When founded in 1989, it was the first European Tour event to be staged in the Arabian Peninsula, but is currently one of six.

It has historically had one of the strongest fields on the European Tour due to "promotional" money paid to top golfers.

[2] The 1995 edition is notable for being the first live event broadcast on the Golf Channel, an American pay-television network.

[4] The event was also added to the Rolex Series, with an increased prize fund of US$8,000,000.

[6] In January 2023, it was confirmed that Hero MotoCorp would become the new title sponsor of the event, beginning in 2023.