Harrington & Garcia to headline 4th Abu Dhabi Golf Championship

With two of the world's top five players now confirmed for the UAE capital's European Tour sanctioned Championship, a host of the game's leading professionals are set to join Harrington and Garcia to contest the US$2 million Championship on the National Course.

The 120-strong field will all be hoping to add their names to the 'Falcon' trophy winners' list which includes American Chris DiMarco, England's Paul Casey and this year's champion, German Martin Kaymer, who has confirmed he will defend his maiden Tour title.

His Highness Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), which organises the event, promised another top-tier Championship to further strengthen the emirate's credentials as a tourism destination of distinction.

"This Championship is central to our long-term golf tourism strategy which is being empowered with the creation of new Championship facilities on Saadiyat Island. We hope in January to be able to familiarise the 2009 contenders with these highly distinctive new courses which could ignite powerful word-of-mouth promotion among golf's elite."

The Arabian Gulf's only 'ocean' course, which has several beach front holes and has been designed by golfing legend Gary Player, is being built on Saadiyat Beach, while a second championship course - this time distinguished by its tidal impact - is being designed by master course architect Robert Trent Jones II and will be built in Saadiyat Islands' Wetlands District, which is characterised by lush mangrove reserves.

After a record-breaking year, Harrington - the current world number five - will be the firm favourite at the 2009 Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.

Despite sustaining a wrist injury in the run up to July's Open Championship, the brilliance of the Irishman's final day's play at Royal Birkdale saw the 37-year-old overcome challenges from both Greg Norman and Ian Poulter to become the first European golfer in over a century to retain the Claret Jug.

Harrington then followed up his Birkdale heroics by becoming the first European in 78 years to win the US PGA Championship - the year's final Major. In beating American Ben Curtis and his Ryder Cup team-mate García by two strokes, Harrington claimed his second Major triumph in three weeks and became the first European to win the Open and the US PGA Championship in the same year.

And now Harrington, aiming to lift the much-coveted 'Falcon' trophy at the third time of asking - following 5th and 11th place finishes in 2007 and 2008 respectively - is returning to Abu Dhabi for his first event of 2009.

"I've done quite nicely in Abu Dhabi, I like the course and I do feel it's one I'm competitive on. I am focusing hard on my preparation and I think when I come to Abu Dhabi in January I'll be ready with my 'A' game. This year I'll be good to go,"

he said.

"I believe Abu Dhabi is moving in the right direction in terms of golfing excellence. The standard of the National course is top-class - the conditions are as good as can be and the course is a joy to play," he added.

Equally respected on both sides of the Atlantic, Garcia's fiery Latin temperament has proved to be a strong Abu Dhabi crowd puller in the past, with the Spaniard having finished 3rd and 14th in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

And Garcia, the 2008 US Players' Champion, US Tour Championship runner-up and winner of this week's Castello Masters, will be looking to turn the tide on Harrington after finishing second best to him at this year's US PGA Championship.

"Playing in Abu Dhabi is always exciting. The course is fantastic, the competition is always very intense and everyone wants to start the year well to build momentum ahead of a long season," said the 28-year-old, who started playing golf when he was just three years old.

"It's going to be a tough tournament but it's always a good start to the year and I really want a win to get the ball rolling on 2009."

Garcia also reserved special praise for the UAE capital's recent progress in the global arena: "Abu Dhabi itself is developing so quickly - barely a day goes by where Abu Dhabi is not mentioned doing something new and significant. I remember coming two years ago and I went on a desert trip with Paul Casey - seeing the difference between the city and the desert was amazing," he added.

However, heavyweights Garcia and Harrington will have to settle for second best if Kaymer replicates his stunning National form of earlier this year.

The 23-year-old led from wire-to-wire as he secured his maiden Tour victory amid rapturous scenes at Abu Dhabi's premier golf club. Kaymer carded rounds of 66, 65, 68 and 74 to defeat nearest challengers Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson by four shots.

Several improvements have been made to facilities for next year's event - including a bigger spectator village and enhanced sponsors' area and car parking.

All four days of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship will be covered live on high definition TV, reaching a global audience of over 140 million in many of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority's key global markets.

The 2009 championship formally begins on Wednesday, January 14 with the Al-Masaood Pro-Am and Awards Gala when sponsors and their guests will play and socialise with some of the world's best professionals.