Abu Dhabi to get a taste of big-time golfing action
Abu Dhabi to get a taste of big-time golfing action
Abu Dhabi: Fans will get a taste of big time golf for the first time this afternoon when some of the world's top players line up in the Al Masaood Pro-Am event ahead of the $2 million Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, which begins tomorrow.
The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) has rolled out the red carpet for golfing greats such as Vijay Singh, Colin Montgomerie, Sergio Garcia among others, all here to kick-start the year's European Tour.
Twenty-eight of these professionals including world No 2 Vijay Singh from Fiji, world No 6 Sergio Garcia from Spain, world No 10 Colin Montgomerie and world No 11 Chris DiMarco, will team up with amateurs.
Singh will be making his first appearance in the UAE since his appearance in the Dubai Desert Classic in 1993.
"I have heard good things about Abu Dhabi and the golf course and am looking forward to seeing it for myself," he said. "With the calibre of players entered, it looks like it'll be a tough tournament, but that's how I like them."
Shaikh Sultan Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Chairman of ADTA, extended the emirate's welcome to the golfers and the fans.
"This is one of the most prestigious sporting events ever staged in Abu Dhabi. We are delighted with the high-level of interest it has attracted from around the world and by the superb quality of the field. This tournament heralds a new era in the emirate's development as a venue for staging world class sports events," he said in a message.
Most of the top players have already arrived and had a feel of the course yesterday. Commenting on championship, Ian Poulter, one of the stars said: "It's a beautiful place and it's a great place to come and play golf. The weather is good and the golf course is good."
The Abu Dhabi event is the first of the three in the region and will be followed by the Doha next week and the Dubai Desert Classic after that.
"It's actually nice to get three weeks in a row where we can come out and play three great golf tournaments," Poulter added.
Poulter also said he preferred to come here again next year. "The weather last year on the West Coast was obviously very, very wet and nobody likes to play in the rain. So it's nice to come over and play in a nice climate without any rain," Poulter said.
Today's Pro-Am event will be followed by the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship starting tomorrow, a 72-hole strokeplay event with four rounds being played over the four days and a cut being made after 36 holes to the Top-65 and ties.
The Championship will be broadcast to more than 300 million households across 60 countries with up to 700 hours of live coverage. Channels set to broadcast the tournament include Premiere Sports (Germany), The Golf Channel (US), Viasat (Sweden), Sky Sports (UK) and Showtime (UAE).
The main sponsors of the event include Etihad Airways, Aldar, ADNOC, Standard Chartered Bank, Al Masaood/Nissan, Rolls Royce, Airbus, Omega, Compass, MontBlanc, ITP Media and Gulf News.
Line up
Today's Pro-Am field (shotgun start at 1pm): 1. Chris DiMarco; 2. John Daly; 3. Paul Casey; 4. Ian Poulter; 5. Paul Broadhurst; 6. Peter Hanson; 7. Maarten Lafeber; 8. Jean. Francoise Remesy; 9. David Lynn; 10. Steve Webster; 11. Anders Hansen; 12. Thongchai Jaidee; 13. Zhang Lian Wee; 14. Costantino Rocca; 15. Paul Lawrie; 16. Vijay Singh; 17. Raphael Jacquelin; 18. Shiv Kapur; 19. Colin Montgomerie; 20. Sergio Garcia; 21. David Howell; 22. Henrik Stenson; 23. Thomas Bjorn; 24. Kenneth Ferrie; 25. Niclas Fasth; 26. Miguel Angel Jimenez; 27. Nick Dougherty; 28. Stephen Dodd; 29. Charl Schwartzel and 30. Graeme Storm.
