Clarke eager to learn from Els' winning style

Like a good fourball combination, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els are managing to share the spotlight between them. Ham-and-egging, it is called, when one player comes in on one hole, the other on the next, but the top two players in the world have been carving up the richer fare of tournament victories.

Els has four and Tiger two, but only once have they overlapped on the same week. At the World Matchplay at La Costa last week, Woods' triumph came after Els fell in the first round. Only in the final could they have met head-to-head, so the anticipation of their first duel of the season had been building prior to the Dubai Desert Classic, which starts today.

With his withdrawal on Sunday, Woods will not be back to the Gulf until next year so the Tiger-Ernie show will have to wait until Bay Hill later this month, then The Players Championship and The Masters. Els, however, is here to defend this title and though there have been other withdrawals – Colin Montgomerie, Nick Faldo, Adam Scott among them, while Justin Rose was never coming – there is still a strong cast for the first full-field European Tour event of the season.

Els is playing so well at present, La Costa aside, that he may be worth watching alone. Darren Clarke, who reached the quarter-finals last week, will be playing alongside the South African for the first two rounds. "The way he walks, the way he swings, everything, it's all so within himself," the Irishman said. "I'll be watching him trying to pick up anything I can."

Els is the course record-holder at the Emirates, the 61 in 1994 setting up his first victory here, and has never been over par in 20 rounds on the course. Though he had doubts about travelling to the region initially, he is happy now he is here. "If you sat at home watching television you probably won't come," Els said. "But I've been speaking to the people here and I have a lot of friends here. It's a great place to come and I don't fear for my safety here. We've been looked after unbelievably."

The Els Gulfstream has done close to 50,000 miles already this year, but it has been worth it. "I've been having quite a spell," he said. "There has been a lot of travelling. It's crazy but I love it. I'm a fit young man. When I get to tournaments now I am ready to play."

As for Woods, Els said: "He's incredible. Mike Weir, Vijay Singh, myself, we've all been doing our thing and then he comes out and wins two out of three. He must have been a little worried. But he's an unbelievable competitor. I understand why he isn't here. We'll have our chance to play against each other soon."

As a local resident, Thomas Bjorn was the man most players consulted over coming to the region. "This is one of the safest places on the planet to be," said the Dane. "We all feel safe here. People get on with their lives and aren't affected by what's going on elsewhere."