A cruise for Kaymer

Abu Dhabi is rapidly becoming a home away from home for the new world number two Martin Kaymer.

The German cruised to an eight-shot victory by firing a closing round of 66 to successfully defend the title he won 12 months ago at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Sunday and complete his third victory in four years on the National Course.

The victory was also his fourth win in his last eight tournaments and means the unflappable 26-year-old vaults above Tiger Woods in the world rankings and is threatening to take over from Lee Westwood at the top.

Last year's European number one started the final day with a five-shot cushion over nearest rival and playing partner Rory McIlroy, but the young Northern Irishman never got close to threatening the faultless Kaymer who, with a late surge of birdies on the 10th, 13th, 16th and 18th finished on 24-under, a record for the tournament.

This week also saw the rules of golf and issues surrounding them once again entering the spotlight. Padraig Harrington's disqualification before his second round is the latest in a string of rule controversies to hit the game and begs the question of whether the way rules are administered needs to be changed.

The Irishman, who ended the first round just a shot off the lead after apparently firing a brilliant 65, should in fact have signed for a 67 to include a two-stroke penalty. Harrington was liable for the punishment after inadvertently moving his ball as he replaced it in front of his marker on the seventh green.

The three-time major winner knew he had touched the ball at the time but thought it had merely oscillated rather than moved position. A television viewer had spotted that the rules may have been breached, prompting referee Andy McFee to view footage after play for the day had been completed. Harrington had long since recorded his 65 and so was liable for disqualification for signing for a lower score than he should have done.

Harrington's disqualification adds more weight to the argument that rules officials should be permanently reviewing the tournament footage because it was merely the timing of the discovery of the offence rather than the breach of the rules itself that led to him suffering the ultimate penalty. If an official had been watching at the time and felt further examination of the footage was required, it could have taken place before Harrington signed his card.

I do think it is correct to refer to video when it might reveal a breach of the rules, but the scrutiny should be consistent.

The European Tour bus rolls into Bahrain this week for the highly anticipated Volvo Golf Champions tournament at the Royal Golf Club, a brand new event and the latest edition to the 'desert swing'.

It has been amazing to be involved in the buildup to the event and seeing the months of planning coming together; anyone who visits the event this week will be taken aback by the transformation as the biggest ever golf event to be staged in the Kingdom gets under way on Thursday morning.

A field containing Major winners, tournament winners, Ryder Cup players and Ryder Cup Captains whets the appetite for the first edition of the Volvo Golf Champions which should prove to be an extremely special and memorable week for everyone involved.