The hype started last July, the night before Rory McIlroy won the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool to complete the third leg of the career grand slam.
It only intensified when he also won his next two tournaments as well, claiming a first World Golf Championship title in the Bridgestone Invitational and then securing a fourth major title in the US PGA Championship.
And just about the only thing that could take the spotlight off the world No 1 would be Tiger Woods turning up at Augusta National, shooting two rounds in the 80s and promptly announcing his retirement.
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That scenario is not as outlandish at it would have been a year ago, when Woods announced he would miss the Masters for the first time in his career after undergoing back surgery.
But after an injury-ravaged season the 14-time major winner has started just two tournaments in 2015, shooting an 82 to miss the cut in the first and lasting just 11 holes of the second before withdrawing.
Woods then announced he was taking a break from competitive action until his game was back up to scratch, but played a practice round at Augusta on March 31 to raise hopes he would attempt to win a fifth green jacket.
However, even the 39-year-old’s most ardent fans would be hard pushed to argue about odds of 50/1 in some places about Woods winning his first major since 2008, while McIlroy is a 5/1 favourite who is not sure he should be.
“Given how I’ve been playing, I guess if you go on form then probably no,” McIlroy said in reference to a missed cut and finishes of ninth and 11th in his last three events. “But it depends how far you take that form back and you’ve got to look at previous results there and all sorts of stuff. I’m not a bookmaker.”
McIlroy’s previous results at Augusta do not make for great reading with just one top 10 - last year’s tie for eighth - in six appearances, although he famously held a four-shot lead heading into the final round in 2011.
That lead was down to one by the turn and a wildly hooked drive on the 10th precipitated a meltdown that culminated in a closing round of 80 to finish joint 15th, 10 shots behind winner Charl Schwartzel.
“Even though I was one ahead going into the back nine, there was a lot of guys coming after me,” McIlroy recalled recently. “It was the first time I had ever been in that situation in a major and at Augusta. It all got a little too much.
“You really just have to focus on yourself and try to block all of it out.
“That’s the thing I learned, especially there because you can start to watch the leaderboards and start to listen to where the roars are coming from and start to wonder who that was, what they did, what score does that get them to, instead of just solely focusing on yourself and trying to play the best golf that you can and hopefully that’s good enough.”
If McIlroy’s best proves good enough this year he will become just the sixth player to have won all four major titles after Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods.
He would also be the first Irishman to win at Augusta and the first European since Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999, not to mention almost certainly the first to win 12 months after suffering the embarrassment of being outscored by his marker - Augusta member Jeff Knox - in the third round.
And if he thought the hype was big beforehand, just imagine what it would be like if he won his first green jacket and headed to the US Open at Chambers Bay in June seeking to complete the “Rory Slam”.
“I feel like I did get a lot of questions about Augusta even at the start of the year but that’s natural,” McIlroy said. “It’s a big deal what I’m trying to achieve over there.
“I think every year there’s always such build up and hype towards Augusta. I think that hasn’t changed. I just think that this year, at least for now, I’m the build up, the centre of that hype.
“Whether Tiger decides to play or not, that could change things a little bit and there would be a lot of attention on that as well. But I don’t feel like it’s any different.
“I’ve got a chance to go to Augusta and do something very few players in this game have done before.
“That adds a little bit of spice to it but I don’t feel any extra pressure.”
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Key 2013/14 UAE Motorsport dates
October 4: Round One of Rotax Max Challenge, Al Ain (karting)
October 1: 1 Round One of the inaugural UAE Desert Championship (rally)
November 1-3: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Formula One)
November 28-30: Dubai International Rally
January 9-11: 24Hrs of Dubai (Touring Cars / Endurance)
March 21: Round 11 of Rotax Max Challenge, Muscat, Oman (karting)
April 4-10: Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (Endurance)
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
The winners
Fiction
- ‘Amreekiya’ by Lena Mahmoud
- ‘As Good As True’ by Cheryl Reid
The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award
- ‘Syrian and Lebanese Patricios in Sao Paulo’ by Oswaldo Truzzi; translated by Ramon J Stern
- ‘The Sound of Listening’ by Philip Metres
The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
- ‘Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance’ by Fady Joudah
Children/Young Adult
- ‘I’ve Loved You Since Forever’ by Hoda Kotb
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