The season's third major tees off later this week, with a number of intriguing storylines playing out in California. Here’s the lowdown.
Event:
US Open, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, California.
What is it:
The 119th edition of the Unites States’ national open, it features 156 players. The prize fund is $12.5 million (Dh45.9m), making it the most lucrative event in major championship golf. The winner is expected to take home $2.25m.
When is it:
Thursday to Sunday (June 13-16).
Where is it:
Pebble Beach Golf Links: 7,075 yards, par 71. Running along the Pacific coastline, the celebrated course regularly features among the top tracks in the world. It has hosted six major championships – five US Opens, one PGA Championship – and is a staple on the regular PGA Tour calendar, with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Past champions:
Not surprisingly, Americans have dominated the tournament, with Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan holding the most victories, at four. However, they are joined on that number by Scot Willie Anderson, whose wins arrived between 1901 and 1905.
Tiger Woods and Hale Irwin both have three titles, while 16 other players boast multiple victories. South Africans Ernie Els and Retief Goosen the only non-Americans on that list. Brooks Koepka is the defending champion this week.
In regards to the course, the US Open winners at Pebble are: Nicklaus (1972), Tom Watson (1982), Tom Kite (1992), Woods (2000) and Graeme McDowell (2010). Lanny Wadkins captured the PGA Championship there, in 1977. Earlier this year, Phil Mickelson won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Standout storylines:
- Koepka is attempting to become the second man to win the tournament in three successive years (Anderson is the other).
- Woods is seeking a second major of the season and 82nd PGA Tour victory, which would draw him level with Sam Snead's record. It's worth remembering Woods won the tournament at Pebble in 2000 by a record 15 shots.
- Mickelson is bidding to become only the sixth man to complete the career grand slam.
- Rory McIlroy is coming off a comprehensive win in Canada on Sunday and aiming to end a five-year major drought.
- Fellow former world No 1 Jordan Spieth is back, finally, on form.
Notable threeballs Rounds 1 & 2:
- Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose
- Brooks Koepka, Francesco Molinari, Viktor Hovland (am)
- Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Marc Leishman
- Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Graeme McDowell
- Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Kevin Kisner
- Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Si Woo Kim
How to watch:
Still, no PGA Tour or European Tour golf is broadcast live on UAE television, but the United States Golf Association website will be showing "featured groups" and "featured holes". The action begins on Thursday at 6:45am local time, which is 5:45pm in the Emirates.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
65
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EScott%20Beck%2C%20Bryan%20Woods%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAdam%20Driver%2C%20Ariana%20Greenblatt%2C%20Chloe%20Coleman%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Limehouse Golem
Director: Juan Carlos Medina
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Bill Nighy, Douglas Booth
Three stars
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
The%20specs
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RIDE%20ON
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Result
UAE (S. Tagliabue 90 1') 1-2 Uzbekistan (Shokhruz Norkhonov 48', 86')
The%20specs
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CONFIRMED%20LINE-UP
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now