McIlroy won the event in 2012 to become world number one for the first time, holding off a charging Woods who carded a final round of 62 to finish two shots behind. One local player who is in the field is world number 23 Gary Woodland, but he admits the new schedule has made it hard for players to choose which events to play or miss. “But with tournaments moving around, there’s a lot of tournaments right now that are really good in a row. Meanwhile, Holland’s Joost Luiten is hoping to translate his impressive early-season form into a successful title defence at the Oman Open in Muscat. “It was very special last year and when you win you need to go back and defend,” Luiten said.

Source: Irish Examiner February 28, 2019 06:33 UTC