Shark byte
Social media can be a wonderful thing. For all the slings and arrows that public figures occasionally attract from trolls and critics, sometimes a helpful bit of input arrives. Which is what transpired during the Turkish Open last week, when Hall of Famer Greg Norman tweeted that he spied something amiss with Ian Poulter’s putting stroke. The latter called the Australian star on Tuesday night and listened to his observations. Poulter finished second last week, so his putting could not have been too awful. “I will take on board what he said,” said Poulter, who declined to give details.
Extra Time podcast: John McAuley and Aaron Gray discuss Rory McIlroy’s chances of a Dubai win.
Irony defined
European Tour rookie Brooks Koepka had to bow out of the DP World pro-am on Tuesday after contracting a stomach bug from something he ate shortly after winning the title last week in Turkey. For a player who has teed it up in 11 countries in 2014, plus the US territory of Puerto Rico, he thought he was playing it safe with the diet. Koepka, who was unable to log a practice round this week, was at the Jumeirah Golf Estates yesterday, looking only slightly the worse for wear. “It was never a matter of whether I would play,” he said. “I just didn’t want to walk around much today.” He played the Earth Course in February, when he finished joint-third at the Dubai Desert Classic.
The 60th man
Technically, Matteo Manassero did not qualify for the limited-field DP World Championship, which has a 60-man field. He finished 61st in points entering the season finale, but was given a late reprieve thanks to a 2014 policy change. This year, the European Tour elected to take the top 60 available players – the field was 57 in 2013 after three players boycotted the event – which gave the Italian one more chance to play. Manassero received a green light when two-time Abu Dhabi winner Paul Casey elected to stay home with his wife and newborn baby.
Double identity
It has officially become a running gag for Henrik Stenson, the US-based Swede who last month welcomed a new addition to the family. Daughter Alice was born three weeks ago in Orlando, the second of his three kids to have been born in the US. He has made wisecracks in the past about having “a Yank in the family”. Now he has two. “I will wait until they turn 18 and decide whether they get a Swedish or US passport,” he said.
selling@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter at SprtNationalUAE
