ABU DHABI // Charl Schwartzel upstaged four reigning major champions and the world No 1 yesterday to take the overnight lead in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
The South African recorded an eight-under-par 64 to claim a one-shot advantage over Padraig Harrington, a three-time major winner, while Graeme McDowell, the current US Open champion, was a further shot away in third.
Schwartzel had hit the front after notching three successive birdies on the turn for home when a lapse at the 17th saw him fall back alongside Harrington on seven under par.
And he almost blew the chance of the outright lead when his attempt to reach the long closing hole in two drifted into thick greenside rough.
Schwartzel managed to extract his ball to about three feet from the hole and sank the putt to move back ahead of the Irishman.
And the South African said his early-season form had been sharpened by top-five finishes in all four legs of his own country’s month-long swing. “It is certainly an advantage to be committed to four events at home before coming to a big tournament like this one,” Schwartzel said. “A lot of the players here are in their first event of the year and that makes a big difference.”
Schwartzel, 26, has big ambitions for 2011 and if he continues in the form he has shown so far he could well achieve them.
He regards a world ranking in the top 10 as attainable and he takes inspiration from his compatriot Louis Oosthuizen’s emphatic victory in last year’s British Open in his own quest for a first major title.
There are a cluster of major champions bunched up behind the leader, with Martin Kaymer, the US PGA winner who is defending his Abu Dhabi title, in sixth behind Harrington and McDowell, who was joined in third place by the Swedish duo of Alexander Noren and Niclas Fasth, who both also shot a six-under-par total of 66.
Phil Mickelson, who defends his US Masters crown in April, was not disgraced in his first competitive round for eight weeks and stands at one under par, just ahead of Oosthuizen.
Joining Kaymer on five under is Danny Willet, who performed here as an amateur only 12 months ago.
Lee Westwood, the world No 1 and probably the best of the currently active players not to have won a major, began his campaign solidly and was four under through 10 holes, but could not sustain that momentum and had to settle for a 69 to be five behind Schwartzel.
McDowell came from nowhere to claim his place on the early leaderboard. The Irishman had the biggest of smiles in front of an appreciative gallery around the 18th green as he rolled in a putt for a four to finish with five successive birdies.
The hero of Pebble Beach and Celtic Manor in Wales during the Ryder Cup was disappointed to be only even par at the turn but came home in a dazzling sequence of 3,2,3,3,4. “That always feels nice when you finish win a run of birdies,” said McDowell, who was relieved to avoid a penalty for touching his ball but not moving it when preparing to hit his approach to the 18th.
Kaymer demonstrated that he will again be the man to beat on a National Course that has served him with two victories and a runners-up spot in the last three years. “Five under par is a fantastic start to my season,” he said. “I have put myself in a good position already.
“I was happy with my ball striking but really surprised with my putting. That was very good for the first round. I was able to read the greens and hole some good ones.”
Mickelson had no reason to complain after his steady return to action. “I kept the ball in play off the tee and hit a lot of good iron shots,” he said. “The problem was I didn’t make too many putts. That’s something I’ll have to work on for tomorrow.”
"All things considered it was a good day, even though the score doesn't show that."
wjohnson@thenational.ae
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
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2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show
3) 1,000 social distancing stickers
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Squads
Sri Lanka Tharanga (c), Mathews, Dickwella (wk), Gunathilaka, Mendis, Kapugedera, Siriwardana, Pushpakumara, Dananjaya, Sandakan, Perera, Hasaranga, Malinga, Chameera, Fernando.
India Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rohit, Rahul, Pandey, Rahane, Jadhav, Dhoni (wk), Pandya, Axar, Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, Thakur.
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The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
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MATCH INFO
Day 2 at the Gabba
Australia 312-1
Warner 151 not out, Burns 97, Labuschagne 55 not out
Pakistan 240
Shafiq 76, Starc 4-52
