European Tour Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Quick 9 with… Colm McLoughlin – celebrating 40 years of Dubai Duty Free

Golf Digest Middle East — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 06:31:01 +0000

Born in Ireland, but made in Dubai. The Godfather of Dubai Duty Free, Colm McLoughlin, spoke exclusively to Golf Digest Middle East as he celebrates an illustrious 40 years in the emirate of Dubai.

Colm, your career has been one of many tales I’m sure. From growing up in Ballinasloe to here now in Dubai, it’s been quite a journey!
Indeed, it has been quite a voyage. My duty-free journey began in Ireland in 1969, at Shannon Duty Free, the birthplace of the industry. In July 1983, I moved to Dubai as part of the 10-man team from Aer Rianta (the Irish Airport Authority) at the request of the Dubai Government to set up the duty-free operation. I imagined it as a six-month project but here I am still, 40 years on.

The face of Dubai must be a complete contrast from 40 years ago?
Dubai was a very different place back then. There was only a handful of buildings, a big roundabout, and not a great deal else. It was a tight-knit community revolving around boat trips on the Creek, piloting small planes to Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah, and playing golf on sand at Dubai Country Club. Look at it all now! Now we have some of the world’s best golf courses here in the UAE.

How has the company evolved against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Dubai?
Dubai Duty Free is a success story that mirrors the trajectory of the emirate itself. From the early days we were tasked by the ruling family and in particular H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make it the biggest and the best in the world. To this day the core objectives have remained the same; to provide world class customer service, provide a wide range of quality products and offer value for money, all within a customer-focused environment.

What in your view have been the key ingredients?
Several factors have been led by the tremendous support and encouragement that we have received from the Government of Dubai and in particular from H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman of Dubai Duty Free. But the biggest ingredients for Dubai Duty Free is the dedication and effort of all our staff who I believe are the best in the world and of course our customers who are made up of travellers from all over the globe.

With your vast contribution into golf here in Dubai, what would some of those highlights be?
Firstly, I would say the privilege I was given to be captain of the Emirates Golf Club (1995/1996) and the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club (2007) I’m the only person to have held both captaincies. We are also extremely proud to be supporting major golf events in Dubai since their inception, the Dubai Desert Classic, the Dubai Moonlight Classic, the Race to Dubai and of course now into it’s 30th year, the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup.

How special was it previously be to be title sponsor for the Irish Open on the then European Tour?
We are proud that our support as the title sponsor of the tournament for seven years has greatly helped restore the status of this major sporting event. And while it is currently under a new title sponsor, Horizon Irish Open, we are still here, continuing to support the event as an official partner.

There are the many other activities that Dubai Duty Free reach beyond the shops though.
The promotion of ‘Dubai Inc.’ was a core platform of our strategy from the beginning. One of the things we’ve done very well is support so many events at the highest level and all around the globe, Dubai Duty Free is effectively promoting Dubai’s sporting, leisure, and business facilities, which are second to none.

What has your time in Dubai with Dubai Duty Free taught you?
So far, I am most proud of the fact that Dubai Duty Free has developed a reputation for looking after its people. What is important in any work you do is to recognise the people who work for you. Wherever you are in life, do not lose touch with reality.

What will drive the next phase as the company moves into its fifth decade?
I’m very happy that Dubai Duty Free has grown to become the single biggest duty-free operation at an airport anywhere in the world. We are going to do in excess of US$2 billion this year in sales, which surpasses our pre-pandemic sales in 2019. So, if I were to forecast ten years ahead, I would be talking about US$3 billion in sales, with larger retail areas, more shops and boutiques, and around 7–8,000 staff members.

Main image: Supplied

The post Quick 9 with… Colm McLoughlin – celebrating 40 years of Dubai Duty Free appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Course development: Abdullah Al Naboodah talks about his new role with the European Tour Group and how the game has grown in the region

Matt Smith — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 07:46:54 +0000

Abdullah Al Naboodah. Image supplied

Abdullah Al Naboodah was recently appointed Non-Executive Director of The European Tour Group — which looks after the DP World Tour, Challenge Tour, Legends Tour, G4D Tour and the Ryder Cup in Europe.

