Dubai: Recent Qatar Masters winner Thomas Bjorn held a golf clinic exclusively for 20 lucky Gulf News readers yesterday in association with Emirates airline, the official airline of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

Having finished his round at one over par from two days' play with scores of 72-73, you would never have realised Bjorn had missed the cut from the smile on his face while helping the lucky 6-16 year-old golfers with their swings.

The 40-year-old Dane told Gulf News, "It's hugely important to interact with the kids and let them know what it is we do.

"It gets them excited more about the game and that's hugely important to help the game grow.

Pro help

"You have to try and grow this local talent because there's nothing people here would want to see more than a kid brought up here maybe becoming very successful. When you get the chance to interact with kids like this you never know, there might be another Tiger Woods amongst them. To wake that interest is the most important. If they don't have the interest they'll go on to other things and the talent will disappear and we certainly don't want to see that."

Eleven-year-old Jai Bhalla of Jumeirah College, who was one of the first to put his hand up and show Bjorn his swing, said, "He was trying to help me with my action. He taught me that the main problem was I was releasing too fast so he told me what I had to do to correct that and improve.

"It was exciting to have professional help and now I feel more inspired to go out and play more golf. I want to go now but my dad won't let me."

Olivia Green, 10, from Jumeirah Primary School said, "It was really good and Mr Bjorn was very interesting; he told us how to stand over the golf ball and have the right posture... I was quite nervous with a professional telling me what to do, but it has really encouraged my game. I play every Friday and from now on I will try and remember his advice in order to be a better player."

Meanwhile, Bjorn said of his own game having failed to make the cut, "I didn't really get myself prepared. I had flu earlier in the week and never really got into it. It happens sometimes."