So what has been learnt from the European Tour's desert sojourn? Well, undeniably, the competition is more intense and tougher than ever.
Notwithstanding Martin Kaymer's win in Abu Dhabi, continuing his superb run of form since the second half of 2010 and establishing him as arguably the world's best player at present -even if the Official World Golf Rankings disagree - the names Paul Casey, Thomas Bjorn and Alvaro Quiros would hardly have been on the tip of most pundits' tongues as potential champions four weeks ago.
Having a range of winners, from relative youngsters such as Quiros to experienced campaigners like Casey and Bjorn, once again underlines the European Tour's strength.
Although the cream of world golf should rise to the top during big tournaments, it is no longer a forgone conclusion because the gap in the quality of the field is constantly narrowing - as seen at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at the weekend.
Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy all drifted from the leading pack over the closing two days. This could be attributed to early season rust, although I don't buy that answer.
The European Tour calendar currently merges into a succession of worldwide events, so it is difficult to work out when a season starts and ends for different golfers.
Also, each and every player who teed up last Thursday morning in Dubai would have been aiming to win the tournament.
The simple fact is the European Tour is currently so strong, in any one week a winner could appear from anywhere in the field.
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