With three-eighths of its inaugural edition still to run, the jury still has plenty of time to reach a verdict on the DP World Tour play-offs.
Unless, perhaps, Paul Waring has the casting vote, in which case it will already be deemed the most resounding success imaginable.
Nobody has benefitted more from the new, two-legged finale to the tour season than the 39-year-old Dubai resident.
This time last week, it might still have been possible to regard him as a journeyman pro, even if he had just signed for an eight-under par 64 to start the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links.
In the time since, the Englishman has seen his bank balance swell, his trophy collection double, his ranking soar, and his ambitions transform out of sight.
Now it almost feels de rigueur for the new Abu Dhabi champ to be vying among the stars of the game at the top of a Rolex Series leaderboard.
After the first round of the DP World Tour Championship, he is placed third among the 50 players who made the cut for this restricted field tournament.
His opening day four-under-par 68 around Earth Course is just one shot behind the joint leaders, Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton. And he is ahead of the likes of Adam Scott, Billy Horschel and Shane Lowry, as well as a variety of other stars.
“Coming off last week, being able to come straight out of the blocks and get going again, I was really impressed with myself,” Waring said.
“[It has been the] first time dealing for me with a lot of media on a Tuesday and Wednesday. That is something that I’m not used to and something that hopefully I’ll have to get used to.
“It takes time and energy, so to be able to separate that and get on the golf course Thursday afternoon and go again, I'm really happy I was able to reset and get back into that flow state.”
Scoring on the opening day at the Earth Course was not as spectacular as at Yas last week, when the previous course record of 62 was matched twice, while Waring lowered it to 61 on the second day.
Waring was in the hottest match on the course, as Hatton was his playing partner. Even though the latter holds a share of the lead after Round 1, his trademark grumpiness was vented a number of times on the way round.
Notably, Hatton was irked by the turf on the fairways at times, and he said conditions were unusual. “I don’t know how the weather has been over here but the greens are definitely slower than they have been in the past,” Hatton said, after signing for 67.
“Because they are slower, the grain probably takes the ball a little bit more so they don't roll maybe as good as they have done previously and the fairways are a little bit weird, as well.
“The fairways are quite awkward to play off, even on the last, I hit a nice wedge shot and I got a flyer off the fairway. You're not really playing for that.”
Few players in the field will be quite as au fait with the intricacies of the Earth Course as his playing partner. Jumeirah Golf Estates is Waring’s home club, which means he felt comfortable ahead of the start of the championship.
“The surface is a bit different,” Waring said. “It is a bit tighter. You’ll see it’s a bit compacted sand underneath so chipping is not the easiest at the moment, and the greens are just a little bit quicker than what we tend to see sort of week-in and week-out.
“The course has been presented really well with everything that went on at the start of the year with the storms. They have done really well to get it in the state they have.”
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Sreesanth's India bowling career
Tests 27, Wickets 87, Average 37.59, Best 5-40
ODIs 53, Wickets 75, Average 33.44, Best 6-55
T20Is 10, Wickets 7, Average 41.14, Best 2-12
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 502hp at 7,600rpm
Torque: 637Nm at 5,150rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh317,671
On sale: now
Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
THE 12 BREAKAWAY CLUBS
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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.
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
Read more about the coronavirus
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Day 2, stumps
Pakistan 482
Australia 30/0 (13 ov)
Australia trail by 452 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the innings
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CREW
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The biog
Name: Fareed Lafta
Age: 40
From: Baghdad, Iraq
Mission: Promote world peace
Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi
Role models: His parents
