Cash and friendship net Tiger

With so many Europeans fleeing the coop to play on the US Tour this season, it makes a change for some movement in the other direction - even if appearance money is the main reason for the presence of world number one Tiger Woods in Dubai.

Apart from the money, reputed to be $2 million for simply appearing, it seems one of the reasons Woods will play in this week's Desert Classic at the Emirates Club is because his close friend Mark O'Meara persuaded him to include it in his schedule.

For O'Meara, who accompanied Woods to the UAE yesterday for a big-money challenge match on the eve of the tournament, however, it represents an opportunity for him to rediscover his form.

It's only three years ago that O'Meara won the US Masters and the British Open before capping a remarkable year with a win over Woods in the final of the world matchplay at Wentworth. Since then, he has experienced a serious slump in fortune which makes Woods's so-called mini-slump seem like nothing of the sort.

"I'm now at a level where I have got to decide what I really want to do," remarked O'Meara. "I have to ask myself if I want to spend more time with my family, refresh my mind and get ready for the Seniors Tour? The thing is, I don't want to finish my career this way. I want to climb the mountain again."

O'Meara had seriously considered cutting back on the number of tournaments he played. "Tiger keeps telling me, `you've got to re-commit yourself. One more year. One more year'," said O'Meara. "And the signs are good. I think I will bounce back a lot quicker." In contrast to O'Meara, Woods's prolonged stint away from the victory rostrum should be put into perspective. It's true he hasn't won a full US Tour event since the Canadian Open last October (although he did win the World Cup in partnership with David Duval) but his worst finishes on the circuit this season have been tied-13th in both the AT&T at Pebble Beach and last weekend's Nissan Open at Riviera.

His three other placings were all top-10 finishes: tied-eighth in the Mercedes Championship, tied-fifth in the Phoenix Open, and fourth in the Buick Invitational.

Woods can't expect to find things any easier in moving to another tour in search of his first win of the year. Lee Westwood, last year's European number one, and Colin Montgomerie, holder of that title for the previous seven years, are part of what is the strongest field on the European Tour so far this season.

Darren Clarke, making his first European Tour outing of the year, but with a win in South Africa in the Dimension Data under his belt, is one of seven Irish players in the field. Clarke has slipped down to 11th in the latest world rankings.

Padraig Harrington's top-five finish in Singapore keeps him 20th in the rankings. The Dubliner is also playing in Dubai, having missed the tournament last year because he disliked the Creek course.

Paul McGinley, Des Smyth, Ronan Rafferty, David Higgins and Eamonn Darcy are also playing.

Meanwhile, Richie Coughlan - who was forced to pull out of the Nissan Open due to a recurrence of a chest muscle injury - hopes to resume his US Tour schedule in Doral this week.

The injury is a repeat of the one that caused him to miss four weeks on tour in his debut season in 1998, but the player hopes that his decision (on medical advice) to withdraw from the Nissan, combined with a week's rest, will allow him to play. He will decide after competing in tomorrow's pro-am.