Al Naboodah, who is also Chairman of Al Naboodah Investments and an Executive Board member of Saeed and Mohammed Al Naboodah Group, a major Emirati family-owned conglomerate with more than 60 years of history in the Middle East region, took time out to chat to Golf Digest Middle East about his new role and the state of the game in the UAE.

He has been a pivotal figure in the development of golf in the UAE over the last 20 years. In 1988, the Al Naboodah Group helped build Emirates Golf Club, the first grass golf course in the UAE which hosted the first European Tour event in the region, the Dubai Desert Classic, a year later.

He took up golf himself in 2006 at the Dubai Creek Golf Academy, reaching a single-figure handicap within 18 months. Since then, he has played a key role in grassroots golf in the Middle East, including as Vice Chairman of the Emirates Golf Federation from 2008-2012 and Chairman of Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club, while his businesses have supported a number of players and junior golf projects.

Congratulations on the new role. What will this entail in terms of your contributions to the European Tour team?

My relationship with the European Tour Group began about 14 years ago. Since then, I’ve got to know many people who work in the organisation, so I’ve always had an unofficial working relationship with the Tour. Now that has become more formal with a position on the Board of Directors. I think it is important for the Middle East to have a voice in the Tour, given the strong presence and relationships the Tour has in this region. I’m proud that I can be that voice at board level. I will be attending regular board meetings and select tournaments, particularly in the Middle East. I will also join strategic meetings where required and attending future European Tour group strategy dates. I will also bring all of my network and all my own experience from across the Middle East to help the European Tour Group. There is a strong opportunity for the Tour to continue its commercial expansion in this region. DP World is a fantastic partner for the Tour to have. I see that partnership, and those kind of relationships, growing in the future.

You have been involved in golf in the region for quite some time now. How did you get into it and can you tell me a bit about your journey?

To be honest, I love sport and I’ve been involved in several different sports over the years. I was Chairman of the UAE football club Al Ahli for a number of years. Where golf is concerned, it’s always been a passion. I’ve been involved with the Emirates Golf Federation in the UAE and helped support a number of professional and amateur events. Too many years ago to remember, my family’s company actually built Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf Club. I’m a regular at the Creek playing every Saturday.

You were the mastermind behind the Invitational at Creek and Yas Links, would you ever consider trying to resurrect an event along similar lines now we have seen the game grow in the UAE?

Yes, absolutely. We’ve had some discussions along those lines, so watch this space.

And how is your own golf game? You have certainly played with a few top players.

Up and down! You’re right, when you play with top players your game is going to be suitably knocked up a level and I’ve been in pretty good form recently. There’s a good summer ahead and lots of playing opportunities which I’m really looking forward too, including my trip to Ireland which I do every year, and trips to the United States and Europe.

The talent production line in the UAE keeps on going with the likes of Josh Hill, Toby Bishop and Chiara Noja making big steps.

It’s great to see, I’ve been watching all of them develop over recent years. Let’s hope they’re the first of many. The two Challenge Tour events we held recently in Abu Dhabi will really help with development and allow players to compete against other talented players from around the world. Increasing engagement in the Middle East is a key focus for the Tour. We have a great opportunity to do that and develop golf across the Middle East region at both the professional and amateur level. There is already a lot of work taking place among the amateur federations in the Middle East to promote golf, so hopefully that production line you mentioned will continue and get even better.

And we now see young Maya Palanza Gaudin blazing a trail at Augusta [she won the Masters Drive, Chip & Putt event], do you think the talent production will continue to grow?

I was thrilled to see Maya’s achievements in Augusta. Maya played with us in the pro-am in my tournament last year — the RAK Championship presented by Phoenix Capital — she’s improved incredibly since then and put in a lot of hard work.

Obviously, the facilities in the UAE are world-class. There was once a concern that there were too many courses and not enough players here and now with 20-plus courses and more in the pipeline, what do you see as the key to this continued success?

Clearly the courses have been operating at capacity for a few years, through club memberships and tourism. Dubai is one of the biggest tourist destinations in the world and with the courses that we have planned that can only help us to become one of the best golfing destinations in the world.

