Colin Montgomerie will take time off to think about his below-par performance at Bloomfield.
Colin Montgomerie will take time off to think about his below-par performance at Bloomfield.

Golf

Montgomerie the bogey man

Colin Montgomerie crashed out of the US PGA Championship after equalling the worst round of his major career.

Simon Lewis

August 09, 2008

BLOOMFIELD // Colin Montgomerie mised the cut at the US PGA Championship at Oakland Hills when he carded a second-round 84 - equalling the worst round of his major career. Following an opening-round, six-over-par 76 in Detroit on Thursday, the Scot recorded 10 bogeys, two doubles and no birdies for his nightmare 84.

"That's the most difficult day since my poor score at Muirfield [in the 2002 British Open] - but the conditions added to that one," said the Scot. "Unfortunately, it was a reasonably good day today. "I got off to a bad start and kept it going. When you get on a bogey run around here it's very difficult to get off it. The course is very, very severe." Montgomerie thought the course bore little resemblance to the one he enjoyed so much glory on at the 2004 Ryder Cup. "It's set up as difficult as any course I've ever played, and nothing like the place we came and did so well at four years ago," he said. "It's very, very difficult."

Montgomerie refused to contemplate his Ryder Cup fate following his round but pointedly said he was not planning on playing again until the final qualifying event at Gleneagles in three weeks' time, the Johnnie Walker Championship. "That's furthest from my mind right now. Just let me get home this evening - and I'll think about it later on. I wasn't thinking about the Ryder Cup out there; I'm thinking about trying to play as well as I can around here."

Also out of Oakland Hills was Darren Clarke, who admitted he would not even pick himself for the Ryder Cup after a disappointing US PGA Championship. The Northern Irishman shot a second round of 76 for an 11-over-par 151. Clarke was looking to force his way into the captain Nick Faldo's thinking as one of two picks for September's Cup matches, but Oakland Hills dealt his hopes a crushing blow. "I would struggle to pick myself at the moment," he said. "If I play well in those last couple of weeks and he was to pick me, then great - but I have to play well. That is the bottom line - and if I don't I will be watching like everyone else."

One Briton delighted with his day though was Justin Rose. * PA Sport

How tumultuous protests grew
  • A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
  • Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved 
  • Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
  • At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
  • Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars 
  • Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
  • An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital 
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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.”

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  • Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
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  • Submit their request
What are the regulations?
  • Fly it within visual line of sight
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