Moving heaven and Earth

William Johnson, Chief Sports Writer

• Last Updated: November 23. 2009 4:44PM UAE / November 23. 2009 12:44PM GMT

Free admission saw more than 58,000 spectators visit the Earth Course over the four days of the Dubai World Championship. Jeff Topping / The National

DUBAI // There were always going to be grumbles circulating around the Earth Course during its staging of the lucrative Dubai World Championship (DWC).

And there were bound to be locker room whispers about what was not quite up to scratch at Greg Norman’s new desert experience.

Suggestions that the course would prove too easy on its first competitive test proved largely unfounded as the red numbers on the scoreboard remained in single figures for over half of this elitist European Tour line-up.

Indeed, eight of the 58 players who arrived at Jumeirah Golf Estates for this mega-bucks showpiece event went home with a “must do better” sticker after failing to beat the level par aggregate of 288 over the four days of splendid action.

All things considered, the inaugural DWC, which provided captivatingly fluctuating golf – at least for the first three days until Lee Westwood went into a brilliant spell of overdrive yesterday afternoon – for encouragingly large galleries, was a resounding success. And it became the fitting finale it was intended to be for the first running of the Race to Dubai.

The European Tour hierarchy were bracing themselves for a massive embarrassment after their new UAE partners, Leisurecorp, hit rough waters in the middle of the global financial crisis.

Keith Waters, the Tour’s director of international policy, admitted that he and his colleagues considered their options if their sponsors, who were grateful to accept an offer to reduce their monetary support by 25 per cent to US$15million (Dh55m) in the first year of a five-year agreement, failed to deliver.

Waters said: “Some time ago we had some discussions about contingency plans but we decided that we were going ahead with this event as planned and that was it. It was going to take place here on Earth Course, come what may.

“We knew then that we had to address the challenges that lay before us and get on with it and I’m delighted to say that the organisers here went beyond the demands we made of them and surpassed all expectations.

“The amount of work carried out over the past three months is phenomenal and everybody involved deserves our congratulations. It’s superb. The players have given us excellent feedback. They are now appreciating the course more, having played it a few times.”

The new tournament has also been massive hit with spectators. Allowing free entry for all four days proved a masterstroke to ensure that winner Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and company battled it out for big bucks in an appropriate atmosphere of cheering and gasping galleries.

In the weeks approaching the tournament, estimates of the crowd aggregate were in the 40,000 region. That mark was passed on Saturday afternoon when the 43,000th spectator passed through the entrance door.

Yesterday’s attendance of 15,500 raised that aggregate comfortably past the 58,000 mark and those fans made a splendid backdrop around the 18th green in well advance of the arrival of the main contenders for the two different prize purses on offer.

By the time Westwood’s third shot arrived safely 20ft from the 72nd hole of what for him had been a wonderfully productive tournament, the crowds were six deep and cheering wildly creating a mood that compared favourably with most events outside the four major championships.

The main stand was full before McIlroy arrived in the third-last pairing with Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy, a player who has experience of playing in top tournaments all over the world.

Ogilvy was impressed with his first view of Earth. “This is not Cypress Point [one of his favourite American courses] but it has done the job it was supposed to do and provided a stage to decide not only this important season- ending championship but the Race to Dubai itself.”

Ogilvy, playing in the Middle East for the first time – Abu Dhabi in January will be his second – added: “I hope to be back next year. I have every intention of doing so. All the infrastructure is here to make it a fantastic place to visit and it’s going to be even better when everything is finished off.”

Saeed Harib, the managing director of Nakheel Leisure, the parent company of the sponsors, was overjoyed with the success of the occasionally troubled venture, and particularly with the decision not to charge for admission.

“All along, we’ve wanted to stage a tournament that really is for the fans,” he said. “The decision to offer free entry has really paid dividends.

“The great thing has been seeing fans all over the course, with every pairing getting a good following. The atmosphere has been fantastic, a real celebration of some great golf.”

wjohnson@thenational.ae