The post Course development: Abdullah Al Naboodah talks about his new role with the European Tour Group and how the game has grown in the region appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Paul Casey accuses DP World Tour of moving goal posts with LIV Golf

Golf Digest Middle East — Thu, 28 Jul 2022 06:09:41 +0000

By Joel Beall
PGA Tour and DP World Tour players who have competed in LIV Golf events have been suspended and fined for playing without receiving a conflicting-event release from their respective commissioners. However, one of the newest LIV Golf members on Wednesday accused the tours of only recently enforcing the rule.

Speaking at Trump National Bedminster Golf Club ahead of this week’s LIV Golf event, Paul Casey explained that such a release, at least with the former European Tour, was never an issue in the past.

“What happened earlier this year, I wasn’t a part of it, but fines being handed out for playing without a release, I’ve played many a tournament without a release and was never fined, and suddenly the goal posts are changing,” Casey said.

One of the provisions in the PGA Tour Player Handbook and Tournament Regulations is that each PGA Tour member acknowledges the commissioner, the tour’s policy board and the appeals committee have the authority to permanently ban a member from playing in a tour co-sponsored, approved or coordinated tournaments if the member violates its regulations. One such regulation generally prohibits tour players from playing in events when there is a PGA Tour-approved or sponsored event taking place at the same time. Per the handbook, players who reach the 15-event minimum (which members must meet as a condition of their membership voting rights) are eligible for three conflicting-event releases per season, which is why so many tour players were allowed to play in the Saudi Invitational earlier this year. The regulations also state such requests can be denied and playing in spite of these denials has been the impetus for tour discipline.

“As our regulations clearly state, there are no conflicting event/media releases available for events that take place in North America,” read a PGA Tour memo earlier this summer announcing suspensions to players who competed at the LIV Golf event at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore. “As a result, these players did not receive the necessary conflicting event and media rights releases and their participation in the Saudi Golf League/LIV event is in violation of our tournament regulations.”

The DP World Tour has followed a similar route, with CEO Keith Pelley writing in an open letter, “Before joining LIV Golf, players knew there would be consequences if they chose money over competition. Many of them at the time understood and accepted that. Indeed, as one player named in the letter said in a media interview earlier this year; ‘If they ban me, they ban me.’ It is not credible that some are now surprised with the actions we have taken.”

However, Casey’s accusation would make it seem like LIV Golf is being discriminated against by the DP World Tour in ways other events haven’t been.

For his part, Casey said he is not trying to hurt the existing tours with his decision.

“None of us, I think speaking for the three of us sitting up here, none of us are intending to damage golf or damage the tour,” Casey said, sitting next to Charles Howell III and Jason Kokrak. “I’m a guy who’s sat on the European Player Committee for many years, I’ve sat on the Player Advisory Council for many years. In fact, I retired and then they asked me to come back because of my input.

“I know the fabric of this game pretty well on the inside, on the tour level. At no time have I ever tried to damage the tour in the decision that I’ve made. If it’s damaged, I think the questions have to be asked somewhere else.”

The post Paul Casey accuses DP World Tour of moving goal posts with LIV Golf appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Classy Darren Clarke claims Senior Open lead at Gleneagles

Matt Smith — Sat, 23 Jul 2022 09:34:23 +0000

By Matt Smith
Darren Clarke once again turned on the style on the back nine to post a three under par round of 67 and take a two-stroke lead into the weekend of the Senior Open.

The Northern Irishman leads on eight-under at Gleneagles, two strokes clear of American Scott Parel, after four back-nine birdies saw him set the target before the temperature dropped in the afternoon and made it difficult for anyone to challenge his lead.

The 2011 Open Champion made the turn in one-over after bogeys at the second and seventh sandwiched a birdie at the fourth, before going on to mirror his back nine from the opening day with birdies at the 10th, 14th, 15th and 18th.

Clarke, who has three wins on the PGA TOUR Champions since turning 50, is in pole position to claim his first Senior Major Championship with two rounds to play, but he will need to fend off a star-studded leaderboard if he is to become only the fourth man to win both The Open Championship and The Senior Open.

