If Thomas Levet has learnt one thing from the past weekend, it is never again jump into a lake in golfing clothes.
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The 43-year-old Frenchman could not hide his delight after a nail-biting, one-shot win over Mark Foster and Thorbjorn Olsen at the French Open, just outside Paris, on Sunday.
So he decided to jump in the water beside the 18th hole. It was his only mistake over four days and it was a big one.
Levet fell awkwardly and broke a bone in his shin — he is out of this week's Scottish Open, which he won in 2004.
And, more importantly, he misses the trip to Royal St George's in Sandwich for the British Open, a tournament in which he has a decent record, finishing second in 2003 and fifth just two years later.
The French Open was one of the best wins of his career, but it will now be remembered for what he did off the course rather than on it when he came back from a three-shot deficit to win his own country's big tournament at Le Golf National where, in 2018, he is favourite to captain the European Ryder Cup team.
"I am extremely disappointed to miss out on the [British] Open, but my specialist has advised me to have an operation on the fracture tomorrow morning," said Levet yesterday.
"I will have screws and a plate inserted which will ensure that my shin recovers completely.
"I will be off for six weeks, which is very bad timing with so many important tournaments coming up.
"However, the wonderful memory of winning my national Open will definitely keep me going through my recovery."
Every golfer has found the water at some time with an errant iron shot, but few could have been as costly as this. Jean van de Velde, a fellow Frenchman and part of the team that won Paris the 2018 Ryder Cup, knows what it is like to see your Open hopes drown.
In 1999 he was famously beaten by Paul Lawrie at golf's oldest tournament when, while only requiring a double bogey six or better at the last hole to win, he hit into a stream at Carnoustie and then took off his socks and shoes to follow his ball.
"I feel so bad for Thomas because he played wonderfully on Sunday, and it was fantastic to see a Frenchman win our biggest tournament," van de Velde said. "But I don't know why he does these things. Thomas is probably the only player who could injure himself by jumping in a lake after a win.
"I never know what he is going to do next, although I thought he might be too old for this sort of stunt."
ncameron@thenational.ae
The view from The National
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Iftar programme at the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding
Established in 1998, the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding was created with a vision to teach residents about the traditions and customs of the UAE. Its motto is ‘open doors, open minds’. All year-round, visitors can sign up for a traditional Emirati breakfast, lunch or dinner meal, as well as a range of walking tours, including ones to sites such as the Jumeirah Mosque or Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood.
Every year during Ramadan, an iftar programme is rolled out. This allows guests to break their fast with the centre’s presenters, visit a nearby mosque and observe their guides while they pray. These events last for about two hours and are open to the public, or can be booked for a private event.
Until the end of Ramadan, the iftar events take place from 7pm until 9pm, from Saturday to Thursday. Advanced booking is required.
For more details, email openminds@cultures.ae or visit www.cultures.ae
High profile Al Shabab attacks
- 2010: A restaurant attack in Kampala Uganda kills 74 people watching a Fifa World Cup final football match.
- 2013: The Westgate shopping mall attack, 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers and four gunmen are killed.
- 2014: A series of bombings and shootings across Kenya sees scores of civilians killed.
- 2015: Four gunmen attack Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya and take over 700 students hostage, killing those who identified as Christian; 148 die and 79 more are injured.
- 2016: An attack on a Kenyan military base in El Adde Somalia kills 180 soldiers.
- 2017: A suicide truck bombing outside the Safari Hotel in Mogadishu kills 587 people and destroys several city blocks, making it the deadliest attack by the group and the worst in Somalia’s history.
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.”
