The irony would be spectacular. When Adam Scott came to the United States as a teenager to attend college, he hooked up with noted coach Butch Harmon, who retooled the young Australian’s swing into a mirror image of the motion used by fellow pupil Tiger Woods, who was at the peak of his powers at the time.
This week at the high-powered Players Championship, with Woods again on the sideline after back surgery, Scott can supplant the man he once mimicked as world No 1, becoming the first Australian since Greg Norman to reach the top of the mountain.
Outside of his swing, though, Scott is a clone of Woods in almost no other fashion.
Polite and respectful, almost to a fault, Scott has been nothing but a credit to the game over his 15 years as a professional. Harmon once suggested that Scott was “too nice” to reach the top of the sport.
Like his Masters victory 13 months ago, moving to No 1 could only help rekindle the sport’s waning flame down under, too.
Scott, who won the Players Championship in 2004, only has to finish 16th this week to go top. “No one else has played better the last three years than Scotty, especially in big tournaments,” fellow Aussie Geoff Ogilvy told the Australian Associated Press.
“He’s a legitimate No 1. He’s a way better player than Tiger at this moment right now, purely on recent record.”
Even better, he is a more likeable person, too.
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Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
UAE v United States, T20 International Series
Both matches at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free.
1st match: Friday, 2pm
2nd match: Saturday, 2pm
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Rameez Shahzad, Amjad Gul, CP Rizwan, Mohammed Boota, Abdul Shakoor, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Amir Hayat
USA squad: Saurabh Netravalkar (captain), Jaskaran Malhotra, Elmore Hutchinson, Aaron Jones, Nosthush Kenjige, Ali Khan, Jannisar Khan, Xavier Marshall, Monank Patel, Timil Patel, Roy Silva, Jessy Singh, Steven Taylor, Hayden Walsh
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The specs
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The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
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Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
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On sale: Now