Fellow former Champion Golfers of the Year Ernie Els and Pádraig Harrington, who will also bid to join Bob Charles, Gary Player and Tom Watson in completing the historic double, are three strokes back in a share for third place on five-under, alongside four-time Senior Open Champion Bernhard Langer, 2016 winner Paul Broadhurst, American duo Kent Jones and Jerry Kelly, Canadian Stephen Ames and South African David Frost.

“Around the front nine today, I was so-so,” said Clarke. “I slipped. My right foot slipped a couple of times. But apart from that, I played really nicely. I’m trying to hit a lot of fairways and give myself decent looks. All the way around the back nine, I kept hitting nice shots. And could have been a few better. But, you know, it’s the way it is.

“There’s a few flags that were out there today as well that you just cannot go after. You’ve got to hit away from those as well. So they’re a little bit linksy as well.

“With the fairways being as good as they are, as tight as they are, you can really nip one. I got a little bit too much spin on the second shot into 17. But if you’re striking the ball, you can still spin it quite a bit.

“So it gives you opportunity. If you keep it in the fairway around here, you can score. But if you start missing the fairways, it’s going to be a struggle because you’re playing for fliers and the ball is releasing as much, you never know how far or short of the green or whatever. But the fact is so far I’ve done a decent job to get them on the fairways.”

The post Classy Darren Clarke claims Senior Open lead at Gleneagles appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Ian Poulter won’t trade jabs with LIV haters, says there’s ‘space in the calendar for everyone’

Golf Digest Middle East — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 05:36:34 +0000

Ross Kinnaird

By John Huggan
GULLANE, Scotland — Perhaps not surprisingly given his outspoken nature, his high profile on social media and just the fact that he is Ian Poulter, Ryder Cup legend and the man the Americans most love to beat, there has been a fair bit of Poults-bashing going on in the wake of the 46-year-old Englishman’s decision to play in the LIV Golf series.

Using words like “liar” and “hypocrite,” Billy Horschel was the latest to take a public and indirect pop, albeit the BMW PGA champion didn’t single out Poulter as the sole target of his disappointment. But around the Renaissance Club, venue for this week’s Genesis Scottish Open, there is a lot of grumbling and finger-pointing going on, much of it directed at Poulter and the three other LIV players in the field—Branden Grace, Justin Harding and Adrain Otaegui—courtesy of a last-minute reprieve won in arbitration.

“This is not just about a bunch of players looking after themselves,” says one prominent DP World Tour golfer, who requested anonymity. “It’s about the whole European Tour. That’s why we are finding this so difficult. When I hear what some of the guys like Ian have been saying, I shudder. Just tell us the truth. I couldn’t sit in front of my peers and say I am happy not to be playing golf for the rest of my life. Not when I’ve made $50 million in prize money. There have been things that have been difficult to listen to.”

On the other side of the debate, comments like that are hard for Poulter to hear. So it is no surprise that he has not been slow to respond. Never a shrinking violet, Poulter plans to continue playing in DP World Tour events as long as the injunction that allows him to do so remains in place. No, he isn’t worried about the prospect of negative reactions from spectators or his fellow competitors. And no, he isn’t going to respond directly to Horschel. At least, not in public.

“I plan to play the Czech Open, but to be honest, I haven’t actually sat down and worked it out beyond that,” Poulter said. “I haven’t looked at the bigger picture of the other events. I’ll play at Wentworth [in the DP World Tour flagship event in September]. I had a good catch up with Rory [McIlroy] and Thomas [Bjorn] last week. It’s only uncomfortable because that’s what is being written. And no, I am not going to talk about someone else’s comments. I have no interest in that at all.”

Patrick Smith

Poulter’s feeling is that the separation between business and personal relationships is one he can comfortably bridge.

“They are two completely different things,” he says. “I am going to have a different opinion than some. Even if Thomas’ opinion is different to mine, I’m not going to fall out with him about it. I have known Thomas for 25 years. He is on the [DP World Tour] board and has the right to his opinion, I have a right to mine. There’s going to be a few people that are extremely strong-minded about it and there are others who are my friends; we will agree to disagree but remain friends.”

