From Ernie Els’ decades long record to Richard Sterne and Stephen Gallacher’s matching 62s in 2013, we take a look back at the lowest rounds in the history of the Dubai Desert Classic.
When Dan Bradbury recorded a 63 during the 2023 Hero Dubai Desert Classic, it was the first time in four years that someone managed to reach that elusive number. In the 35-year history of the event, there have been just 11 rounds of 63 – including Rory McIlroy’s victory in 2014.
It’s a course which tests many facets of the game, and it’s the reason why Els’ course record of 61 is now celebrating its 30th anniversary. Just two other players, Sterne and Gallacher, have come close, both carding rounds of 62 in 2013.
Here, we take a closer look at those memorable rounds.
Ernie Els (61)
Els is one of golf’s most decorated names, yet when he arrived as a 24-year-old to the Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club for his second appearance in the Dubai Desert Classic, it was with hope of earning his first victory on the DP World Tour. Having turned professional five years earlier, Els was quick to earn a flurry of professional victories on the Sunshine Tour, starting with a run of six tournaments in 1992 on the Sunshine Tour and another at the Dunlop Phoenix Open in Japan in 1993. But up until 1994, Els's best result on the DP World Tour was a runner-up finish in the 1993 Peugeot Spanish Open.
Having come close to a win and with three Major top tens already in his career, the Dubai Desert Classic that year would truly announce Els on the global stage as one of the future stars of the game.
After he followed an opening birdie with a dropped shot at the second, Els would go on to record five more birdies on the front nine to go out in a five under par 32.
In a round where he required just 22 putts (21 of them on the green) and chipped in for birdie, Els came back in 29 to break Eamonn Darcy’s 1990 course record by three shots and lead the field by five. Els would then follow this with rounds of 69, 67 and 71 to win by six over nearest challenger Greg Norman.
He would go on to claim his first Major title at the U.S. Open that year, and in a blog post on his website several years ago, Els said that it was his Dubai victory which truly gave him confidence and helped start the ball rolling for him. Now 30 years later, Els now has 75 professional victories worldwide, which includes 28 on the DP World Tour (seventh all time) and four Majors.
“I like the lines off the tees and I tend to see shots in my mind’s-eye very clearly,” said Els, who won the same title in 2002 and 2005.
“Going back to my debut in 1994, that was huge for me. I shot one of the best rounds of my life, an 11-under par 61, and the way I won that week really gave me a lot of confidence. That summer I went on to win my first major, the US Open, and my first World Matchplay title, and a lot of that was due to what happened in Dubai. Looking back I feel like Dubai really started the ball rolling for me that year.
“I came here for the first time in 1993, and really enjoyed the course and the tournament. One year later I came into the week in decent form after a couple of good results in South Africa. On the first day I played with one of my heroes, Sandy Lyle, and shot a 61 – to this day, it remains one of the greatest days of my career.”
Richard Sterne (62)
Els' record proved to be a difficult one to even get close to for the next 18 years, with just three men recording rounds of 63 at the Dubai Desert Classic between 1994 and 2012.
And then came Sterne in 2013.
The South African had just returned to playing a full schedule after a back problem limited him to only four events in 2010 and six the following season, but he fired a ten under par 62 that was just a single stroke outside the Emirates course record set by his compatriot 19 years ago.
It marked the lowest round of his DP World Tour career, which he achieved with four birdies in a front nine of 31, before adding consecutive gains from the tenth, another at the 12th and finally capping off his day with three birdies in a row to earn a one-stroke lead over Gallacher, who had a 63 on day one.
He said: "I knew Ernie had shot 61 quite a while ago and always thought it would be impossible to get close, but I got as close as you could.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better start really. I enjoy this golf course and it shows with the good score today."
Stephen Gallacher (62)
On the day that Richard Sterne recorded his 62, Gallacher had fired his own 63 that included two eagles, seven birdies and two bogeys in a round that was two dropped shots away from matching Els' record. Two rounds later, Gallacher went one shot better to become the second man in Dubai Desert Classic history to shoot a 62.
One behind Sterne following the opening two rounds, Gallacher became the man to catch in the most dramatic of fashion, holing a 40-yard bunker shot for eagle to secure his very own 62 on Saturday and a three stroke lead.
Gallacher, whose sole victory in more than 400 events until that point had come nine years prior on home soil at St Andrews, but his performance in Dubai would lead to a love affair with this event.
The Scot, who began his round with three birdies in his first five holes, capped off his front nine with a birdie for an opening 31. He then went on a run which propelled him to the top of the leaderboard, making birdies at the 11th and 12th before hitting the pin with an eight iron at the par-five 13th to set up his first eagle of the day. His spectacular finish came after four straight pars.
At that point Gallacher had made four eagles and 17 birdies, which included four bogeys - one of which involved a climb up a ladder by another caddie to identify his ball stuck in a palm tree.
On 21 under par, he said of the closing bunker shot: "The moment I hit it it was either stiff or in.
On the final day, Gallacher began his day with back-to-back bogeys, recovering with a birdie at the third before posting a bogey-birdie finish to the front nine. Still out in front, Gallacher kept his cool with eight pars and one final eagle at the 16th to end his week with a three shot win and second DP World Tour title. A year later, he would become the only person to successfully defend the Dubai Desert Classic, which included another 63.
Since Gallacher's victory in 2014, a week where Rory McIlroy opened with a 63 of his own, there have been five more 63s, yet no one has come any closer to Els' long-standing record. And it begs the question: Will they ever?
