Marc Warren returns to action in Saudi International after his week off

Marc Warren is back in action in this week’s Saudi International after being left to sit out the Omega Dubai Desert Classic despite starting his season on a high.

Marc Warren smiles after holing a birdie putt on the 18th green in the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.

The 39-year-old Scot tied for fifth behind Tyrrell Hatton in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, a Rolex Series event, a week past Sunday.

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.

The European Tour has set aside spots in events this season to reward “exceptional performances” in 2020, when categories were frozen due to the schedule being hit by Covid-19.

Only two were up for grabs in Dubai, going to England’s Laurie Canter and South African Wilco Nienaber, based on both of them finishing above Warren in last year’s Race to Dubai.

However, Austrian Open champion Warren has joined Canter and Nienaber in that category for the Saudi event, which starts at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City on Thursday.

Warren is set to be among nine Scots in the field, joining Bob MacIntyre, Stephen Gallacher, David Law, Richie Ramsay, Scott Jamieson, David Drysdale, Grant Forrest and Calum Hill.

As was the case for the Abu Dhabi event, Hill has come off the reserve list, having risen to the top of that on Tuesday morning, but Connor Syme no longer on the standby list.

World No 1 and Masters champion Dustin Johnson heads a star-studded field for the $3.5 million tournament as he bids to repeat his 2019 success on the Red Sea Coast.

US Open title holder Bryson DeChambeau has also made the trip across the Atlantic along with Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Tony Finau, Kevin Na and Jason Kokrak.

Meanwhile, it has been announced in the build up to the third edition of the event that Jack Nicklaus is to build a championship course in Saudia Arabia.

It will be located at Qiddiya, which sits 40 minutes from the Saudi capital of Riyadh, with the ground expected to be broken later this year.

The course, which will be framed by the Tuwaiq mountain range, will be the18-time major winner’s first design in the Middle East.

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