The curtain-raiser for this year's Dubai Desert Classic was a $600,000 single-round event for each of the tournament's previous winners. With a handy few quid like that on the line for one day's worth of good-walk-spoiling, all but one of the honor roll made the trip to the Middle East. The missing name, of course, was Seve Ballesteros, who died tragically young in 2011.
Representing his late father in a field which included Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, 23-year-old Javier Ballesteros made a battling 74, with just three bogeys on the card. Though nowhere near tour pro level, the law student plays off scratch and channelled his father's legendary scrambling skills with an up-and-down from the desert for par on the first after a wicked hook off the tee.
Here's a clip of him a few years back which shows how uncanny the resemblance is.
Muy bueno, indeed.
Another former champion taking to the desert this week is 1990 winner Eamonn Darcy, who shot a respectable 75 in the company of Rory McIlroy, and has a pretty unique swing too...
Image: Dubai Desert Classic
