David Puig has decided to debut his brand-new winner’s category on the DP World Tour after his splendid victory at the BMW PGA Australian Championship, in style. Soon and in significant events. The golfer from La Garriga will start the year playing the two United Arab Emirates tournaments on the European circuit. First will be the Dubai Invitational, a ProAm format event to be played from 15 to 18 January at the Dubai Creek Resort, and the following week, from 22 to 25, he will compete in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. The second was already known, in fact, he confirmed it on TenGolf’s Provisional Ball, while the novelty is the first, which he didn’t enter until he won in Australia.
The Dubai Invitational is a reduced field tournament. It is held every two years, or in other words, when there is no Team Cup. The first edition was held in 2024 and was resolved with a victory for Tommy Fleetwood after a dramatic finish by Rory McIlroy. Among those confirmed for the tournament are the aforementioned Fleetwood and McIlroy, as well as Ryan Fox and Rasmus Neergaard Petersen, among others. The Dane will play on the DP World Tour before making the leap to the PGA Tour. It is a no-cut tournament, so many golfers see it as the ideal setting to start the year. The four rounds are guaranteed, and you start adding up no matter what happens.
It will be Puig’s debut in this tournament. Two years ago, five Spaniards participated: Adrián Otaegui, Pablo Larrazábal, Nacho Elvira, Jorge Campillo, and Adri Arnaus. This time, Ángel Ayora, Alex del Rey, Eugenio Chacarra, Nacho Elvira, Pablo Larrazábal, and Ángel Hidalgo should be there. To these six, we must add the mentioned Puig and the possibility of Jorge Campillo joining, as happened in the Nedbank in South Africa.
A week after the Dubai Invitational, in the same city, although on a different course, Puig will debut in another prestigious setting: the Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club. It will also be the Spaniard’s first appearance in this tournament, which has brought so much success to Spanish golf, with victories from Seve Ballesteros, José María Olazábal, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Álvaro Quirós, Rafa Cabrera Bello, and Sergio García. It will be the 37th edition of the tournament since it was first held back in 1989.
Among the players confirmed for less than a month from now are Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton, the defending champion, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Dustin Johnson, Rasmus Hojgaard, Tom McKibbin, and Joaco Niemann, among others. We will have to see if Brooks Koepka‘s presence is finally confirmed. Let’s remember that last year the tournament featured Jon Rahm.
After the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, David’s next event will be the debut of LIV Golf in Saudi Arabia, from 4 to 7 February in Riyadh. This strong debut, with all the artillery, on the DP World Tour aims, of course, to continue adding to the Race to Dubai and earn world ranking points that will definitively get him into the PGA Championship and, why not, bring him closer to the Masters Tournament.
