Rare are the times when Rory McIlroy is treading the fairways of a golf course anywhere and he is not the lead attraction. Particularly when it comes to DP World Tour events in Dubai.
Yet, on Friday afternoon at Jumeirah Golf Estates, it was he who had to deal with the roars of the galleries of the match in front pealing back down the hole towards him.
Worse still, he might have had the chorus of What’s That Coming over the Hill? by The Automatic ringing round his mind. Only with the words “is it the Ware Dog?” substituted for “is it a monster?”.
When Paul Waring suggested he had home advantage coming into the DP World Tour Championship, it was taken to be because he knows this track so well.
It has been his home course since he relocated to the UAE last year. As such, after winning the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Sunday, he felt like he barely needed much practice in the days ahead of this week’s season finale.
Round 2 showed that it also meant he had the home fans on his side, too. The 39-year-old Englishman had a fan club following him around the Earth Course, all wearing bucket hats as well as white T-shirts bearing the legend: “The Ware Dog.”
They were obviously diehard fans – or perhaps, more likely, good mates – of the home hero. Even Waring’s caddie, Alex Evans, was getting some affection, with the occasional shout of “Go on, Alex!”.
And, for nine holes at least, everything was looking so good. When Waring went on a mini-burner, as he birdied the seventh and eighth, he and McIlroy held the lead at 8-under.
Both suddenly went cold, though, and as they did so, a long way in front of them Antoine Rozner started to tear up the course to roar past them.
The Frenchman fired six birdies in the space of eight holes on his way to a 7-under-par round of 65. It took him to 9-under for the tournament, giving him the lead ahead of the start of round three.
“It was one of those days where everything goes in, and I had a ton of fun out there,” Rozner said. “With my caddie we had really good fun, it was one of those days where everything goes right, and I took advantage of it.”
Just as Rozner was signing his card, Waring was going a funny way about earning a birdie at the 14th. He was beside the green of the par-5 in two, but botched his chip, leaving himself a 48ft downhill putt. Cue more cheers, as he promptly rolled it right in.
From there on in, though, the wheels came off. He bogeyed the following three holes, and was only able to finish the par-5 last in par. That meant he signed for a 1-under-par 71 that had promised so much more.
Much the same could be said of McIlroy, too. The world No 3 was 4-under for his round after seven holes, but was becalmed thereafter.
At least he was able to limit the damage, and held on for a share of second place, again with his playing partner Tyrrell Hatton. Their tally of 8-under is one shot behind Rozner.
McIlroy acknowledged he was frustrated with how things went after his fast start, but pointed out he is still well placed to challenge on Sunday.
“My comfort level around this place, it’s always been there ever since the first time we played back in 2009,” McIlroy said.
“The course is set up differently. I need to do a better job of hitting the fairways. I did for the first few holes, and then I let it slip a bit. I started to miss the driver a bit left in the middle of the round. I tried to straighten that out, and again, if I can hit fairways out here, then the greens are very receptive and you give yourself plenty of chances.
“But I’m so comfortable around this place and I’ve had success before. So I’m liking my chances going into the weekend.”
The fact Hatton is just a shot off the lead seems remarkable, given he has scarcely appeared happy at any point on the first two days. He, too, said he was frustrated, and is hoping for an improvement over the weekend.
“Taking the positives from two days where I don’t feel like I’ve played the kind of golf I’m capable of, [yet] we’re one shot off the lead going into the weekend,” Hatton said.
“Hopefully, I can find something and hit it a little bit better. That would make this weekend a little bit more exciting for me. I'll go out there tomorrow and give it my best as I have done the last two days, and just hope something clicks.”
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The Pope's itinerary
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EProcessor%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Apple%20M3%2C%208-core%20CPU%2C%20up%20to%2010-core%20CPU%2C%2016-core%20Neural%20Engine%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDisplay%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2013.6-inch%20Liquid%20Retina%2C%202560%20x%201664%2C%20224ppi%2C%20500%20nits%2C%20True%20Tone%2C%20wide%20colour%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMemory%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%2F16%2F24GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStorage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20256%2F512GB%20%2F%201%2F2TB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EI%2FO%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Thunderbolt%203%2FUSB-4%20(2)%2C%203.5mm%20audio%2C%20Touch%20ID%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EConnectivity%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Wi-Fi%206E%2C%20Bluetooth%205.3%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2052.6Wh%20lithium-polymer%2C%20up%20to%2018%20hours%2C%20MagSafe%20charging%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECamera%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201080p%20FaceTime%20HD%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EVideo%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Support%20for%20Apple%20ProRes%2C%20HDR%20with%20Dolby%20Vision%2C%20HDR10%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAudio%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204-speaker%20system%2C%20wide%20stereo%2C%20support%20for%20Dolby%20Atmos%2C%20Spatial%20Audio%20and%20dynamic%20head%20tracking%20(with%20AirPods)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EColours%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Midnight%2C%20silver%2C%20space%20grey%2C%20starlight%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIn%20the%20box%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20MacBook%20Air%2C%2030W%2F35W%20dual-port%2F70w%20power%20adapter%2C%20USB-C-to-MagSafe%20cable%2C%202%20Apple%20stickers%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh4%2C599%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
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
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
The five pillars of Islam
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
More coverage from the Future Forum
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The years Ramadan fell in May
More on animal trafficking
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPyppl%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEstablished%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2017%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAntti%20Arponen%20and%20Phil%20Reynolds%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20financial%20services%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2418.5%20million%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEmployees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20150%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20series%20A%2C%20closed%20in%202021%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20venture%20capital%20companies%2C%20international%20funds%2C%20family%20offices%2C%20high-net-worth%20individuals%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
West Asia Premiership
Dubai Hurricanes 58-10 Dubai Knights Eagles
Dubai Tigers 5-39 Bahrain
Jebel Ali Dragons 16-56 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More on Quran memorisation:
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
