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
It's rare to have such high-quality fields on both sides of the pond in the same week, but I'm not complaining! Rory McIlroy is the headline act in Dubai, while all eyes will be on Tiger Woods as he makes his first start of the year at TPC Scottsdale.
Let's start in Phoenix, which is always one of the most exciting events of the season mainly due to the vast number of spectators who come through the gates. The event regularly attracts around half a million fans over the four tournament days - an unbelievable figure when you compare it to the 45,000 per day that attended last year's Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
And with Tiger, Phil, Bubba and the Super Bowl all in town this weekend, this year's competition could shatter all previous crowd records.
Tiger aside, there are far more star names in the field than usual this season, so surely it can't be a coincidence that the Super Bowl is being played down the road on Sunday evening. They will probably have access to tickets, and it might be a "double carrot" for them.
Great spectacle
Whatever the case, the tournament itself is always great fun to watch, especially the iconic 16th hole surrounded by vociferous crowds in the grandstands. It's a shame the PGA Tour have banned the caddie races, and this year the players have been told not to throw gifts into the stands.
I'm not sure about that. It takes a lot of the fun out of the event, but health and safety wins again! We've seen Padraig Harrington hoofing NFL balls into the crowd, and Mickelson demonstrated a good arm with many throws, and this year would be the perfect opportunity for more of the same with the Super Bowl in town. I think the PGA Tour have made a mistake there.
However, the tournament remains a unique experience and the players love it. The finishing stretch is superb, starting with the 16th, followed by a driveable par four and then a final hole with water in play.
Phil Mickelson returned to action in California last week and ended up having a pretty good tournament, and hopefully Tiger can do the same at Scottsdale.
The first priority for him is to make the cut, and if he finishes in the top 20 on Sunday, that would represent a great week for him, bearing in mind he's hardly played over the last six months.
He's been drawn to play with Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed for the first two days, and Tiger will do well to stay close to these two youngsters. It's bizarre to say something like that, but it's true. It will be an interesting week, that's for sure, and I'm looking forward to watching it from the Sky studio.
The other headline act in Phoenix this week is, of course, Robert Allenby. It's his first start since he claimed he was drugged, kidnapped, beaten and robbed after he missed the cut at the Sony Open.
There have been several versions of events in Hawaii, and something just doesn't add up. It’s possible that Allenby made up this far-fetched kidnap story to avoid embarrassment over something more unsavoury, but then I guess it's also possible his version is exactly what happened!
It's been a bizarre few days for golf news, what with Allenby, Tiger's tooth incident and Lee Westwood saving a man from drowning. As for Allenby's story, has anybody seen Liam Neeson?
Emirates gold
Meanwhile, McIlroy is Sky Bet's 100/30 favourite in Dubai, and those odds reflect just how far ahead of the competition he is at the moment. He won his first professional tournament at The Emirates in 2009, and it was a crucial moment in his career when he got up and down from the rear bunker at the 18th to seal the victory.
He just lost out in Abu Dhabi a couple of weeks ago, but he will have been practising hard and it's hard to see past him this week. The way he's playing, 100/30 sound like good odds to me, and Rory has almost got to the stage Tiger Woods was at during his peak. He's not matching Tiger’s win ratio of one in four yet, but it's a consideration.
As for the Emirates, it remains a fantastic and valid course despite the huge distances the players are hitting it these days. There are a lot of doglegs that take distance out of the equation, and with the firm and fast greens, it always makes for great viewing.
It will be interesting to see how Martin Kaymer goes this week with the memory of blowing a 10-shot lead in Abu Dhabi still fresh in his memory. He's just got to put that final day down as "one of those things" and move on.
He's won major championships, and his fortitude is not in question. Two bad holes cost him in Abu Dhabi, and that's what it comes down to - just a couple of loose swings.
There will be demons in his head this week, but the sooner he gets out there, the better. Martin is a very impressive guy, straightforward, open and honest, and I expect him to get over his disappointment and get back to winning ways in the near future.
Gallacher chasing history
Stephen Gallacher has won the Dubai title for the last two years, and a third straight win would put him in illustrious company - only Woosnam, Faldo, Monty, Tiger and Ernie Els have won the same European Tour event three years running.
It would be an amazing feat if he can pull it off. Stephen might still be bothered by the fact that he didn't win a point at last year's Ryder Cup. He had a great year and busted a gut to make the team, but he would have left Gleneagles with mixed feelings - he got a winners' medal, but not contributing a point would have been hard for him to take.
He now needs to get back to doing what he does best as soon as possible, and where better to do that than the Emirates? I hope he plays well as he chases his place in history.
Phoenix: Matt Kuchar let another tournament go last week, bailing out right at the last and failing to get up and down. He let a few go last season as well, and The Heritage was slipping away until he holed a bunker shot at the last. But I've got a feeling he may be able to get over the line this week, so I'll go with Kooch at 20/1 with Sky Bet.
Dubai: Branden Grace has been tremendous lately, so why can't he go back-to-back? He's won twice already and won well, and I think 25/1 this week is a great price. He's led from the front and that's hard to do, but what a finish in Qatar. He's the form guy and you can't overlook him.
