We enter the holiday period after one of the busiest years in golf. BY HARRY GRIMSHAW
the starter
6 Garden City Golf
This month Al Ain welcomes the second edition of the UAE Cup.
BY HARRY GRIMSHAW
voices
8 Journeys
Aldrich Potgieter WITH KEELY LEVINS
features
32 Rai On The Number
The Englishman pipped Fleetwood to Abu Dhabi glory.
34 Greatest Drama On Earth Fitzpatrick and McIlroy collected the silverwear in Dubai.
36 That’s A Wrap! A look back at the inaugural PIF Global Series by Golf Saudi.
38 A Home Stage For Othman Almulla Dirab Golf and Country Club hosts the US $1 million Saudi Open.
40 Ageless Golf Lorem ipsum officim quibus vendel igenim musciis aut et volest. BY BERNHARD LANGER
50 How Iona Found Her Voice
Inside the life of Golf’s modern narrator.
WITH HARRY GRIMSHAW
56 Five Things the Pros Do (That You Rarely Do)
These tour strategies will transform your game.
BY MARK BLACKBURN
how to play
10 Solid Approach
Why you can’t get relief when your ball finds divot damage. BY NICK BOVA
12 Stop Pulling Your Shots BY BUTCH HARMON
14 Swing Analysis
Austin Eckroat BY DAVE ALLEN
16 Picking Up Your Ball?
Here’s how to score it for handicap purposes. BY RON KASPRISKE
Club
Dirab Golf and Country
Saudi Arabia’s fi rst grass golf course is playing host to the season-ending Saudi Open on the Asian Tour. Page 38 .
18 Attack the Par 4s BY ROBIN SYMES
19 Choose Wisely BY ALANA SWAIN
20 Putting Perspective
What club should you tee off with when it matters most? BY ALANA SWAIN
22 Tiger’s Tips
Back in 1997, he began giving our readers advice on how to play.
what to play
24 Busted
How hard do I have to hit the ball to actually damage my driver. BY PETER MORRICE
26 The Club Used by Every Top 10 Player BY E. MICHAEL JOHNSON
where to play
28 On the Rebound Old Petty at Cabot Highlands hits the right notes in Scotland. BY STEPHEN HENNESSEY
30 Angkor Site
How golf in Cambodia gives a taste of Khmer culture. BY ZANNY STEFFGEN
AGF news
64 Club News
Top stories from the Arab Golf Federation.
the gulf club
66 Club News
A handful of the local tournament winners in the amateur circuit within the Middle East region.
Tis the golfing season
And it’s been one of the craziest years to date
BY HARRY GRIMSHAW
AS THE HOLIDAY SEASON settles in around the world, it gives us a bit more time to get out on the course and to look back on what has been another surprising year for the game. There has been no shortage of stories in what turned out to be a packed and memorable year.
In our final edition of 2025, we’ve filled it with plenty to keep you entertained over the festive period.
At 68, Bernhard Langer has now amassed 126 professional wins worldwide, showing that German experience, precision and determination never go out of style, whatever the time of year.
The two-time Masters champion gives us his insights on longevity in the game offer a rare glimpse into what keeps a winner competing at the highest level over the past four decades.
This month we take a look back at a thrilling conclusion to the DP World Tour PlayOffs in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where Aaron Rai, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Rory McIlroy all added silverware to their 2025 campaigns. The season-ending drama at Jumeirah Golf Estates highlighted why this region has become such a pivotal stage for worldclass golf.
In this issue, we feature Iona Stephen, whose journey, to where she is today, took unexpected turns to lead her to a fascinating career as an on-course broadcaster. From her early Middle East trips that fuelled her playing ambitions to a careeraltering injury that shifted her focus, Iona now brings viewers closer to golf’s biggest names while sharing her own unique perspective.
Brandon Robinson-Thompson’s rise from growing up on the Isle of Wight to touring the world as a DP World Tour member, reminds us of the determination it takes to turn professional as he looks back on a memorable year.
We also review the inaugural season of the PIF Global Series and preview what’s ahead for 2026 on the Ladies European Tour.
