Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship Special Report Wednesday

Today's Headlines:

• Rose and Kaymer keen to come out of the shadow of Woods and McIlroy in the desert

• Monty gives backing to McGinley; McIlroy leads calls for future captains to be chosen by players

• As the European Tour gears up for the big tee-off in Abu Dhabi what does the future hold for the Middle East Swing?

• Myerscough College graduates begin 6-month internship with Abu Dhabi Golf Club

Despite the 2013 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship field being narrowly weaker than the 2012 edition it has still attracted an all-star cast to the first of the three tournaments making up the Middle East Swing, and it isn't just all about Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Until last year Abu Dhabi seemed to be Martin Kaymer's personal playground, having claimed the first win of his European Tour career in 2008 and followed that up with a win in 2010 and an emphatic 8-shot victory in 2011. The fact that the former World Number 1 missed the cut last year will serve as added motivation to reclaim his crown in an event which he loves over a course he played in 60-under-par in his three wins. The German undoubtedly comes in under the radar ahead of Thursday's star grouping with McIlroy and Woods, and that could be his favour, with less attention comes a little less pressure.

Kaymer is a former world number one, as is Tiger Woods and the current world number one Rory McIlroy joins them, but there is another man who has held that position before who is making his Abu Dhabi debut after he returned to the Major Championship winners' circle last July. Ernie Els is looking to become the first man to win all three of the big Middle East Swing titles. The 4-time Major Champion's first ever European Tour win was the 1994 Dubai Desert Classic and he has since gone on to claim wins in 2002 and 2005, followed by winning the Qatar Masters in the same year. Els will also be playing in the Qatar Masters next week as he continues his European Tour triple-header to launch his 2013 season following playing in the Volvo Golf Champions last week.

35 of the world's top 100 will tee-it-up tomorrow in Abu Dhabi, among them will be the current world number five Justin Rose. The Englishman's career has progressed nicely over the last three years with wins in the Memorial and AT&T National in 2010, the BMW Championship in 2011 and the WGC-Cadillac Championship moving him from world number 70 at the end of 2009 to world number four at the end of 2012. His last appearance in the middle east was a runner-up finish at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, highlighted by that remarkable putt at the 72^nd hole to cap a final round 62. Rose makes his Abu Dhabi debut as well this week and as everyone in the field says “This is a great place to start the season on many levels,” he said. “Obviously there's a great field assembled here and that's who you want to compete against. The other thing about playing in the desert is you typically get a golf course that's in good condition. So a perfect place to start the season and see exactly where your game's at.”

Apart from all of the star attractions this week in Abu Dhabi a young man from the UAE makes history as the first Emirati to compete in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. Sohail Al Marzouqi is 20 years old and has been playing golf since the age of 6 and is a product of the UAE golf federation junior programme. He won qualifying tournament for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship over the Fire Course at the Jumeirah Golf Estates and will be flying the flag for the host nation this week in a field full of world superstars. The year 2013 makes us reminisce about an event which took place 100 years ago. Francis Ouimet, a 20-year-old amateur from Boston, beat the two greatest golfers of the era (Ted Ray and Harry Vardon) to win the U.S. Open. It sparked a golfing boom across the United States. If the 2500-1 shot does repeat the remarkable feat of Ouimet it could very well spark scenes of jubilation the like of which are rarely seen in golf and launch a true golfing boom across the Middle East.

So everyone is ready for a superb weekend in the desert, Abu Dhabi may well be the youngest event in the Middle East Swing but there can be little doubt that it is now the biggest and best of the three tournaments. Four world number ones, 7 Major Champions, the last three European Ryder Cup captains, and of course Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Yesterday's long awaited announcement of Paul McGinley as 2014 European Ryder Cup captain was warmly welcomed by 2010 captain Colin Montgomerie, who was also a leading contender for the job. Monty praised the Irishman's man management skills and insisted that he was not disappointed with missing out on the job, despite admitting it would have been a dream come true to captain Europe at Gleneagles. This is pure Monty. He is the ultimate gentleman, he may not look like it on the golf course, but away from the course you will not meet a more genuine person and he has acted with class throughout the whole process. It was only the media making it out as if there was any other situation.

Graeme McDowell summed up the reasons McGinley was chosen as captain in a short sentence via Facebook. “He will be a thoughtful, articulate, prepared, motivated, fair and respected captain”.

Mark Roe and Sam Torrance joined the chorus of well wishers as they backed the decision to select McGinley as captain. It is the way he was selected that could be up for question in the future.

Rory McIlroy is leading the calls for ex-Ryder Cup players and captains to determined who the next Ryder Cup captain will be. It is surely a sensible step for a sport that is in essence run by the players.

