Stenson seeks to complete Middle East treble

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, the world number eight, aims to complete his set of Middle East titles with a victory in next month’s Abu Dhabi Championship – the only one to elude him.

Stenson has a home in the United Arab Emirates and will face a strong field for the event which gets underway on January 21st 2010. Among Stenson’s rivals for the title will be European number one, Lee Westwood; two-time Abu Dhabi winner Paul Casey and current injury victim, Sergio Garcia of Spain who is hoping to shrug off a strained wrist.

Also taking part will be young Irishman Rory McIlroy, Camilo Villegas of Columbia and Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy, a former winner of the US Open.

The Abu Dhabi Championship represents the first event on the European Tour’s Middle East section, with further events including the Qatar Masters between January 28th-31st and the Dubai Desert Classic from February 4th-7th inclusive.

Stenson has twice finished runner-up in the Abu Dhabi event in 2006 and 2008, and has won in Qatar (2006) and Dubai (2007). A win in Abu Dhabi will give the Swede a nap-hand of titles from the Middle East phase of the Tour.

“It would be great to be the first golfer to complete the Middle East treble,” Stenson told the European Tour’s official website (www.europeantour.com) on Wednesday.

Stenson will also form part of the European team for the Royal Trophy, which also includes Robert Karlsson, Simon Dyson and Soren Kjeldsen. The Royal Trophy will be played in Thailand over Bangkok’s Amata Spring Country Club from January 8th-10th inclusive.