Poulter was also keen to underline his previous commitment to his home circuit. Although a resident in Florida, he has notched 389 DP World Tour starts, often enough, he declares, to the detriment of his stature on the PGA Tour.

“Quite a few [Europeans] have given their card up through the years,” he said. “But I have been as committed to this tour as anyone. I have sacrificed a good few FedEx [Cup] points along the way because of that. This has always been my home tour for 24 years. Why should that change? I had a great reception last week [in Ireland at the JP McManus Pro-Am] as never before, 40,000 fans at the event and they were incredible. There was not one bit of abuse, zero. Yes, social media is bad because that’s their forum to hide. We know that happens. It empowers people who can stay behind a screen. But to my face? Nothing.”

Looking forward, Poulter refused to comment on the fact that he and his LIV colleagues have been singled out in the draw. Harding and Otaegui are first off the first tee in the first round, a two-ball amongst a sea off three-balls. Poulter, alongside Grace and only Grace, is first off the 10th tee in the afternoon wave. No coincidence, of course. But not something that will, according to Poulter, affect him negatively once the tournament starts.

“My bubble starts when I tee off,” he says. “The phone is off, you have a job to do. That’s my safety net. Of course, it has affected my golf, there’s no question. It is not an easy process to go through. Social media and various people’s comments make it difficult. You don’t want to feel like you have been completely pushed out.”

To discuss all the above and much more, Poulter has yet to talk in any depth to DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley. Poulter is open to a chat, although he feels strongly that the first move must come from Pelley.

“We said hello in Ireland,” Poulter said. “I think he was quite busy, and I was quite busy. I don’t have a problem with anybody in this situation. If Keith would like to have a conversation, I would happily do that. I spoke to him not that long ago but it’s over to him, really. This whole thing is exhausting. The bigger picture of golf is there is a level of investment coming in which is of vast amounts of money. For a period of time, the European Tour were extremely interested in doing something with that and now they are not. It was OK to work in that little ecosystem for a while because they [all sides] were negotiating and now they are not. Which is sad. There is clearly space in the calendar for everyone.”

The post Ian Poulter won’t trade jabs with LIV haters, says there’s ‘space in the calendar for everyone’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

50 years on DP World Tour: Adri Arnaus makes it a moment to savour for Spain and the UAE

Matt Smith — Tue, 03 May 2022 08:50:34 +0000

By Matt Smith

The ceremonial tee shot was enough of a moment to mark the 50th anniversary of the European Tour.

Antonio Garrido sucked up the emotions to seal the occasion. But what was to come made the spectacle all the more fitting.

Following Pablo Larrazabal’s heroics last time out, it was another Spaniard who triumphed as the DP World Tour made its return to ‘home’ turf in Europe. This time around, it was a man from Dubai — the new ‘home’ of the DP World Tour — who was flying the red and gold of Spain on the most momentous of weekends in European golf.

And it was an epic showdown fitting the most memorable battles down the years. Adri Arnaus was the toast of Catalunya and Dubai as he held off Oliver Bekker over six extra holes at PGA Catalunya Golf and Wellness, in Girona, to take top spot in the $2 million event.

Arnaus, who has set up home in the UAE these days, was right at home to emulate the likes of Seve Ballasteros, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Jose Maria Olazabal and Larrazabal himself to etch his name in history.

You had to feel sorry for Bekker, who fought tooth and nail but came up just short of his biggest pay day.

But all the headlines will be about Arnaus, who clawed back a seven-shot deficit at the turn on day four.

It looked like a two-way tussle beteween Bekker and Laurie Canter before Arnaus caught fire.

A back nine of 31 with the help of an eagle on the 12th set the target at 11-under and an anxious wait ensued as the Spaniard watched Bekker and Canter finish off their rounds.

A three-putt from the South African on the 16th made it a tie as he signed for a 72 while Canter faded, and Arnaus was heading to a third DP World Tour play-off in seven months after defeats at the 2021 Open de Espana and March’s MyGolfLife Open.

