With LIV Golf taking a starry field to India, plus Rory McIlroy and many of the rest of the sport's most gilded names heading for Pebble Beach, the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship is battling for airtime this week.
And yet for the majority of Thursday morning it appeared as though a journeyman from the Isle of Wight was going to grab all the limelight on the fairways of the Royal Golf Club in Riffa.
The DP World Tour – formerly the European Tour – is in its 53rd year. More than 10,200 players have played on it. Only once has any of them ever broken 60.
Oliver Fisher became the first to shoot 59 in the tour’s history, back in 2018. And, because of a bogey at the final hole of the opening round in Bahrain for Brandon Robinson Thompson, he remains the only man to do it.
Robinson Thompson acknowledged he was aware history could be beckoning from the ninth hole onwards. By that stage, he had made just 29 blows and had two eagles on his card.
With just the par-4 18th to play, he was on 12-under par. The adrenalin was clearly pulsing as he chased the birdie he needed for history, as he proceeded to push his drive into the waste ground to the left of the fairway.
He had hit 16 of the 17 previous greens in regulation, but his approach to the last went long into the rough. It took him three to get down from there, meaning he signed for a 61.
No mean feat, and good enough for a three-stroke lead at the end of the day. But, still, he acknowledged it was tinged with a little feeling of what might have been.
“I didn’t really picture it this morning when it was raining and there were forecasts of super-strong winds,” Robinson-Thompson said.
“I’m very happy to get off to the start I did. [There is a] little bit of a sour taste in my mouth, but I holed my fair share.
“It was just an accumulation of a lot of good decision-making and execution. I wouldn’t say it was perfect by a long way, but I was smart when I had to be and I hit a couple of shots to 25, 30, 35 feet. Luckily, I made a couple of those.”
The majority of Robinson Thompson’s career to date has been played in professional golf’s margins, including stints on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and the Mena Tour.
The 32-year-old Englishman is probably not used to having his every moved tracked, but his back nine was suddenly under the scanner as “59-watch” gripped.
The broadcasters were in place to see his putt at the 16th, which would have given him a fifth successive birdie, lip out.
“It looked in the whole way,” he said. “I can’t complain. Walking off the green one of the cameramen said, ‘That was an opportunity, just make the next one’. Then I made a 40-footer on the next hole. Shout out to the camera guy.
“I think it’s my lowest round as a professional, let alone on the DP World Tour. It has to be up there with a Sunday to close out a Challenge Tour event last year.
“I know it’s the first round but 61, that’s up there. Everyone keeps saying [it’s tough to follow a low round] but I’ll just keep doing the same stuff.”
The chasing pack contains some other players who have also had a good look around during their careers. Callum Tarren, who shot an eight-under 64 and is in second place, likened the Royal Golf Club’s “crazy greens” to his time playing in China.
The 34-year-old Englishman says he is trying to consolidate his career after a tough time in the United States last year. At one point in 2024, he missed the cut in seven tournaments out of eight on the PGA Tour.
“Last season wasn’t great for me, I had a pretty poor year,” Tarren said. “Having status out here from the PGA Tour last year was like a bonus.
“I’m just trying to take advantage of the starts I get and get back. It’s going to be windy tomorrow, the wind picked up considerably towards the end.”
Local golfers reckon the main defence the course has against tour pros is the weather, which is usually blustery. The course was designed by Colin Montgomerie in 2008, and it has plenty of quirks.
The layout is adjacent to a water treatment plant, and there are earthworks within the perimeter of the course. The plot is split almost exactly in half by pipes running over ground.
At points where the course skirts the neighbouring villas, there are signs saying “no resident buggies” are permitted. Presumably that is lest they get mistaken for the fleet of club buggies that are in action during the competition.
That includes at a number of points where volunteers are employed to ferry the players from one green to the next tee box. Given the large spaces between many of the holes, the walk is a lot longer than the 7,302 yards the course itself plays.
According to Richie Ramsay, whose six-under 66 was good enough for a share of third, the wind provides the biggest test.
“There are some accessible pins out there, the fairways are a bit wider and the rough isn’t as thick as in previous years, but the wind isn’t easy,” Ramsay said.
“It gusts at points out there and the greens can be slopey, so, if you get on the wrong side of them in the wind, it can be quite tricky.”
What's in the deal?
Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024
India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.
India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.
Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments
India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Afghanistan squad
Gulbadin Naib (captain), Mohammad Shahzad (wicketkeeper), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More coverage from the Future Forum
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
THE DETAILS
Kaala
Dir: Pa. Ranjith
Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar
Rating: 1.5/5
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Dubai Rugby Sevens
November 30-December 2, at The Sevens, Dubai
Gulf Under 19
Pool A – Abu Dhabi Harlequins, Jumeirah College Tigers, Dubai English Speaking School 1, Gems World Academy
Pool B – British School Al Khubairat, Bahrain Colts, Jumeirah College Lions, Dubai English Speaking School 2
Pool C - Dubai College A, Dubai Sharks, Jumeirah English Speaking School, Al Yasmina
Pool D – Dubai Exiles, Dubai Hurricanes, Al Ain Amblers, Deira International School
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Honeymoonish
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Results
2pm: Serve U – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Violent Justice, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
2.30pm: Al Shafar Investment – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,400m; Winner: Desert Wisdom, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ahmed Al Shemaili
3pm: Commercial Bank of Dubai – Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Fawaareq, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
3.30pm: Shadwell – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer
4pm: Dubai Real Estate Centre – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Rakeez, Patrick Cosgrave, Bhupat Seemar
4.30pm: Al Redha Insurance Brokers – Handicap (TB) Dh78,000 (D) 1,800m; Winner: Capla Crusader, Bernardo Pinheiro, Rashed Bouresly
RESULTS
Bantamweight: Jalal Al Daaja (JOR) beat Hamza Bougamza (MAR)
Catchweight 67kg: Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR) beat Fouad Mesdari (ALG)
Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) beat Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)
Catchweight 73kg: Mosatafa Ibrahim Radi (PAL) beat Yazid Chouchane (ALG)
Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Badreddine Diani (MAR)
Catchweight 78KG: Rashed Dawood (UAE) beat Adnan Bushashy (ALG)
Middleweight: Sallah-Eddine Dekhissi (MAR) beat Abdel Enam (EGY)
Catchweight 65kg: Yanis Ghemmouri (ALG) beat Rachid Hazoume (MAR)
Lightweight: Mohammed Yahya (UAE) beat Azouz Anwar (EGY)
Catchweight 79kg: Souhil Tahiri (ALG) beat Omar Hussein (PAL)
Middleweight: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) beat Laid Zerhouni (ALG)
More on animal trafficking
If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
