If you really can judge somebody by the company they keep, then Paul Waring is doing well. Even as he mixes in an increasingly starry set, and plans for an entirely altered future after a “monumental” change in circumstances over the past two weeks, he remains a golfing everyman.
One week, he was shouldering the likes of Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton and Shane Lowry out the way to earn the finest win of his 17 years as a DP World Tour professional.
He looked like he belonged in such vaunted company as he won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, then appeared to be actively revelling in it at the DP World Tour Championship a week later.
His extraordinary form ran dry at the last, as he eventually had to settle for a tie for 16th in the season-ending tournament, after holding a share of the lead at one point during the weekend. It made sense that the adrenalin was finally going to course out of him at some point, given the highs of the previous few days.
The win in Abu Dhabi followed by the solid finish in Dubai vaulted him up to fifth in the Race to Dubai. He has also moved from 229th in the world rankings to 101st.
He won €1,419,771 along with the Falcon Trophy in the capital. The showing at Jumeirah Golf Estates topped that up with an additional €105,250. It meant that in the space of seven days he had increased his career earnings on the tour by around a third.
On Wednesday, he was named as part of Luke Donald's Great Britain and Ireland team that will take on Continental Europe early in 2025 in the Team Cup.
And through it all, if he looked like he was out enjoying a Friday four-ball with mates, there was a good reason for it. During the second round of the Tour Championship, he was followed around the Earth Course by a big group of friends with whom he usually does exactly that.
They were cheering his every move. They had T-shirts specially made, bearing the inscription, “The Ware Dog”. And they were wearing bucket hats referencing the 500 Club, which is the society Waring plays with in Dubai on as many Fridays as his schedule permits.
Presumably they might be seeing a little less of him given how his life has changed since Abu Dhabi.
“It’s monumentally different, more different than you ever could imagine,” Waring told The National. “I was 48th on the race, trying to solidify my place [at the season-ending Tour Championship] and that was a really solid season.
“I had been playing nicely and always knew that a win was around the corner. I was going to work hard over the winter and try to get that done next year.
“Then to go to Abu Dhabi and do that last week, it has changed everything completely for me now. Now we are going to be over in America a lot more next year playing on the PGA Tour. I will still come back to Europe when I can.”
Even saying those words feels surreal. On the strength of one fine week, his whole schedule will be amended, and the guys he has been knocking about with for so long will be left behind.
He says the idea of not seeing so much of his old mates will be bittersweet, but is keen to test himself in the United States. “The DP World Tour is my home. It has been my home for the past 17 years,” Waring said.
“I got my card in 2007 and never lost it. I battled through a few things here and there, but everyone here has been so supportive throughout my career. I have so many friends over here and I am going to really miss a few people.
“I am not going to stand here and lie and say I can’t wait to get over on to the PGA Tour. I will miss people on this tour, but at the same time I am looking forward to a fresh challenge. I have played this tour for so long now it will be nice to go and try something new.”
Waring has taken his time about being an overnight sensation. He is 39 now, and he says that a move to Dubai last year has helped him reach the heights he thought he was capable of.
“I have always felt as though I was a better player than my performances have showed,” Waring said.
“I am not going to say I have underachieved, because with this game, you are where you are. I was in [lower] positions because some parts of my game weren’t good enough relative to other parts of my game.
“Having been in Dubai now for a year, practising in such great facilities, areas of my game have improved so much they have allowed me to go and compete at this top level and keep myself there for consistent periods of rounds.”
He describes relocating to Dubai as being a “no-brainer”. When he was living at home in Manchester, he would transit through Dubai International Airport to travel to every event between October and May anyway.
“For over half my year, I am saving myself four hours of jet lag and seven hours of travel,” he said.
“Also, during the winter months, where better in the world is there to practice? It was a no-brainer. It has meant a change of lifestyle, and I have met some great people out here as well. It has been the best thing I have ever done.”
Another thing that his excellence in the first DP World Tour Play-offs has done is have him dreaming about playing in the Ryder Cup for the first time. He is now fifth in Europe’s Ryder Cup points rankings, with only McIlroy, Rasmus Hojgaard, Hatton and Matt Wallace ahead of him.
Maybe Europe’s fans might want to learn the words to the catchy ditty his mates from the 500 Club were singing at points during Round 2 at JGE: what’s that coming over the hill, is it the Ware Dog?
“It is just a great group of lads,” Waring said. “They have made me feel so welcome here, I have made some real true friends in the past 12 months. I am very grateful for them showing their support in those first few days.
“They were screaming and shouting, and singing along, creating a great atmosphere. I have had a good start in the Ryder Cup points, and it would be a dream and a goal to go and play in the Ryder Cup. I know I have a long way to go and a lot more to do.
“Even from a mentality point of view, having those guys there being a bit rowdy, at least they are shouting for me. If I was to get to Bethpage for the Ryder Cup, it is going to be brutal, so the more I can put myself in those situations and the more I can get comfortable with it, the better.”
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
A cryptocurrency primer for beginners
Cryptocurrency Investing for Dummies – by Kiana Danial
There are several primers for investing in cryptocurrencies available online, including e-books written by people whose credentials fall apart on the second page of your preferred search engine.
Ms Danial is a finance coach and former currency analyst who writes for Nasdaq. Her broad-strokes primer (2019) breaks down investing in cryptocurrency into baby steps, while explaining the terms and technologies involved.
Although cryptocurrencies are a fast evolving world, this book offers a good insight into the game as well as providing some basic tips, strategies and warning signs.
Begin your cryptocurrency journey here.
Available at Magrudy’s , Dh104
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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