Luke Donald, Rory Mcllroy and Tiger Woods played together for the second round.
Luke Donald, Rory Mcllroy and Tiger Woods played together for the second round.

Numbers still add up on a day of mixed fortunes in Abu Dhabi



ABU DHABI // Measuring by population, the teeming leaderboard halfway through the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship boasts 39 players under par and within six shots of the front. Measuring by rankings, it shouts six of the top 25 players on earth.

Measuring by CVs, it has seven major winners, plus people with the names Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald.

Measuring by starlight, it revels in close contention from Rory McIlroy with his carnival of golf possibilities and Tiger Woods with his refurbished sharpness.

By any measure, the weekend at Abu Dhabi Golf Club does look considerably north of dull.

"It's not many years ago I was watching them on TV," said the Danish 22-year-old Thorbjorn Olesen, and he led the thing at seven under after his seven-birdie, two-bogey round shone with a daydream 32 outward nine.

Matteo Manassero, the 18-year-old Italian, celebrated "the best [round] in maybe the last six months" as he barrelled to six under after a 65, troubled with only 21 putts including a par save from yonder on 17.

"Still haven't dropped a shot, which is nice," said Gareth Maybin from the golf stratosphere of Northern Ireland, and his 36 holes with zero bogeys left him tucked next to Manassero.

Bigger noise rumbled beneath, with McIlroy and Woods at five under, and came even from a golf course that spoke up for itself after Martin Kaymer's lavish winning scores of 2010 (21-under par) and 2011 (24-under).

It ordered the three-time champion to get lost after his 73 that followed a 77.

"The course is much tougher; the rough, it's much thicker," said Garcia, whose four-under par found him alongside the reigning Masters champion, Charl Schwartzel and, a certain Padraig Harrington, winless on the European Tour since his Open-PGA major double of summer 2008.

"I'll be happy if I keep playing like I played the last two days for the rest of the year," said Irishman Harrington, who is freshly 40.

Galleries will be happy if McIlroy keeps playing like he did yesterday in a one-man assault on tedium. In 18 holes, he managed to cram in seven birdies - making it 13 for the tournament - and two bogeys and two double bogeys and one two-shot penalty for an unfortunate little turn of housecleaning on No 9.

"I mean, my ball was just maybe six feet off the green and there was a lot of sand in between my ball and the hole," McIlroy said. "I just brushed the sand and Luke [Donald] was, like, 'I don't think you can brush sand off the fringe.' And I'm, like, 'Oh, yeah, you're right.'" The boo-boo bothered him so greatly that he birdied three of the next five holes.

Not many people can bogey No 1 in two fairway bunkers, double-bogey No 3, accidentally breach the arcane sand rules on No 9, bogey No 11 and still shoot 72 but, then, one of those people saw McIlroy up close the first two days, will see him in the same group again today, has won 14 major titles and certainly looks about as refreshed as at any time since it is-hard-to-remember.

Of Woods, McIlroy said, "He's definitely got the ball under control. He seems comfortable. He's only had a couple bogeys in two days. He's not making many mistakes and he's very consistent. His ball flight looks good. Really looking forward to battling over the weekend."

Told he seems to hit the ball in 2012 with less effort yet more oomph, Woods said: "Correct."

He cited the improvement of his club-head positioning and told of "12 months more knowledge" with the swing coach Sean Foley since contending halfway through and then tapering off last February in Dubai.

He spoke of putting better than on Thursday when he found the greens only faintly legible and said, "I'm playing well." That alone tends to promise a good weekend, yet it has scores of company.

German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

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.”

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

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The Sand Castle

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Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

SPECS
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Transmission: eight-speed PDK automatic

Power: 445bhp

Torque: 530Nm

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