Bob Hawke was a sport-loving Primer Minister of Australia, Crocodile Dundee was enrapturing global cinema audiences and the Great White Shark was an undisputed No 1 in golf. If ever there was a time to say 'G'day cobber', grab a slab from the local bottle shop and fire up the barbie to revel in the glorious, untainted ruggedness of the good old Aussie male, it was back in 1986. Back in the day for Greg Norman, a year when "The Shark", a figure built for all occasions, with his sun-kissed blonde locks and unflinching mannerisms, mastered the miserly Scottish wind and rain to tame the British Open at Turnberry in a Lyle and Scott lemon sweater perhaps more on a par with Sydney's Mardi Gras.
Paul Hogan played the intrepid crocodile hunter 'Mick Dundee', but Norman did not fare too badly as a leading sporting export. Hogan and Norman promoted Australia, and both brought in millions. Australia's leading golfer Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion, was nine when Norman was as formidable as Ayers Rock or, perhaps more pertinently, the Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde near Turnberry. Ogilvy's dad handed him his first club at the age of seven. He was a scratch golfer at 16.
Ogilvy and a handful of other Aussies, including Adam Scott, Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby and Richard Green, will tee it up this week alongside the weathered Norman at Turnberry. They have all derived inspiration from the standards Norman attained when he was a genuine collusus with a sweet driver, winning two Opens, his second in 1993 at Royal St Georges. Ogilvy remembers Jack Nicklaus winning the last of his majors at the 1986 US Masters after Norman bogeyed the 72nd hole with an errant approach shot. There was no stopping Norman at the Open a couple of months later. In the elements, Norman was in his element. He won by five shots.
"I was only nine at the time," recalls Ogilvy. "I remember there was an advert 'They said you'd never make it, but you finally came through'. I remember that song. "I remember that yellow sweater Greg had on when he won, but that's only because I have seen footage of it. "I remember the 1986 US Masters vividly, but not the Open. The British Open was on in the middle of the night in Australia. When you are nine, you are not getting up to watch the British Open.
"Your parents wouldn't be letting you get up at that time, anyway." Ogilvy was wide awake when Norman threatened to become the oldest winner at Royal Birkdale a year ago. At 53, he came in from the outback of his burgeoning business interests to play his first major in three years. He remains the oldest leader after three rounds of such a lofty tournament. He finished third in the face of some brutal weather, but Ogilvy feels Norman emerged with as much respect as Padraig Harrington, the champion of Birkdale.
They like battlers and winners in Australia. Ogilvy missed the cut with rounds of 77 and 74, but marvelled at Norman's excellence. "Greg's performance was fun to watch, with his shots and imagination," said Ogilvy. "I was a bit grumpy, because I didn't play very well, but it it was fun to watch Greg do that. He got us all fired up about it again. "It was such a bizarre tournament with the bad weather. I think Greg's performance kind of saved the tournament, because it created a whole lot of excitement that might not have been there. It added a dimension, and it was cool.
"He was always one of the best bad weather golfers anyway, as he proved in 1986 at Turnberry. He shot a 63 in the second round when everybody else was shooting in the 70s, but you quickly learn, that talent never goes away. Desire and practice might go away, but talent never goes away. "If someone has been No 1 in the world for ten years, it is still in there." Ogilvy, who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, with his wife Juli and their two children, is not faring too badly, either.
He enters the Open as the world's seventh best golfer. Since turning professional 11 years ago, Ogilvy has won more than $19 million (Dh 69.7m) on the USPGA Tour, this season collecting the Mercedes-Benz championship in Hawaii and the Accenture World Match Play in Arizona, where he defeated Paul Casey 4&3 in the final. Speaking in the home of golf, Ogilvy is aware of the history of golf. He has Scottish ancestry, a distant relative of Robert the Bruce, the King of Scots in the 1300s. Folklore says Bruce, while holed up in a cave in Ireland, watched a spider repeatedly try to spin a web before managing the task.
It is said to have given Bruce inspiration to fight on against the English. Such a philosophy would be handy at Turnberry, or even Bruce's sword to chop at the rough. Ogilvy has played here in the British Amateur championship as a teenager. "The rough is fairly healthy," he said. "I played in the amateur in 1996. "I remember it being brutal, but we had horrific weather with the wind blowing sideways, like Birkdale last year.
"I remember it being really hard, especially along the ocean. They have obviously lengthened it a little bit, with a couple of new bunkers, but the rough is controllable. "They can always cut some of it if they feel like it. If we get four days of sun, it will be nice, but if get four days like the first day at Birkdale last year, it will probably be unfinishable. I missed the qualifying at the amateur championship. I hit 83 or 84 on that horrific day.
"I was only 18 at the time. I recall the big white hotel on the hill, and the 10th tee hanging out in the ocean going past the light house. "St Andrews remains my favourite open venue, but they're all kind of cool." Nick Price held off Jesper Parnevik to win the last time the tournament was hosted by Turnberry, helped by holing a 50-feet putt on the 17th hole on the final day. "There is probably only about ten guys in the field that played in 1994, so it's pretty much a new tournament for all of us," said Ogilvy.
Ogilvy will play in the Dubai World Championship in November before he and Tiger Woods are the main draws at the Australian Masters tournament at Melbourne's Kingston Heath GC. "You don't really call up Tiger and say, 'hey, what are you doing, and ask him if he is excited about Melbourne," said Ogilvy. "If I do play with him between now and then, which I probably will, such as at the President's Cup, I'll mention it to him."
Ogilvy goes walkabout with Harrington and Jim Furyk for the first two rounds. He goes out after Norman tomorrow, but will also try to follow in the footsteps of a figure who has wrote the instruction manual on how an Aussie can win the Open.
dkane@thenational.ae
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
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
Favourite things
Luxury: Enjoys window shopping for high-end bags and jewellery
Discount: She works in luxury retail, but is careful about spending, waits for sales, festivals and only buys on discount
University: The only person in her family to go to college, Jiang secured a bachelor’s degree in business management in China
Masters: Studying part-time for a master’s degree in international business marketing in Dubai
Vacation: Heads back home to see family in China
Community work: Member of the Chinese Business Women’s Association of the UAE to encourage other women entrepreneurs
Company%20Profile
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MATCH RESULT
Liverpool 4 Brighton and Hove Albion 0
Liverpool: Salah (26'), Lovren (40'), Solanke (53'), Robertson (85')
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
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
All%20The%20Light%20We%20Cannot%20See%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESteven%20Knight%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EMark%20Ruffalo%2C%20Hugh%20Laurie%2C%20Aria%20Mia%20Loberti%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E1%2F5%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
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
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 specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Where to apply
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