Saudi Arabia’s first professional golfer, Othman Almulla, shares his thoughts ahead of the upcoming Saudi International at Dirab Golf and Country Club, highlighted by the growth of the game in the region and what the tournament means for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In addition to that, we’ve also got all the latest news on the Arab Golf Federation.
And as always, we’ve packed this issue with instruction, gear, and insight. Austin Eckroat reveals how he added length to his drives, Butch Harmon offers tips to stop pulling shots, and we revisit Tiger Woods’ timeless advice from 1997 on how to play your best golf.
Here’s to another month of great stories, expert guidance, and the relentless pursuit of better golf – Happy Holidays!
A club that continues to elevate its place in UAE golf
Al Ain Equestrian Shooting and Golf Club has grown from a nine-hole layout in 2007 to a full 18-hole Championship venue. The par 70 course now stretches 7,117 yards and has hosted numerous prestigious events including the HotelPlanner Tour’s Abu Dhabi Challenge.
Renovations and new design work have elevated the experience, along with floodlit golf on the back nine and Academy course.
The club continues to build its community, and this month welcomes the second edition of the UAE Cup powered by Emirates NBD, now a leading international amateur championship, run by the Emirates Golf Federation.
‘I
Aldrich Potgieter:
didn’t intend to become the longest hitter in golf’
WITH KEELY LEVINS
My parents told me a little lie when I was 8 years old. We were moving from South Africa to Australia to be less surrounded by crime and to pursue greater economic opportunity. A few families we knew had made the same move. I loved rugby—my dad had played professionally before his career was cut short by injuries—but to protect me, he told me there was no rugby in Australia and that I had to focus on golf instead.
My parents opened a coffee shop that also had South African groceries. They sold bread, sweets and traditional meats like biltong. My favourite is vetkoek, which is deep-fried bread with meat filling. It’s like a bagel but better.
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I joined a golf club through my school. I got addicted to how tomorrow can always be better. At 12, I sensed my potential and started hanging around older teenagers and eventually learned how to beat them. Of course, I also learned that Australians love rugby. I trained with my rugby friends and with the wrestling team, but to avoid injury I didn’t compete in either. I’d decided my dream was to become a pro golfer.
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yard while my parents’ shop struggled. We moved back to South Africa.
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ALDRICH POTGIETER
PGA TOUR
AGE: 21
LIVES: MOSSEL BAY, SOUTH AFRICA
In 2022, I finished tied for third in the African Amateur and got a spot on the national junior squad. When we went to the U.K., it was my first time playing links golf. I missed the first two cuts of our tour. At the British Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes, the wind was down enough that I could hit driver. I carried bunkers no one else could. I played some of the best golf of my life, and won.
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When I was 16, I grew three inches and started outdriving everyone. Chasing big distance had never been my intention. I think the body awareness I developed from other sports made the difference. I started competing internationally. My school, Kingsway Christian College, supported athletes and our travel in many ways It took the pressure off my parents, so they could focus on the store.
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The pandemic was a horrible time in Australia. I hardly played any events. I made a crude hitting bay in our back-
That win opened everything up to me. I was exempt into three majors. I had been looking at college golf but ditched that idea. My parents and I made the decision that I should turn pro after the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.
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The Open at St Andrews was surreal. I played practice rounds with Louis Oosthuizen, Adam Scott and Ernie Els. Els challenged me to hit different shots, like running it low up to certain greens and long bunker shots. I’ll never forget when he said, “This kid’s ready.”
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Despite having just played in three majors, I didn’t have status anywhere. I went to Europe to play Q School and
got knocked out. Experiencing that pressure made me feel ready for Korn Ferry Q School. I won the second stage and earned eight starts.
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Although I won an event early, my game didn’t work well on Korn Ferry Tour setups. I was averaging 337 yards, more than a dozen yards longer than anyone on Korn Ferry or the PGA Tour, but on these short courses I couldn’t use my weapon. I missed a lot of cuts and slipped into a dark space My dad reminded me to be patient and that I belonged. Driving, flying, eating at steak houses together—our conversations always came back to golf.
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Over time, I got more comfortable being on the road and working with a caddie. I added a few top-10s to my win. By the end of the season, I’d earned my PGA Tour card for the 2025 season. I can use my length on the PGA Tour. My game needs to grow in other areas, but it’s good to be long out here.