Arnaus kept warm on the practice greens and it paid off, eventually.

What it means to win your first Tour title ?@AdriArnaus | #CatalunyaChampionship pic.twitter.com/hpoAhtDPUS

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 1, 2022

Five trips back up the last produced reasonably stress-free pars all-round but when they moved to the 17th for the sixth extra hole, Bekker missed the green and could not get up and down, allowing Arnaus to take the title with a par after putting his approach to six feet.

Canter finished two shots out of the play-off alongside fellow Englishman Richard McEvoy and Pole Adrian Meronk, with South African Hennie du Plessis and Italy’s Edoardo Molinari at eight-under.

Arnaus came into the week with five runner-up finishes on Tour – two of them on home soil – but now has a win in his 84th start and makes it back-to-back Spanish victories for the first time since 2017 after Larrazabal’s triumph at last week’s ISPS Handa Championship.

Arnaus also moves up to sixth on the DP World Tour Rankings and could move into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time.

“It’s a dream come true,” Arnaus said 50 years after Garrido’s initial success. “I’ve been looking for this one for a while. To be able to come through here, where I practice in the summers, they take care of me so well. I know the course quite well. I’ve been able to play some really good golf and to do it here is special.

“Sometimes I cheer them on (the spectators), sometimes they cheer me on. It’s a win that we all share together because I’m sure I would not be standing here without them, without my team.

It was a torrid time as he waited for Bekker to finish.

“It was a long wait (for the play-off),” Arnaus added. “I just tried to put a number, hopefully double digits, and I was able to do that. After that it helped a bit (to wait). I was totally calm going into the play-off. Sometimes I have felt a bit rushed in play-offs. This time I felt easy and I tried to play as if it was a play-off. It was good to come out with that mindset, a fresh start.

“It was great, a little bit of a relief. I’ve been chasing this one for a while and I’ve been able to come through here, in my home, with my friends and family watching.

More
Look: Phil Mickelson spotted on golf course
Tiger Woods plays Southern Hills ahead of PGA Championship
Morikawa to play Scottish Open ahead of Open Championship defence
LIV Golf Invitational Series continues to take shape
Trump to host LIV finale
R&A set for record crowds at St Andrews after more than 1.3 million apply for tickets
Greg Norman rejected by R&A for Open Championship
Report: First PGA Tour player request to play LIV Golf events

The post 50 years on DP World Tour: Adri Arnaus makes it a moment to savour for Spain and the UAE appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Home hope Pablo Larrazabal excited to entertain at ISPS Handa Championship in Spain

Matt Smith — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 09:55:59 +0000

By Matt Smith
Pablo Larrazabal has been flying high this season and is hoping some home comforts after a chance to recharge the batteries will allow him to reach greater heights.

The Spaniard burst on to the scene in 2008, bouncing around the fairways with a grin on his face and claiming the Open de France in his maiden season on the European Tour and winning Rookie of the Year. He has been a mainstay ever since, turning heads once again right here in the UAE when he claimed the 2014 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, holding off the might of Phil Mickelson and Rory McIroy to triumph.

He may be older and wiser now at 38, but that grin is still there as he looks to add the ISPS Handa Championship to his haul of titles this week in his home country of Spain.

The Spaniard has been in excellent form this year, winning his sixth DP World Tour title at the MyGolfLife Open in South Africa in March and followed that up with a T-5 at the Qatar Masters before a well-deserved three-week break.

Fully refreshed, Larrazabal is now ready to pick up where he left off during a four-week stretch in Europe, beginning with back-to-back events in Spain.

“I am ready to go,” he said ahead of the ISPS Handa’s debut on the DP World Tour. “I have been playing great, been practising great at home. There is nothing wrong with three weeks at home. To keep the momentum, you have to keep working and keep the routines going. That is all about preparation.”

After a disappointing 2021 campaign dropped him way down the OWGR standings, Larrazabal has certainly recaptured that form that made him the darling of the crowds over the past decade, climbing back up to No. 109 in the world (he was once as high as 53) and that familiar bounce has returned.

