If Paul Waring had paid just a little more thought to quite what was at stake for him on Sunday, this week might have gone down a whole lot differently.
As it was, he rocked up to Yas Links for the final day of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship with his cap on back to front, wearing shorts, and acting like he had not a care in the world.
Of course, as Rory McIlroy likes to put it, all he was really doing was hitting a little ball around a field. But he held a slender lead in the championship, and was on the brink of the biggest win of his career.
Even as a thrilling last day unfolded, and some of the sport’s biggest names – McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry among them – banked up behind him, he still did not waver.
At the 10th tee, while one of his playing partners worried about an errant tee shot, he tucked into a sandwich wrap instead.
And it all worked out perfectly. The 39-year-old Englishman closed out the second title of his career, his first Rolex Series win, and by far his biggest ever payday.
Life has changed markedly as a result. Now he can plan for the potential of playing at the British Open and the US PGA next season, for more time in the United States, and even a shot at Europe’s Ryder Cup team.
And to think, all he really had on his mind when he travelled down the coast road from Dubai to the capital was to make the cut for the 50-player, restricted- field season finale at his home course.
He had been 48th in the Race to Dubai ahead of Abu Dhabi. When he tees it up in the DP World Tour Championship at Earth Course, he will be sitting pretty in fifth.
“It has been absolute chaos, in all honesty,” Waring said of the past few days.
“It’s been a massive comedown. The adrenalin has finally come out of me a little bit. It’s kind of hit me what I’ve just achieved.
“I’m very proud of what I’ve been through and how I coped with it, but it’s been an absolute roller coaster these last few days.
“I didn’t realise the enormity of it when I was in the situation. Even afterwards, after lifting the trophy, nothing had sunk in about what I had actually gone and achieved.”
He says the prospect of playing on the US PGA Tour, as well as in the Ryder Cup, feels like a dream.
“It’s something that I think we aspire to play with the best players in the world, to forward my career and play on that side of the pond, with more world ranking points available, and potentially get in a few of the majors now,” Waring said.
“For me personally, of course [the Ryder Cup is] something we all dream of. Any level of golf, obviously the Solheim Cup, Ryder Cup, it's something that you grow up watching and feeling a part of.
“It’s my connection with the DP World Tour in Europe and the representation of Europe in that situation that would make me really want to play. But it's not just playing for me. It's about going and competing, getting the points.
“I'd only ever want to go if I was that person that could go and get a point. Because you have to be a beast to go and compete over there.”
Waring will go out in the third-last match of Round 1 of the tour championship, at what he terms “my backyard” in Jumeirah Golf Estates.
He will be in a match with Tyrrell Hatton, starting at 12.25pm, with Rasmus Hojgaard and Billy Horschel following 10 minutes later, before race leader McIlroy and Thriston Lawrence are the last match out on Day 1.
McIlroy is as good as assured a sixth Race to Dubai title, which will put him level on order of merit wins with Seve Ballesteros.
“[Ballesteros] was my dad's favourite player, and the immense impact he had on European golf from a Ryder Cup perspective and from what he did for the European Tour, he means a lot to the overall game of golf but specifically this tour,” McIlroy said.
“To draw level with him and to have a career that can somewhat stack up against his is very cool.”
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
The years Ramadan fell in May
Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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More on Quran memorisation:
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
The five pillars of Islam
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
The years Ramadan fell in May
How to vote
Canadians living in the UAE can register to vote online and be added to the International Register of Electors.
They'll then be sent a special ballot voting kit by mail either to their address, the Consulate General of Canada to the UAE in Dubai or The Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi
Registered voters mark the ballot with their choice and must send it back by 6pm Eastern time on October 21 (2am next Friday)
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
