As the European Tour descends upon Dubai for a 24th occasion, Lee Westwood will be hoping his visit to the desert will provide him with the platform to produce a classic season of his own.
Having relocated his family to Florida, and having gone through a tumultuous six-month period of dispensing with two coaches; firstly his long-time associate Pete Cowan, and then Tony Johnston, Westwood will be hoping that 2013 provides him with stability. He needs it to. As he approaches his 40th birthday, an occasion which falls a fortnight after the Masters Tournament, Westwood will be only too aware of the challenges he faces to return back to the form which saw him ranked World Number One for 22 weeks.
He is hoping that his move to Florida, a transition which he states has been a comfortable one, is the required stimulant needed to return to the top. Being able to play golf throughout the winter months, and enjoying practice rounds with near-neighbour Luke Donald, a luxury he would not have been afforded by living in the East-Midlands English County of Nottinghamshire, Westwood feels as fresh as he ever has done entering a year.
This consistent practice has removed any previous inclination to be rusty at the start of the season, and his short-game, long malinged as the reason behind his failure to win a major championship, is in good shape. He has enjoyed recent success in Dubai, losing in a playoff to Miguel Angel Jimenez in 2010, and finishing one shot back of Rafael Cabrera-Bello 12 months ago. This fact, aligned with a weaker field than has been previously enjoyed in this event, provides him with an excellent opportunity to join Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as a headline act as we move towards the season's opening major. Or, at very least, as a leading supporting act in this narrative leading to Augusta National.
The Dubai Desert Classic was the first European Tour even contested in the Middle East, and it enjoys an historical importance that its Gulf counterparts; The Abu Dhabi Championship and Qatar Masters; cannot compete with. Lee Westwood will hope to write his own chapter into that history.