With the Nike event on Monday and the Ryder Cup announcement on Tuesday there can be little doubt that this is the highest profile Middle East Swing yet, but what is the future for the European Tour's big three desert events? Currently the tour begins with some events in South Africa, two before Christmas and one after, but it really gets going in the Middle East ahead of the players going over to the United States for the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and Florida swing ahead of The Masters. But surely the Middle East Swing would be better served being a bridge between the United States and Europe, and Australia.

The WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship was played in Melbourne in 2001, with pretty dire results. Several leading American and European players declined to play in the tournament which was played from 2-7 January, 40 of the world's top 64 players withdrew meaning the World Number 104 Greg Kraft gained entry into the first WGC of the year. Steve Stricker won.

Unfortunately this championship has remained in the United States ever since, but maybe now with a change of format the WGC-Accenture Match Play could be played once again in Australia, giving worldwide golf big events on every continent. The Middle East Swing could begin with the Volvo Golf Champions in Oman or Bahrain and follow with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, CommercialBank Qatar Masters and end with the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. The schedule of these events could be adapted to enable the world's best to travel from Dubai to Australia in plenty of time for a 2-week Australian swing featuring the Emirates Australian Open and the newly structured WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

The Omega Dubai Desert Classic could be played Wednesday to Saturday, and with Emirates Airline sponsoring bot the Dubai event and the Australian Open the global carrier and Ryder Cup partner could fly the players from Dubai to Sydney for the Australian Open. The fifth oldest championship in golf would also be played Wednesday to Saturday, preceding the Accenture Match Play in Melbourne.

The WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship would feature 64 players, but apart from that it would be entirely different to the current championship played in Arizona.

The tournament would be played partly under floodlights and have two separate morning and evening sessions to enable a truly global television audience. Floodlit golf is popular in Asia and the Middle East and would enable a TV audience outside of the host country to view much more of the golf than if it was played during the daylight hours of Australia. The morning sessions would begin between 7 and 9am each morning which would enable viewers in the United States, South America and Europe to view much of the play live from the morning sessions. Evening play would begin between 5 and 7pm, which would allow viewers in Europe and Africa to view the play at breakfast time.

The 64 players would be grouped into 16 groups of four players and the games would take place over Wednesday and Thursday. Only the group winners would progress to the next stage after 3 group matches, and move onto the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the 36-hole final.

Players would then move on to the West Coast of America for the Los Angeles Open before the Florida Swing and the road to The Masters.

The calendar could work as follows:

Volvo Golf Champions

10-13 January

Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship

17-20 January

CommercialBank Qatar Masters

24-27 January

OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic

30-2 February (Wednesday-Saturday)

Emirates Australian Open

6-9 February (Wednesday-Saturday)

WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship

13-17 February (Wednesday-Sunday)

This change in the schedule would surely make the Middle East Swing even more important as players prepare for the first World Golf Championship, and start their seasons with three superb tournaments on perfectly conditioned courses and breaking up a long flight from the US or Europe to Australia.

As the gaze of the golfing world turns on the Abu Dhabi Golf Resort in the United Arab Emirates this week, as the 2013 European PGA season kicks off in style with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship 2013, three of our 2012 golf management graduates will be working behind the scenes making sure the course if in perfect condition for Tiger and friends.

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SPECIAL FEATURE 

courtesy of Myerscough College

The three aspiring golf management professionals have flown to the United Arab Emirates to start six month internships at the world famous Abu Dhabi Golf Club and Saadiyat Beach Golf Club & Resort.

Simon Borley, 24 from Wiltshire, Steven Hewitt, 23 from Warrington, and Scott Wood, 22 from Telford, all graduated from the International Institute of Golf Education (IIGE) in 2012 with a BA (Hons) degree in Golf Management (The IIGE is a joint venture between Myerscough College and the University of Central Lancashire).

The three interns arrived in the UAE in time to work behind the ropes at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

As part of their internship, the three graduates will be given wide ranging responsibilities within the golf management operation at the Abu Dhabi and Saadiyat Beach Golf Club resorts, including work as course and tournament starters, driving range and golf shop attendants, and responsibility for setting up the golf courses for championship play.

Aside from funding flights to and from the United Arab Emirates, the interns are provided with accommodation, meals, transportation (to and from the golf club) and official uniforms for the duration of their 6 month stay. Interns will work a minimum of six, nine hour shifts per week.

You can read the full article at www.myerscough.ac.uk ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 15 2013 I WILL BE MARKING 10 YEARS SINCE I MOVED INTO UNIVERSITY ACCOMMODATION TO BEGIN MY STUDIES AT MYERSCOUGH COLLEGE WITH A SPECIAL BLOG FEATURING GRADUATES FROM THE CLASS OF 2003 AND FINDING OUT WHERE THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING

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