Kieron Stevenson playing alongside Haydn Porteous of South Africa hits a shot on the 18th hole during the third round on day three of the 145th Open Championship at Royal Troon on July 16, 2016 in Troon, Scotland. Andrew Redington / Getty Images
Kieron Stevenson playing alongside Haydn Porteous of South Africa hits a shot on the 18th hole during the third round on day three of the 145th Open Championship at Royal Troon on July 16, 2016 in Troon, Scotland. Andrew Redington / Getty Images
Kieron Stevenson playing alongside Haydn Porteous of South Africa hits a shot on the 18th hole during the third round on day three of the 145th Open Championship at Royal Troon on July 16, 2016 in Troon, Scotland. Andrew Redington / Getty Images
Kieron Stevenson playing alongside Haydn Porteous of South Africa hits a shot on the 18th hole during the third round on day three of the 145th Open Championship at Royal Troon on July 16, 2016 in Tro

Sport

British Open: Marker makes sure Haydn Porteous isn’t the odd man out at Royal Troon

A club golfer was thrust into the limelighton Saturday after being invited to play as a marker in the third round of the British Open at Troon in Scotland.

Agencies

July 16, 2016

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A club golfer was thrust into the limelighton Saturday after being invited to play as a marker in the third round of the British Open at Troon in Scotland.

Honour

Kieron Stevenson, the head professional at host club Royal Troon, was given the honour of playing alongside first man out Haydn Porteous after an odd number of players made the cut.

Late call

Stevenson’s role as a “marker” did not count for anything but his presence brought balance to the start of the day’s play. Stevenson, 43, who received the call to play at around 10pm on Friday, was conscious not to get in Porteous’s way but found the experience a memorable one.

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‘Great fun’

“I played OK. I hit some good shots and bad shots. I didn’t keep score but it was great, good fun,” Stevenson said. “It was an absolute pleasure to be out with Haydn. We had some good chats out there and he was really nice to play with.” He was impressed as South African Porteous, who only just made the cut at four over after a double-bogey at the 18th on Friday, carded a superb 68. Stevenson said: “It was great to be out there with someone playing so well. He is a lovely young man and he played really good golf.”

Laughs on the course

Porteous was keen to thank his playing partner. “He’s a really nice guy and easy to talk to,” he said. “We had a good laugh and he stayed out of my way. It kept the round nice and light-hearted.”

Monty’s last stand?

Colin Montgomerie now looks like he could play his last round at a British Open by himself. The Scotsman dropped to last place this weekend after shooting 41 on the back nine for an eight-over-par 79. He is 12-over par for the week at Royal Troon, his home club and where his father was club secretary. Montgomerie said he likely will not attempt to qualify for the Open again.

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Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

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The Programme

Saturday, October 26: ‘The Time That Remains’ (2009) by Elia Suleiman
Saturday, November 2: ‘Beginners’ (2010) by Mike Mills
Saturday, November 16: ‘Finding Vivian Maier’ (2013) by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
Tuesday, November 26: ‘All the President’s Men’ (1976) by Alan J Pakula
Saturday, December 7: ‘Timbuktu’ (2014) by Abderrahmane Sissako
Saturday, December 21: ‘Rams’ (2015) by Grimur Hakonarson

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The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at. 
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.   

Australia tour of Pakistan

March 4-8: First Test, Rawalpindi  

March 12-16: Second Test, Karachi 

March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore

March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi

March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi

April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi

April 5: T20I, Rawalpindi

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Pakistan 106-8 (20 ovs)

Iftikhar 45, Richardson 3-18

Australia 109-0 (11.5 ovs)

Warner 48 no, Finch 52 no

Australia win series 2-0

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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