“As a professional golfer you have to realise that you are an entertainer,” he told DP World Tour. “You are a sportsman but mostly we are entertainers. The first year to 16 months of golf during the Covid-19 pandemic were tough. As I said to you, I am an entertainer of people, and we were not doing that. We played 16 months with no crowds and that didn’t help my golf, my attitude at all. To play for money is not the way I play golf nowadays.”

The Tour is back ?

It's #ISPSHandaChampionship week.

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) April 20, 2022

Now, despite growing up in nearby Barcelona, the 38-year-old is set for his first competitive round at Infinitum’s Lakes Course — venue of this week’s event.

“Today is my first nine holes out here,” he said after a debut practice on the course. “I came here four years ago to see a couple of friends on the last day of the Final Stage at Qualifying School. Those are my only two days at this course. But after nine holes you realise how good this golf course is and the conditions are brilliant. Hopefully the rain stays away from here so that we can see how good the work is of the groundsmen.”

Water is an undeniable feature of this week’s course in Tarragona, but that is not something that is set to faze Larrazabal.

“There are a lot of lakes, but you guys know me,” he said, that trademark grin creeping into view once again. “I have been on tour for 15 years; I didn’t come here for holidays and to make business you have to make birdies. Birdies are going to bring you trophies. That is why we came and that is how I play golf.”

More
DP World Tour heads back to where it all began 50 years ago
Is Ash Barty aiming for a shot at a golf career?
Your Zurich Classic tee times
Our 11 favourite teams at Zurich Classic
Report: First PGA Tour player request to play LIV Golf events
Where does Spieth’s RBC win take in in all-time earnings rankings
LIV Golf ready to go live as tickets go on sale
Thai stars sign up for Aramco Team Series — Bangkok
WATCH: Dylan Frittelli in bizarre rules gaffe

The post Home hope Pablo Larrazabal excited to entertain at ISPS Handa Championship in Spain appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

DP World Tour heads back to where it all began in Spain for 50th Anniversary celebrations

Matt Smith — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 08:18:59 +0000

Pablo Larrazabal will be looking for a win on home soil in Spain. Twitter

By Matt Smith
The DP World Tour gets rolling again with a double-header in Spain, beginning on Thursday with the ISPS Handa Championship in Tarragona. While East Asia has continued to suffer a lack of golf events due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, Spain — in this case — is definitely the beneficiary.

The latest addition to the calendar will be held at Infinitum Golf and was created to plug the gap created by the pandemic-enforced postponement of the tournament with the same name in Japan. It precedes the Catalunya Championship in Girona, which is another one-off event replacing the Volvo China Open.

So after a few weeks off and a jaunt to the Masters at Augusta National for the top players on the DP World Tour, it is a timely return to Spain to mark the 50th anniversary of the tour back where it all began.

The European Tour, as it was then known, started with the 1972 Spanish Open at Club Golf de Pals in Girona, where home stars Antonio Garrido and a certain Seve Ballesteros began the revolution of European golf.

Just like that first Spanish Open, the 2022 Catalunya Championship will also be held in Girona at the PGA Catalunya Golf and Wellness and help uphold a tradition that has seen Spain become a mainstay on the tour and a production line for some of the world’s best golfers.

But first up is the ISPS Handa Championship in Tarragona, where a whole host of stars will be chasing the $2 million purse and looking to be the first to get their name engraved on the inaugural trophy.

With no defending champion, it will be tough to select the favourites, but the likes of high-flying Austrian Bernd Wiesberger and Dane Thorbjorn Olesen will be leading a pack of homegrown talents in the shape of Dubai-based pair Adrian Otaegui and Adri Arnaus, Pablo Larrazabal — who already has a win on tour this season in South Africa — Jorge Campillo, Nacho Elvira and Alejandro Canizares.

Bernd Wiesberger

A host of champions on tour heading to Spain be familiar to Middle East golf fans. Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson, who claimed his maiden professional title at the recent Qatar Masters, will join Ras Al Khaimah’s two champions on the UAE Swing, Ryan Fox and Nicolai Hojgaard.

