Ernie Els hopes that he can have some success in the Singapore Open on Nov 12 2008.
Ernie Els hopes that he can have some success in the Singapore Open on Nov 12 2008.

Golf

Els seeks a change of fortune in Singapore

South Africa's Ernie Els will try and make it third time lucky in the Singapore Open after two disappointing outings in the event.

SINGAPORE // South Africa's Ernie Els will be hoping to shake off the disappointment of contrasting failures he suffered in the previous two years when he takes a third tilt at the Singapore Open. The world number 11 enjoyed a morale-boosting victory in Morocco last week and the 39-year-old will want to carry that form forward to the demanding Serapong Course layout hosting the $5 million (Dh18.4 m) event, the richest national open on the Asia Tour. He will be teeing off against the best golfers in Asia and a host of international players including Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Padraig Harrington and KJ Choi. Els will be considered one of the favourites for the $792,500 first prize. In 2006, Els lost out to the Australian Scott in a playoff but failed to make the cut at last year's tournament, won by Argentina's Angel Cabrera, after suffering from illness during the opening two rounds. "I've experienced mixed fortunes the last two years," Els said on his official website. "I like this tournament and I like the course at Sentosa Golf Club, so I'm looking forward to teeing it up here again. I've played quite a few tournaments in Asia and believe me, this is the best. "This whole package and a significant prize fund is what helps attract the quality star players from around the world. I'm happy to be here and I know all these guys are, too." Scott's 2006 victory was his second in succession and the 28-year-old from Adelaide arrives in South East Asia seeking to become the first player to record a hat-trick of Singapore Open titles. "It's been a happy hunting ground for me here," Scott said."Whenever you come back to a place where you've played well, you get good vibes. I'm certainly looking to turn my game around a little bit and it's good to have the positive feelings. "The first year, I really felt like the course fits my eye well. I hit a lot of good shots then and it was a really tough set-up. "Ever since, I've always felt confident coming here. Whenever you win a tournament, not only do you get the good feelings, you have the pride to want to play well. My goal is to win this week." Meanwhile, Ian Poulter has pulled out of the Singapore Open after being unable to replace the driver he had stolen at the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai. "I am really gutted," he said. "I have been thinking about it for four hours and I have decided to withdraw because my new driver will not arrive on time. "It is disappointing because I did not come all this way not to play. But with so many world ranking points at stake, if I played badly (by using a different driver) I may have lost ground." India's Anirban Lahiri will take the Englishman's place in the field. *Reuters

Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

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
NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

Omar Yabroudi's factfile

Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah

Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University

2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship

2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy

2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment

2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment

2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager

 

 

 

 

Results

1. New Zealand Daniel Meech – Fine (name of horse), Richard Gardner – Calisto, Bruce Goodin - Backatorps Danny V, Samantha McIntosh – Check In. Team total First round: 200.22; Second round: 201.75 – Penalties 12 (jump-off 40.16 seconds) Prize €64,000

2. Ireland Cameron Hanley – Aiyetoro, David Simpson – Keoki, Paul Kennedy – Cartown Danger Mouse, Shane Breen – Laith. Team total 200.25/202.84 – P 12 (jump-off 51.79 – P17) Prize €40,000

3. Italy Luca Maria Moneta – Connery, Luca Coata – Crandessa, Simone Coata – Dardonge, Natale Chiaudani – Almero. Team total 130.82/198.-4 – P20. Prize €32,000

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.”

The biog

Name: Fareed Lafta

Age: 40

From: Baghdad, Iraq

Mission: Promote world peace

Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi

Role models: His parents 

Inside Palestine-Israel