Marc Warren facing week off in Dubai despite big finish in Abu Dhabi

Marc Warren is struggling to get a spot in the field for this week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic despite recording a top-five finish in the opening event of the European Tour’s Middle East Swing on Sunday.

Marc Warren in action in the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in December. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

Normally, a top-10 performance would be enough to secure a berth in the following tournament on the circuit, but that regulation has been removed from Rolex Series events this season.

That means Warren, who finished in a tie for fifth behind Tyrrell Hatton in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at the weekend, is having to rely on his card category instead to get into this week’s $3.25 million event at Emirates Golf Club.

On Tuesday night, the Austrian Open champion was still sitting as fifth reserve, with French trio Julien Gurrier, Raphael Jacquelin and Joel Stalter all ahead of him along with Welshman Jamie Donaldson.

“Marc is not in the field this week as the top-10 regulation has been removed from Rolex Series events this season,” said a European Tour statement.

“This has been adjusted for this season only to accommodate the ‘exceptional performance’ spots held back for players on the European and Challenge Tour who would otherwise miss out because of the freezing of categories from last season to this.”

Those spots are aimed at helping the likes of Connor Syme, who finished 65th in last season’s Race to Dubai but is back in his Challenge Tour category from 2019.

That led to the Fifer, who recorded seven top-10s last year, missing out in Abu Dhabi, but he has secured one of the sponsor’s spots for this week in a field that currently boasts a total of eight Scots.

Definitely joining Syme are two-time winner Stephen Gallacher, Bob MacIntyre, David Law, Richie Ramsay, Scott Jamieson, David Drysdale and Grant Forrest.

Ryan Lumsden, who lost to Sam Locke in the final of the Scottish Amateur Championship at Prestwick in 2017, had also been in the field but he is no longer listed among three players to have secured national spots.

Instead, they are being filled by English trio David Langley, David Hague and Curtis Knipes.

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