DUBAI // The lure of a return to familiar surroundings was enough to convince Henrik Stenson last week to make a painstaking journey across the globe, and he justified his dedication yesterday at the Earth Course.
Stenson, a Dubai resident until his move to America in February, was in danger of missing out on the DP World Tour Championship for a second time in two years as he sat 59th in the Race to Dubai - just one place inside the tournament's cut line.
However, early last week the seven-time winner on the European Tour decided to dash from his new home in Orlando, Florida, to contest the South African Open Championship, an event he eventually won by three shots.
"Making Dubai was the main reason I decided to ask for a late invite to South Africa and jump on a plane and travel 30 hours across the world," said Stenson following an opening four-under par 68 around Jumeirah Golf Estates. "I got delayed, got in on Tuesday night and had only a quick practice session and just saw the course. But it was absolutely worth it."
With his victory in South Africa, Stenson ended a three-year period without a title, an amazing run of poor results considering he was once ranked No 5 in the world.
A terrible 2011 campaign saw the 36 year old tumble out of the top 200, but a steady end to this season - he finished in the top six at both the KLM Open and Portugal Masters - prompted a considerable climb. Last week's win ensured he currently resides at No 71.
"It's obviously great and been a long wait for that win, and even though I've improved through the back end of the season, I've had some nice top 10s in Europe and played solid in America," said Stenson, now 45th in the Race to Dubai.
"I can really take a lot of positives out of this year. Still, you want to be up there fighting for trophies and it was a great feeling getting one after that long.
"This far down the line in my career, you judge every season on wins. So it makes this year feel like a really good one.
"Not only because of the win, but also feeling like I'm heading back in the right direction and improving my game.
"I'm just going to dig in to try and finish off with a good tournament here."
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Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
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