By Mathieu Wood
This week's Hero Dubai Desert Classic will see 15 players make their Rolex Series debuts on the DP World Tour.
Held at Emirates Golf Club, a world-class field is competing for the $9million prize pool at the opening event of the International Swing.
While Rory McIlroy, who aims to become the first ever five-time winner of the event, leads the household names teeing it up in the 126-player field, there are several players looking to celebrate a memorable victory of their own.
Here, we profile five of the players - all winners on the DP World Tour - who are readying for their first experience of the Rolex Series at Emirates Golf Club's Majlis Course.
Akshay Bhatia
Age: 22 | Official World Golf Ranking: 30 | Professional wins: 6
Such is its prestige in world golf, the Dubai Desert Classic has long been able to draw talent from America over to the United Arab Emirates. This year, two-time PGA TOUR winner Bhatia is the latest as the rising star makes his debut at Emirates Golf Club. The 22-year-old was a decorated amateur and represented the United States in the Junior Presidents Cup, Junior Ryder Cup and Walker Cup before turning professional in 2019. He claimed his first DP World Tour and PGA TOUR title at the co-sanctioned Barracuda Championship in 2023, adding a second PGA TOUR title last year at the Valero Texas Open.
Ryggs Johnston
Age: 24 | Official World Golf Ranking: 281 | Professional wins: 1
A native of Montana, near the Canadian border, Johnston spent five years at Arizona State University, helping the Sun Devils to the Pac-12 title this year. Turned professional shortly after and competed on the PGA Tour Americas where he recorded a top-five finish at the Centreport Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open. He then came through all three stages of DP World Tour Qualifying School, before sensationally winning on his second DP World Tour start at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open – having started the week 953rd in the Official World Golf Ranking. Now, with his winner’s category, he can look forward to competing in all five Rolex Series events in 2025.
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
Age: 25 | Official World Golf Ranking: 100 | Professional wins: 3
The Dane became the first player since Finland’s Kim Koivu in 2018 to secure three triumphs in a single campaign on the Challenge Tour last season. After earning automatic promotion to the DP World Tour in September, he impressed with four top-20 finishes in five appearances at the tail-end of the 2024 Race to Dubai season. The Dane was then crowned as Challenge Tour Number One after finishing tied second at the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by the R&A in Mallorca in early November, with his form seeing him climb into the top 100 in the world. He also earned selection into the Continental Europe side that faced Great Britain & Ireland at the Team Cup in Abu Dhabi last week.
John Parry
Age: 38 | Official World Golf Ranking: 103 | Professional wins: 8
At 38, the Englishman is the oldest of those getting their first experience of the Rolex Series at Emirates Golf Club this week. The Race to Dubai leader claimed his second DP World Tour title, and first for 14 years, at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in December as he won the Opening Swing rankings in the process. That triumph underlined a strong start in his comeback season on the DP World Tour, following a memorable Challenge Tour campaign in which he won three titles to earn automatic promotion. After a top ten at the season-opening BMW Australian PGA Championship, he finished tied second at the Alfred Dunhill Championship before his victory at Mont Choisy Le Golf. Things are firmly on the up again for a player who first earned his card via the Challenge Tour in 2009 and won in his rookie season at the Vivendi Cup, before coming close to give up golf five or so years ago.
Elvis Smylie
Age: 22 | Official World Golf Ranking: 197 | Professional wins: 2
It’s been a life-changing last few months for the Australian, who did not get through the First Stage of DP World Tour Qualifying School in September. At the start of October, the 22-year-old did not have a professional win to his name, but he arrives in the United Arab Emirates with two. One of those came on the DP World Tour as he claimed a two-shot wire-to-wire victory at the BMW Australian PGA Championship. A week later, he finished tied fifth in his national open and claimed healthy prize money with a top 15 at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. The Dubai Desert Classic marks another step up, perhaps even more so seeing as this is his first year he has played in the Middle East.
* Veer Ahlawat, Ivan Cantero, Jannik de Bruyn, Joel Girrbach, Ryan van Velzen, Robin Williams and Andrew Wilson, along with amateur trio Adam Bresnu, David Ford and Preston Summerhays are the other Rolex Series debutants playing this week.
