AVIV Dubai Championship added to European Tour calendar for second year

Tournament to precede the season-ending DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates

Antoine Rozner of France poses with the trophy after winning the Golf in Dubai Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates on Saturday. Getty

Antoine Rozner of France celebrates with his caddie Darren Reynolds on the 18th green after winning the Golf in Dubai Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Getty

Antoine Rozner on the 18th green during Day Four of the Golf in Dubai Championship. Getty

Antoine Rozner of France with the winners trophy in Dubai. Getty

Antoine Rozner of France tees off on the 18th hole at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Getty

Francesco Laporta of Italy putts on the 16th green during Day Four of the Golf in Dubai Championship. Getty

Matt Wallace of England tees off on the 16th hole at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Getty

Matt Wallace of England tees off on the 15th hole on Saturday. Getty

The UAE will once again host four European Tour events after the AVIV Dubai Championship was added to the calendar for a second year.

With the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic – won by Tyrrell Hatton and Paul Casey respectively – placed as the first two events of this year, the European Tour will close out the 2021 season with back-to-back events in Dubai.

Scheduled for November 11-14, the $1.5 million AVIV Dubai Championship will be played on the Fire course at Jumeirah Golf Estates and precedes the final Rolex Series event of 2021, the DP World Tour Championship, which will bring the curtain down on this year’s Race to Dubai on the neighbouring Earth course.

The AVIV Dubai Championship was introduced last December, then known as the Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World, as part of a revamped 2020 European Tour schedule, which was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

France’s Antoine Rozner was the inaugural champion, finishing two strokes clear of compatriot Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Italian Francesco Laporta and English pair Andy Sullivan and Matt Wallace.

This year, the tournament will be title sponsored by AVIV Clinics, the healthcare partner of DP World.

The tournament replaces the cancelled Nedbank Golf Challenge Hosted by Gary Player in South Africa, which will now return for its 40th anniversary in 2022.

It forms a new-look end to the European Tour’s 2021 season following the recent additions of the Mallorca Golf Open (October 21-24) and Portugal Masters (November 4-7).

Players in those two events, and the AVIV Dubai Championship, will be aiming to secure their spot in the $9m DP World Tour Championship, which will comprise the leading 50 available players on the Race to Dubai.

“Last year’s tournament on the Fire course, created to complete our 2020 schedule, was a great success and we are delighted to bring the AVIV Dubai Championship to our schedule as the final piece in our jigsaw this season," Keith Pelley, the European Tour’s Chief Executive, said.

“It means we will have two strong ‘Swings’ to end our 2021 campaign – the Iberian Swing in Spain and Portugal and now this Dubai double-header at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

“Once again, I would like to thank the leaders of Dubai, DP World, AVIV Clinics and Jumeirah Golf Estates for helping us to play this event and we look forward to a terrific fortnight as we conclude another Race to Dubai on the Fire and Earth courses.”