Chris DiMarco, the man who ranks among the USA’s top ten golfers and a key inclusion in the US team for the 36th Ryder Cup being contested in Ireland next week, has confirmed he will return to the UAE capital in January to defend his inaugural Abu Dhabi Golf Championship title.
DiMarco is among a number of the world’s leading players who have confirmed they will contend the title. Others include European Ryder Cup team member Sergio Garcia of Spain, who came third in the inaugural Abu Dhabi Golf Club Championship and is now ranked eighth in the world. They are joined by South Africa’s Retief Goosen, now sixth in the Official World Golf Rankings, who will make his debut on the magnificent National Course of the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
Speaking of his determination to all-out defend his 2006 title, the 38-year-old DiMarco said: “Earlier this year Abu Dhabi and I made golfing history – and while it’s commonly held that history never repeats itself – I shall be looking to turn that particular saying on its head next January.
“Apart from winning the championship, I also was blown away by how well we were treated in Abu Dhabi.
“The start of a new year brings many new opportunities and I view the Abu Dhabi tournament as an important personal goal for 2007.”
The Abu Dhabi Golf Championship 2007, fully sanctioned by The European Tour and the UAE Golf Association with a US $2 million prize fund, will be contested from January 18-21 next year with the Championship committee promising a powerful, star-studded international player line-up, an enhanced course layout and improved additional facilities at the golf course.
The tournament is set to build on the success of this year’s launch event. The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), which hosts the tournament, says the Championship lived up to its aim of placing the capital on the global golfing map.
“The inaugural Abu Dhabi Golf Championship brought significant benefits to the emirate which is now actively engaged in talks with a number of leading sports tour operators worldwide to bring golfing tourists to the UAE capital,” said His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, ADTA Chairman.
“We are now drafting a long-term golf tourism strategy for the emirate which will see us move significantly forward with plans for a number of new world-class courses, particularly on our flagship Saadiyat Island international destination development for which two courses are being designed.
“We have identified golf tourism as a key growth target in our aim of attracting up to three million visitors annually to Abu Dhabi by 2015, a three fold increase from its current yearly average. Golf means business. It brings tourism revenue to hotels, restaurants, car rental firms, taxis and airlines and this tournament is ensuring that awareness of Abu Dhabi is spreading throughout the industry.”
IMG, which organises the tournament with ADTA, says the inaugural Abu Dhabi Golf Championship reached a worldwide audience and it expects next year’s event to reach all corners of the globe.
“Seventeen hours of live TV coverage of this year’s event was broadcast to more than 28 countries with a potential reach of over 120 million homes,” explained Greg Sproule, Managing Director, IMG Middle East. “We are hoping to expand on that next year and also to increase our spectator turnout which totalled 17,500. Now the tournament has established its pedigree, increased targets are well within our reach.”
Sproule added that equally encouraging are the results of an on-site spectator survey carried out at this year’s event, in which the tournament achieved very positive results, particularly for an inaugural event, and with 92% of respondents voicing overwhelming interest in the Championship and their intention to attend it again in the future.
The ADTA believes that the 2007 event will attract a world-class field and that the inclusion of new blood will heighten the excitement.
The inclusion of Retief Goosen brings additional impetus to the event having won two US Opens. Goosen is rated as one of the most consistent players in the world. He has won internationally every year since 1995 and he’s won a PGA Tour event every year since 2001. Goosen’s participation well established him as a favourite to win the second Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.
Commenting on his forthcoming Abu Dhabi tournament debut, Goosen said: “What a fabulous start to the New Year this will be. The UAE is gaining a considerable profile in my home country of South Africa and I hope that my participation will make more South Africans aware of the many attractions of the country, and of course, of Abu Dhabi.
“I also look forward to getting considerable spectator support from the many South Africans – most of them golf addicts – who now live and work in the UAE and neighbouring Gulf countries.
“I know that amendments are being made to Abu Dhabi’s National Course to make it more challenging – and I am ready to take up that challenge and really give it my best.”
Sergio Garcia, one of the star players from the 2006 edition, agrees with Goosen. “The Abu Dhabi Golf Championship boasts an impressive playing field and the Championship course was just superb. The course amendments that are in place this year will certainly make it more challenging. I look forward to coming back again next year and giving Chris and Retief a run for their money.”
Several revisions are being made to the National Course in time for the 2007 event.
“A number of new tees are being built and fairway shaping changes put in place to enhance the degree of difficulty,” explained Sproule. “This is the second phase in a long-term programme of agronomic and design improvements to the course aimed at providing a stiff, but fair, test for the world’s best players, while, at the same time, taking care not to spoil the enjoyment of the members and guests who play the course for the 51 non-tournament weeks of the year. Several other off-course improvements are underway as well to enhance the championship experience for all spectators.”
Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship has won resounding support from the PGA European Tour. It’s Executive Director, George O’Grady, commented: “The players were this year over the moon with the way they, and the inaugural championship, was received in Abu Dhabi. Given the very positive feedback, we are immensely pleased that the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship will kick start the European Tour international schedule for 2007.”
Chris DiMarco won the inaugural Abu Dhabi Golf Tournament – his first European Tour event outside the Majors and World Golf Championships – with a sensational performance in which he carded a final round of 67 for a 20 under par total of 268 and a one shot victory over the gallant Swede Henrik Stenson, winner two weeks ago of the BMW International Open and the reigning Qatar Open champion.
The Abu Dhabi Golf Championship 2007 will begin with the Al-Masaood Pro-Am and Awards Gala when sponsors and their guests will have the chance to play and socialise with some of the world’s best professionals.
The Abu Dhabi Golf Championship 2007 has attracted a high profile sponsorship line up. The sponsorship line-up includes: Etihad Airways and Aldar as Diamond Sponsors; Standard Chartered Bank as a Platinum Sponsor; Nissan, Airbus, Rolls-Royce, Omega and Xerox as Gold Sponsors. Gulf News and Middle East Golfer have also reconfirmed their roles as Official Newspaper and Official Magazine respectively.
IMG is the world’s leading sports marketing company which organises some 35 golf events worldwide.
