Greg Allen's Dubai Blog
There's something in the warm desert air here but this championship is really turning into as exciting a climax to the season as the European Tour could have hoped for.
There was so much doom and gloom around in mid-summer as rumours abounded that the Race to Dubai might be under serious threat. The whispers were not without foundation and the economic evidence is everywhere to behold here with an abundance of half completed roads, skyscrapers and static cranes, clearly unused for months.
The chopping of 25% off the prize fund was, in the end, a relief to the Tour because if that was bottom-line economic reality, then it was a workable situation.
The real bonus to make up for the monetary deficit has been the tournament itself. It's been a tense first few days and Rory McIlroy again said this afternoon that every round feels like the final day. It's a concept that rarely even exists in majors but because of his duel to be Europe's No 1 with Lee Westwood, neither want to concede any ground and so every bogey and every birdie, even over the first two days, has taken on added significance.
So this Race to Dubai concept is really working in spite of smallish crowds and a golf course surrounded by a lot of empty houses, some only partially completed. Of course it will look better in years to come but there is no guarantee that there will be a contest for the Order of Merit crown which will be the equal of this one.
And there's also the very considerable issue of this championship with its first prize of €830,000. While Westwood leads on nine under and McIlroy is in the group tied for second place on seven under, just look at the quality of the other challengers who don't have the order of merit race clouding their ambitions this week.
Padraig Harrington, who hasn't won all year on the European or USPGA Tour, is alongside McIlroy on seven under and was leading the championship on nine under par until he hit two balls into the water on the 18th hole, racking up a double bogey seven.
Yes, shaking heads everywhere as we watched that happen but he actually two-putted from 26 metres for his double bogey and the smile on his face walking off the 18th green was a clear indication that he has a tough skin these days when confronted by such mini-catastrophes.
Let's hope he has had his only wobble for the week because today he played some of his finest golf of the year, including a run of an eagle and three consecutive birdies from the 7th to the 10th holes.
There's also the likes of hardened US Tour pros Camilo Villegas and Robert Allenby on seven under, while Sergio Garcia is only three off the pace and Geoff Ogilvy a stroke further back.
It really is finely poised for a suitable climax to the European season which would be appropriate given the risks that have been taken and the leap of faith that the tour and the sponsors have made to make this the richest end of season climax in European Tour history - rich, it would appear, in far more terms than simply money.
