The 10th edition of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship tees off Thursday morning with the opening round of the four-day event at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. Ahead of the action, we take a look back at some of the tournament’s most memorable moments.
2007 – WING SHOTS
Debuted the previous year, Henrik Stenson stamped his mark on the Etihad Airways ‘Swing on the Wing’. The Swede followed Paul Casey and Ian Poulter by climbing onto the wing of an Eithad A330, although he offered a considerable increase in propulsion. By blasting his ball 721 yards, Stenson set a new Asian long-drive record.
2009 – ALL HAIL THE DESERT
Traditionally seen as the perfect, warm-weather start to the season, the European Tour’s top professionals were sent scurrying for cover under palm trees. An impromptu hailstorm during the first round halted play for two hours, blanketing the National Course in white. For a brief time, Abu Dhabi had been transformed into Aspen.
2009 – AMATEUR MISTAKE
Having driven into the rough on the seventh hole of his first round, Henrik Stenson retrieved what turned out to be the wrong ball. The Srixon he played was someone else’s, left there from the previous day’s pro-am. Cue a two-shot penalty. Stenson would go on to miss the cut.
2011 – TRIAL BY TV
Padraig Harrington finished the first round as leader, but he did not return the next day. Failing to replace his ball on the seventh green after inadvertently moving it a fraction, he should have incurred a two-shot penalty but instead signed for a 65. He was disqualified when an eagle-eyed television viewer called the European Tour and informed an official.
2012 – CULTURE CLUB
It was not your usual warm-up. Making his tournament debut, Tiger Woods took part in the customary pre-event photo call, but this was one with a difference. The 14-time major champion, the week’s headline act, was taken through a traditional ‘ayala’ dance by a group of Emiratis. Looking slightly bemused, for once Woods was marching to someone else’s beat.
2012 – THREE TIMES A CHARM
To happen once is something special, twice pretty astounding, but a third time? Spectators camped out at the par-3 12th hole were treated to fireworks, with Sergio Garcia and Jose Manuel Lara each registering a hole-in-one there during their first rounds. Then, on Sunday, Graeme McDowell repeated the feat. A trio of aces – extraordinary.
2012 – ROBERT THE ROCK STAR
Having finished the third round in the lead, Robert Rock discovered he would be paired with Tiger Woods for the final day and conceded: “I’m not sure how much sleep I’ll get.” Little matter, as the unheralded Englishman held off the golf great to seal the title. Then 121st in the world standings, Rock remains the tournament’s lowest-ranked winner.
2013 – PLANE SAILING
Jason Dufner, the world No 11, arrived for his Abu Dhabi debut without regular caddie, Kevin Baile, who was unable to travel. So up stepped Brian Mullen, an Etihad Airways pilot, to fill the void. “He didn’t fall over, drop anything or once give me the wrong club,” Dufner said afterwards. It was faint praise, but Mullen was on cloud nine.
2013 – TIGER TROUBLE
A characteristic back-nine rally seemed to have saved Tiger Woods from the cut, but then disaster struck. The American had taken what turned out to be an incorrect drop on the fifth hole of his second round and thus incurred a two-stroke penalty. He found out only once the 18 holes were complete. It was Woods’s first missed cut in a regular European Tour event.
2014 – BREAKING THE RULES
Being golf’s shining light presumably leaves little time to spend getting acquainted with the game’s regulations. Rory McIlroy certainly wished he had, though, after he was denied the title by dint of a two-stroke penalty incurred during his third round. It was the second time in three years he missed out on the hardware because of a rules infraction.
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Results
2pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 40,000 (Dirt) 1,200m, Winner: AF Thayer, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).
2.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 40,000 (D) 1,200m, Winner: AF Sahwa, Nathan Crosse, Mohamed Ramadan.
3pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 40,000 (D) 1,000m, Winner: AF Thobor, Szczepan Mazur, Ernst Oertel.
3.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 40,000 (D) 2,000m, Winner: AF Mezmar, Szczepan Mazur, Ernst Oertel.
4pm: Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup presented by Longines (TB) Dh 200,000 (D) 1,700m, Winner: Galvanize, Nathan Cross, Doug Watson.
4.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 40,000 (D) 1,700m, Winner: Ajaj, Bernardo Pinheiro, Mohamed Daggash.
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THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
Stamp duty timeline
December 2014: Former UK finance minister George Osbourne reforms stamp duty, replacing the slab system with a blended rate scheme, with the top rate increasing to 12 per cent from 10 per cent:
Up to £125,000 - 0%; £125,000 to £250,000 – 2%; £250,000 to £925,000 – 5%; £925,000 to £1.5m: 10%; Over £1.5m – 12%
April 2016: New 3% surcharge applied to any buy-to-let properties or additional homes purchased.
July 2020: Rishi Sunak unveils SDLT holiday, with no tax to pay on the first £500,000, with buyers saving up to £15,000.
March 2021: Mr Sunak decides the fate of SDLT holiday at his March 3 budget, with expectations he will extend the perk unti June.
April 2021: 2% SDLT surcharge added to property transactions made by overseas buyers.
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
