AUGUSTA, United States // Bubba Watson was feeling good about his chances of winning a second Masters title despite squandering a sizeable lead in Saturday’s third round, and for good reason.
After starting the day three shots in front then extending his lead to five strokes early in his round, the American’s advantage quickly whittled away.
By the time he got to the 18th green, he needed to make a clutch putt to save par and finish tied for the lead with Jordan Spieth, the baby-faced 20-year-old who is bidding to become the youngest Masters champion.
“If this is my worst day, I’m still tied for the lead,” said Watson, who followed up his previous rounds of 69 and 68 with a 74. “I have a great shot for tomorrow.
“If somebody told me I would have shot two-over and still be tied for the lead, I would have taken it in a heartbeat.”
“If I shoot 90 tomorrow I still have a green jacket.”
Having already won the title, Watson said he was not under pressure to win again. The American claimed the coveted green jacket two years after a sudden-death play-off with South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen.
Faced with a seemingly impossible shot from deep in the woods, the left-handed Watson pulled off one of the most remarkable strokes seen in a major golf championship when he bent the ball around the trees and on to the green on his way to a par that clinched the title.
The shot has been replayed countless times on television and visitors to the course make a pilgrimage to the spot where he played it.
Watson has taken a more conventional route to the top of the leaderboard this week. With his booming drives and unwavering self-belief from his 2012 win, he has been able to carefully plot his way around the course with a minimum of fuss.
On Saturday, he averaged 308 yards off the tee and missed just one of 14 fairways. But he failed to consolidate his tee to green success by taking 33 putts to complete his round, seven more than he needed on Friday.
“I hit my driver really well but had a couple three-putts,” he said. “If I don’t three-putt, then, obviously, I’m winning instead of tied for the lead.”
Watson is bidding to become just the 17th player to win at least two Masters titles. The 35-year-old Floridian, who has never had a coach, may play with a cavalier approach to the game but he knows the stakes are high.
“We are all trying to do the same thing. We are all going to be nervous and we all know what it means to our career, for our status to move forward in the game,” he said.
“So it’s going to be tough for everybody, not just guys that have never won one.”
When Watson won in 2011, he was in the penultimate group, and shot a 68 to finish at 10-under, then waited anxiously to learn his fate.
This time he will be in the final pairing, when the pressure of trying to win can be suffocating. Watson said he not only believes he can cope with it, but is looking forward to the experience.
“You always have that dream as a kid when you’re growing up, so when you get here, you hear the same roars and you want to be part of those roars.”
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Islamophobia definition
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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.”
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
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