Tiger Woods will be grouped with Fred Couples during the pre-tournament Champions Challenge later this month at the Dubai Desert Classic. Stephen Gallacher, the defending champion in Dubai, will round out the threesome with Woods and Couples.
The 18-hole exhibition is part of the event’s 25th anniversary celebration. The only former winner not scheduled to play in the Jan. 28 event is the late Seve Ballesteros; his son, Javier, will instead participate.
The winner of the Champions Challenge will receive $300,000.
Woods, who has won this event twice (2006, ’08), will tee it up after making his 2014 debut the previous week at the Farmers Insurance Open.
The rest of the Champions Challenge groups:
• Mark James, Henrik Stenson, Thomas Bjorn
• Alvaro Quiros, Rafarel Cabrera-Bello, Jose Coceres
• Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jose Maria Olazabal, Javier Ballesteros
• Rory McIlroy, Eamonn Darcy, Richard Green
• Wayne Westner, Robert Jan Derksen, David Howell
• Ernie Els, Mark O’Meara, Colin Montgomerie
• Tiger Woods, Fred Couples, Stephen Gallacher