DUBAI // Lee Westwood produced the best round of the week so far yesterday - a brilliant, bogey-free 65 - to raise hopes of completing a Dubai double.
The Englishman followed up his November Earth Course masterclass, which earned him Dubai World Championship glory and the season-long Race to Dubai honours, with his most impressive performance to date on the Majlis Course to bring a first Dubai Desert Classic firmly into view.
Westwood, who propelled himself from his second round starting position of level-par to seven-under, goes into today's third round with only Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee ahead of him.
Jaidee, Asia's record title-holder, added an unblemished 66 to his opening round of 70 to take pole position in a top-class line-up.
Feeling his way back to vintage form after a career-threatening back injury, Jaidee, 41, was delighted with the consistency and solidity that eventually saw him go clear of a bunched pack with his sixth birdie at the 17th.
The Asian No 1 is looking forward to locking horns with the European No 1 in the final pairing this afternoon. A buoyant Westwood is also relishing the challenge after gradually working his way back to his best during the three-week Desert Swing.
Annoyed by a rare missed cut in Abu Dhabi, he was in contention to win the Qatar Masters last weekend and now he is going to take some stopping at the Emirates Golf Club.
"This is my lowest round since I first came here in 1994 so I'm very happy," he said. "I think those of us who had a morning/afternoon draw over the first two days have had the worst of the conditions so to come out on the right end of that gives you a massive confidence boost for the final two rounds."
Westwood, who confesses to being a slow starter to campaigns, is not getting ahead of himself bearing in mind that a cluster of famous names are surrounding his on the leaderboard, including Rory McIlroy, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Charl Schwartzel.
"Anything can happen over the next couple of days," he said. "This is a quality field and it is by no means a pushover to win this event - something I've proven in the past because I've never won it before."
Level with Westwood and a shot behind Jaidee are the experienced Jimenez and the 225th-ranked Welshman Stephen Dodd.
@Email:wjohnson@thenational.ae
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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T20 World Cup Qualifier fixtures
Tuesday, October 29
Qualifier one, 2.10pm – Netherlands v UAE
Qualifier two, 7.30pm – Namibia v Oman
Wednesday, October 30
Qualifier three, 2.10pm – Scotland v loser of qualifier one
Qualifier four, 7.30pm – Hong Kong v loser of qualifier two
Thursday, October 31
Fifth-place playoff, 2.10pm – winner of qualifier three v winner of qualifier four
Friday, November 1
Semi-final one, 2.10pm – Ireland v winner of qualifier one
Semi-final two, 7.30pm – PNG v winner of qualifier two
Saturday, November 2
Third-place playoff, 2.10pm
Final, 7.30pm
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More coverage from the Future Forum
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
Common%20symptoms%20of%20MS
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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
Maestro
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