Leading a major championship and winning a major championship have proved to be very different things in recent times.
Whoever is out in front in the US Open at Congressional on Saturday night will find little comfort in what has happened the past two years. Of the last eight 54-hole leaders only one - Louis Oosthuizen at St Andrews last July- has gone on to triumph.
All around the South African, who turned a four-shot advantage into an amazing seven-stroke British Open victory, are the battered and bruised bodies of others who came to grief.
Most vivid in the memory, of course, is Rory McIlroy, who from four clear at the Masters in April collapsed to an 80 and all the way to 15th place a massive 10 strokes behind Charl Schwartzel.
But he is far from alone in suffering such a meltdown.
At the US Open and US PGA last year the Americans Dustin Johnson and Nick Watney were three ahead, but shot 82 and 81 respectively.
Johnson finished eighth five adrift of Graeme McDowell, Watney 18th seven behind Martin Kaymer.
Before them it was Lee Westwood, overtaken by Phil Mickelson at Augusta, and before him Tiger Woods, who after 14 majors won from the front saw Korean YE Yang incredibly come from two behind to win the PGA title by three.
Woods shot 75, Westwood 71, while at Turnberry in the 2009 Open the 72 of 59-year-old Tom Watson was not quite good enough to make him golf's oldest major champion by an unbelievable 11 years.
Stewart Cink fired a 69 and beat the five-time winner in a play-off.
So how did Oosthuizen do it when other far bigger names could not?
"I was very confident the way I played," he said. "I was never scared on any shot and there was no particular hole that I felt scared of and I was driving it so well.
"At St Andrews everything is off the tee. If you can place it in a fairway all the time, missing all the bunkers, you've already won most of it.
"So that helped a lot. And it didn't feel like on the Sunday anyone really pushed me.
"I think the Friday night was probably the worst for me because I had 27 hours, I think, before my next tee time.
"But the way I finished on the Saturday, finishing two or three under the last five holes just gave me a bit of confidence going into the next day."
Asked what was the most important thing mentally he added: "The way I stayed in the present - I never for one minute thought of winning the tournament during the round."
Never for one full minute maybe, but certainly for a few seconds.
"It was so difficult the last six holes because with a seven-shot lead all of a sudden you're thinking of standing with the Claret Jug.
"You've got to get yourself out of that mind frame and think shot for shot. Only after my second shot on 17 did I feel like I'm not going to throw it away from here."
Yang had a three-under 68 comprising five birdies and two bogeys yesterday. "I think the course setup is a bit more to my advantage than the other previous US Opens," he said.
"And also I've been playing a lot more conservatively this week and practiced a lot, played less bonehead plays. So I think overall the course and my conservative approach is helpful."
Oosthuizen carded a two-under 69. "I'm happy with my score," Oosthuizen said. "I made four bogeys, but on this golf course it's got a lot of bogeys out there.
"But today there was a lot of birdies, as well. So it's just a matter of trying to get as many pars on your card, because then you've at least got opportunities for birdies."
Among a large group tied on one-under 70 was Graeme McDowell, the defending champion. He opened with a bogey, but was at one under by the turn and parred his way down the back nine.
"I felt really, good this morning. I felt normal," said McDowell.
World Nos 1 and 3, Luke Donald and Martin Kaymer, both struggled to an opening 74, while Lee Westwood, the world No 2, faired even worse, carding a four-over 75.
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
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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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Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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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 15 players selected
Muzzamil Afridi, Rahman Gul, Rizwan Haider (Dezo Devils); Shahbaz Ahmed, Suneth Sampath (Glory Gladiators); Waqas Gohar, Jamshaid Butt, Shadab Ahamed (Ganga Fighters); Ali Abid, Ayaz Butt, Ghulam Farid, JD Mahesh Kumara (Hiranni Heros); Inam Faried, Mausif Khan, Ashok Kumar (Texas Titans
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