The Dane will liven up the party alongside twin brother Rasmus, and leading DP World Tour players also in the line-up include the likes of Alexander Bjork, Jamie Donaldson, Laurie Canter, James Morrison, Andy Sullivan, Matthew Jordan, Joost Luiten, Chris Paisley, Ross Fisher and Soren Kjeldsen.

Larrazabal, who won his sixth DP World Tour title at the MyGolfLife Open in March, will certainly be one to watch, while Ferguson will fancy his chances now he has a taste for victory after some near-misses.

The Infinitum Resort in Tarragona has been home to the final stage of DP World Tour Q School in recent years and that could help Canizares, who has a first and third over the Lakes Course in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

From the big guns, former Ryder Cup player and world No. 78 Wiesberger will be keen to get his season on track after no top-10 finishes from his five starts this season.

The Hojgaard twins can be unpredictable, but both have DP World Tour titles in the bag and will certainly produce fireworks. You can expect to see at least one of their names on the leaderboard at some point.

More
Our 11 favourite teams at Zurich Classic
Report: First PGA Tour player request to play LIV Golf events
Where does Spieth’s RBC win take in in all-time earnings rankings
Spieth wins hearts and minds at RBC Heritage
LIV Golf ready to go live as tickets go on sale
Thai stars sign up for Aramco Team Series — Bangkok
Saudi golf continues to thrive
WATCH: Dylan Frittelli in bizarre rules gaffe

The post DP World Tour heads back to where it all began in Spain for 50th Anniversary celebrations appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

RAK to host back-to-back DP World Tour events as Qatar Masters postponed due to pandemic

Kent Gray — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 06:13:33 +0000

Warren Little/Getty Images
South Africa’s Erik Van Rooyen plays into the 18th green during the 2019 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, the last time it was hosted by Doha Golf Club.

By Kent Gray
The 2022 Desert Swing remains a very fluid work in progress – on the eve of the first event in Abu Dhabi.

The DP World Tour announced the postponement of the 25th Commercial Bank Qatar Masters overnight, citing “ongoing restrictions associated with the global Covid-19 pandemic.”

Originally scheduled for February 10-13, the $2 million event at Doha Golf Club will now be played “later this spring”, according to a media statement from the tour.

A second, hastily arranged $2 million tournament in RAK has been announced to fill the gap with the Ras Al Khaimah Classic set to follow the Ras Al Khaimah Championship Presented by Phoenix Capital (February 3-6).

The back-to-back RAK events, both at Al Hamra Golf Club, will follow back-to-back $8 million Rolex Series events to start the calendar year: this week’s Abu Dhabi HBSC Championship (January 20-23) and the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic (January 27-30).

When the DP World Tour originally announced its 2022 schedule, the Desert Swing had a fifth “Middle East” event pencilled in. But these are unprecedented times where the only certainty created by the pandemic is uncertainty.

The post RAK to host back-to-back DP World Tour events as Qatar Masters postponed due to pandemic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Collin Morikawa’s (very) early career earnings are even more staggering when broken down by event

Golf Digest Middle East — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 06:03:38 +0000

Luke Walker

By Alex Myers
When you graduate from Cal-Berkeley with a degree in business administration, you’re set up to do well earnings-wise in your career. But we’re guessing Collin Morikawa has made just a tad bit more than any of his 2019 classmates thanks to golf.

In just under two-and-a-half years since turning pro, Morikawa has won two majors, five PGA Tour events and the season-long Race to Dubai on the European Tour. Add up all the prize money, including bonuses, from that and you get a staggering total of more than $23 million for the 24-year-old.

But break it down by event, and his (very) early returns are even more amazing. Check out this graphic that shows how much Morikawa has made per tournament, per round and per shot:

Nearly $400K every time he tees it up?! Pretty darn impressive. And, obviously, he’s just getting started.

“I’m going to set the bar as high as I can get and keep going,” Morikawa said after winning the DP World Tour Championship on Sunday. “I’m still not No. 1 in the world. I still have a lot to work on in my game.”

But in the meantime, he still has a lot of prize money to keep track of. Seems like that business administration degree is going to come in handy after all.

The post Collin Morikawa’s (very) early career earnings are even more staggering when broken down by event appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.