Fresh from their battle this week to win the DP World Tour Championship, Collin Morikawa and Rory McIlroy have been confirmed for the 2022 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The pair, currently ranked world No 2 and No 8 respectively, will tee it up at the tournament’s first run at Yas Links Abu Dhabi, from January 20-23. The event, previously staged at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, represents the first Rolex Series tournament on the DP World Tour’s 2022 schedule. As such, it carries a purse of $8 million.
Morikawa, 24, will debut in Abu Dhabi having only just tasted success in the UAE with victory at the DP World Tour Championship on Sunday. The two-time major winner, the reigning Open champion, secured the European Tour’s season finale in stunning fashion at Jumeirah Golf Estates, prevailing by three shots. With the win, Morikawa became the first American to capture the Race to Dubai.
“I cannot wait to return to the Middle East and play the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship for the first time,” Morikawa said in a statement on Wednesday. “I have heard great things about the event and it always attracts a world-class field year on year, but I know this year will be extra special at Yas Links for the first time.
“It’s a course which I know is hugely popular among the players from the Pro-Am that has been played there in the past, and I’m excited to start my season as reigning DP World Tour Rankings Champion there.”
McIlroy, meanwhile, led the DP World Tour Championship going into the final round at the Earth Course, but eventually finished in a tie for sixth. The former world No 1, a four-time major champion, has a remarkable record in Abu Dhabi: he has finished third in his past three appearances, and runner-up in four of his previous five attempts.
McIlroy, 32, has another third-placed finish at the event and one other top five in 11 appearances overall.
“I have many happy memories of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, and once again look forward to starting my year at this wonderful tournament,” the Northern Irishman said in the same press release. “Yas Links is a spectacular course and is going to provide a new challenge but one all players will enjoy.
“Obviously, I have come close a few times at this event in the past, and I’m hopeful I can be in with a chance of picking up that trophy for the first time come Sunday.”
First staged in 2006, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship has long established itself as one of the premier events on Europe’s lead circuit outside of the majors and the World Golf Championships. Its roll of honour includes three-time winner Martin Kaymer, two-time champions Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood, and the likes of Rickie Fowler, Shane Lowry and Lee Westwood.
England’s Tyrrell Hatton is the defending champion having earlier this year secured a four-shot victory over Australian Jason Scrivener. McIlroy was one stroke further back. It proved to be the final championship played on the National Course.
The Kyle Phillips-designed Yas Links was recently ranked 48th in Golf Digest's Top 100 courses worldwide, with its closing stretch – 16, 17, 18 – expected to provide a fitting finale to the Abu Dhabi event. Last month, organisers said that the Aldar Properties-owned course has undergone a series of extensive improvements, “ensuring the current course conditions are now perfect for the world’s best golfers”.
January’s tournament represents the first of back-to back Rolex Series events in the UAE, with the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic upgraded for the first time. The season-ending DP World Tour Championship means three of the five tournaments in the series, which carry enhanced prize funds and typically boast elite fields, will be staged in the Emirates.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
'Falling%20for%20Christmas'
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Janeen%20Damian%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20Lindsay%20Lohan%2C%20Chord%20Overstreet%2C%20Jack%20Wagner%2C%20Aliana%20Lohan%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%201%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
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.”
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
The specs: 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Price, base: Dh198,300
Engine: 2.0L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 280hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7L / 100km
