World number three
Lee Westwood has announced he is hoping to end his month-long Middle Eastern adventure on a high this week with a win at the upcoming Omega Dubai Desert Classic after coming in second place on two separate occasions.
His most recent runner-up finish at the Emirates
Golf Club came in 2010, when he battled it out with Spanish competitor
Miguel Angel Jimenez in a nail-biting play-off clinch before losing out for the hotly-contested trophy.
Westwood's involvement in the upcoming competition comes after a hugely successful period in his career - particularly in December 2011 - when he soared to victory at both the Thailand Golf Championship and the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.
This year, however, it has been a little more difficult for him to get back into his swing, with a tie for 12th place at last week's Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy and a share of 17th in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
"I'd say if I was making an appraisal of the first couple of weeks, I've hit it a lot better than I normally do this time of year," he recently commented. "My short game is a little sharper than normal and the putting is quite nice - I'm starting to roll a few longer ones in."
This weekend, Westwood's confidence will be put to the test as he competes in a field made up of some of the sport's biggest names including world number two Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer and defending champion Alvaro Quiros.
But, the Englishman's knowledge of the Majilis Course could stand him in good stead after he revealed he had used it to practice for the upcoming event only three weeks ago.
Meanwhile, former world number one
Tiger Woods is currently preparing for his first PGA Tour appearance of 2012 at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which kicks off tomorrow (February 9th).
All eyes are set to be on the hugely talented player to examine whether or not he can progress from his victory at the Chevron World Challenge last month - representing his first victory in the world since 2009.
Since then, Woods enjoyed a taster of what could be a positive year to come in Abu Dhabi just two weeks ago when he finished in third place.
In a recent interview with the PGA Tour website, the golfing legend revealed he is getting less able to contend with the soreness that strenuous tournaments bring.
"The more we age, the more time we need to heal," he said. "I don't recover quite as well."
