As a Dubai resident for almost right on a year now, it should probably not surprise that Tommy Fleetwood is well placed at the halfway mark to win the DP World Tour Championship.
After all, the tour’s season finale takes place at Jumeirah Golf Estates, where Fleetwood lives with wife Clare and two sons.
The Earth Course, where this week the top 50 players in the Race to Dubai rankings compete, qualifies as his local course. Fleetwood even has his own academy on site, too.
So, the fact the Englishman fired a 6-under-par 66 in Friday’s second round to move joint top of the leaderboard – Nicolai Hojgaard then stole his thunder, somewhat, with an eagle on the last to sit two clear – seems almost predictable.
For Fleetwood, though, not quite. Familiarity, it turns out, doesn’t necessarily breed competitive advantage.
“Well, yeah, I mean it should do,” he said after signing his card to sit in a quartet on 9-under that includes world No 4 Viktor Hovland. “It's amazing how different they get the course playing.
"Even to go away for [the Nedbank Golf Challenge] last week, come back a week later, and it's amazing how the greens, how much they firm out, how much they speed up in terms of the course.
"So it is playing a lot different to when we ever play it just regularly.”
Still, Fleetwood can reap some benefit when it comes to course knowledge.
“Still standing on the tee and knowing how often you hit the tee shots is nice,” he said. “But at the same time, people have been coming here now for such a long time. This is my, I think, ninth or 10th year playing this tournament. So people are pretty used to the golf course at this point.”
In fact, this year marks Fleetwood’s 11th go at the event. A six-time winner on tour, he came closest in 2019, when he was denied a place in a play-off by Jon Rahm's birdie on the final hole.
Other than that, Fleetwood was tied-5th 12 months ago, and has another couple of top 10s to boot.
“With where we live now, it's very, very, very cool,” he said. “The support from the members and everybody that works at the golf club. It's great to be part of this community for myself and my family.
“And then showing the support this week as well, like they do every other day when I'm here practising or playing or whatever. So it's great to be up there.
“It's great that I've given them something to watch so far and hopefully it's a really cool atmosphere over the next two days. I’m enjoying it a lot. We'll try and keep that going.”
Well, he should aim for that. Fleetwood, the world No 15, leads the field in birdies, with 14, even if he said he felt “uncomfortable” on the greens on Friday until the 10th hole. From there, he reeled off four birdies.
And, as an Order of Merit winner in 2017, he is on track to complete a Dubai double this week.
“No matter what you do in your career, I feel like a chance to win this tournament, it's close to my heart now, this one,” Fleetwood said. “So just looking forward to the weekend.
“I always feel like it brings out great winners, great champions, so the ultimate goal is to be one of those. Put my name on the trophy.
“Halfway there, enjoy that tonight, and get ready to go again tomorrow.”
Together with Hovland, not to mention Tyrrell Hatton and Robert MacIntrye on 7-under, or Jon Rahm on 6-under, Fleetwood is one of a number of European Ryder Cup players chasing down teammate Hojgaard.
Victorious against the United States in Italy last month, as a rookie no less, and runner-up last week at the Nedbank, clearly the Dane is in great form.
“I trust my game at the moment,” said Hojgaard, no doubt buoyed by the three on the 18th that sealed a 66. “It's been a little bit shaky at times this year, but I feel like we're on track at the moment."
To be fair, it hasn't been too bad a season. Hojgaard has eight top 10s, including a couple of seconds. But, of course, victory right before the curtain comes down on 2023 would be rather sweet.
“That would be pretty cool,” he said. “I feel like that's the only thing I missed this season. But there's two rounds to go. There's a lot of really good players in this field I know that's going to be in the hunt the next few days.
"And I'm going to keep grinding as much as I can and put myself around, hopefully, and we'll see on Sunday.”
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Red Joan
Director: Trevor Nunn
Starring: Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson, Tereza Srbova
Rating: 3/5 stars
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Manchester City (0) v Liverpool (3)
Uefa Champions League, quarter-final, second leg
Where: Etihad Stadium
When: Tuesday, 10.45pm
Live on beIN Sports HD
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
%3Cp%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%201.9km%20King%20Salman%20Boulevard%2C%20a%20Parisian%20Champs-Elysees-inspired%20avenue%2C%20is%20scheduled%20for%20completion%20in%202028%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20Royal%20Diriyah%20Opera%20House%20is%20expected%20to%20be%20completed%20in%20four%20years%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%20first%20of%2042%20hotels%2C%20the%20Bab%20Samhan%20hotel%2C%20will%20open%20in%20the%20first%20quarter%20of%202024%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20On%20completion%20in%202030%2C%20the%20Diriyah%20project%20is%20forecast%20to%20accommodate%20more%20than%20100%2C000%20people%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20%2463.2%20billion%20Diriyah%20project%20will%20contribute%20%247.2%20billion%20to%20the%20kingdom%E2%80%99s%20GDP%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20It%20will%20create%20more%20than%20178%2C000%20jobs%20and%20aims%20to%20attract%20more%20than%2050%20million%20visits%20a%20year%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20About%202%2C000%20people%20work%20for%20the%20Diriyah%20Company%2C%20with%20more%20than%2086%20per%20cent%20being%20Saudi%20citizens%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mica
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
Sweet%20Tooth
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJim%20Mickle%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EChristian%20Convery%2C%20Nonso%20Anozie%2C%20Adeel%20Akhtar%2C%20Stefania%20LaVie%20Owen%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Start times
5.55am: Wheelchair Marathon Elites
6am: Marathon Elites
7am: Marathon Masses
9am: 10Km Road Race
11am: 4Km Fun Run
If%20you%20go
%3Cp%3EThere%20are%20regular%20flights%20from%20Dubai%20to%20Kathmandu.%20Fares%20with%20Air%20Arabia%20and%20flydubai%20start%20at%20Dh1%2C265.%3Cbr%3EIn%20Kathmandu%2C%20rooms%20at%20the%20Oasis%20Kathmandu%20Hotel%20start%20at%20Dh195%20and%20Dh120%20at%20Hotel%20Ganesh%20Himal.%3Cbr%3EThird%20Rock%20Adventures%20offers%20professionally%20run%20group%20and%20individual%20treks%20and%20tours%20using%20highly%20experienced%20guides%20throughout%20Nepal%2C%20Bhutan%20and%20other%20parts%20of%20the%20Himalayas.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
What is Reform?
Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.
Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.
After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
Pakistan T20 series squad
Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Ahmed Shahzad, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Hafeez, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammed Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Amir Yamin, Mohammed Amir (subject to fitness clearance), Rumman Raees, Usman Shinwari, Umar Amin