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My breakout win, of course, was the Rocket Classic in Detroit last June. When that final putt dropped in the playoff, all my emotions came out. Even when you truly believe you can do it, it’s so crazy when it happens. All the media and everything that followed took three hours. By the time my dad and I left the club, nothing was open. Instead of going out to celebrate, we ate at Chipotle.
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The goal for my rookie year was keeping my PGA Tour card, and I did that. I already have the Masters and the PGA on my schedule for 2026, so I want to get into the other two. Each time I play a major, I get better.
Bigger Headline Here
By Author Name
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EDITED BY RON KASPRISKE
Solid Approach
“When faced with a forced carry like this, it’s essential you stay down in the shot long enough to get the clubhead through the ball. Here’s how: As you swing back and through, focus on your pelvis. Feel like your rear pants pockets stay back as long as possible. This will help you maintain your original address posture longer, all but ensuring solid contact.”
–NICK BOVA, GOLF DIGEST NO. 1 BEST IN STATE, HAMILTON FARM G.C., GLADSTONE, NEW JERSEY.
Stop Pulling Your Shots
I know it feels powerful, but this miss does more harm than good BY
BUTCH HARMON
ONE MOVE A LOT OF golfers make to create power is using the upper body to start the downswing. The problem is, it causes the trail shoulder to shift outward, and the club goes with it, setting up an out-to-in path. The result often is a slice, but sometimes the player squares the face to that path and hits a pull.
The pull feels very powerful because the upper body is going hard and the clubface is often delofted, which gives that great sensation of compressing the ball against the turf. When you look up, you’re surprised to see the ball tracking to the pull side.
The best way to get rid of the pull—or a pull-slice if the face is a touch open relative to that pull path—is to focus on keeping the trail shoulder back and in as you start the downswing. When the shoulder stays in, the hands and arms drop, so you can swing to the ball from inside the target line.
Practice this move with some slowmotion swings at first so you can really feel the motion. Swing back nice and easy, then start down by shifting your
lower body toward the target, letting your hands and arms fall from the top. From there, you can swing the clubhead out to the ball and down the target line (above).
STAY BACK Keep your trail shoulder back and in as you start down.
A great swing thought here is trying to hit the part of the ball nearest to your trail foot—the inside-back portion. You can’t do that swinging from out to in. You have to let the lower body lead the downswing, with your arms and the club approaching impact on an inside path.
If you tend to use your upper body for power, this move will take some time to get used to. That’s why I like the slowmotion swings. When you get it right, you’ll actually feel more power on that inside path, where your body and arms are working together.
And when you look up, no more bad surprises, just straighter shots.
—WITH PETER MORRICE
BUTCH HARMON heads Golf Digest’s list of the Legends of Golf Instruction.
Righting the Shift
Austin Eckroat is back to hitting fairways after a little misstep
BY DAVE ALLEN
EARLY LAST SPRING , Austin Eckroat did what many PGA Tour pros do—he started chasing extra distance. As one of the better iron players on tour, Eckroat couldn’t understand why he was hitting the same clubs as the longest hitters on par 3s but was 20 yards shorter with his driver.
“We were trying to see what he was doing differently with his driver compared to his irons,” says Steve Eckroat, Austin’s father and longtime swing coach. “What we saw visually made sense ; he tended to
hang back more on his right side and didn’t get to his left side as fast as he did with his irons. We worked on that, but what we discovered was we were really focusing on the wrong thing for his swing. It got him away from playing the game and doing what he does best.”
Although he won twice on tour in 2024, Austin had a rough stretch in 2025 while working on that weight shift, missing six cuts in nine starts. Things began to turn around in June after he and his father consulted with Austin’s childhood coach, Ryan Rody. With the help of Swing Catalyst’s 3-D-motion
force plates to measure lower-body movement, “we learned that Austin is what you call a right-foot dominant player,” Steve says. “We were trying to get further to his left side when the opposite needed to happen. He actually needed to get more pressure into his right side in the backswing.”
To do that, Austin says it feels like he’s applying a little more push into the ground with his left foot at address, and then moving off of that foot to bump the pressure to his right foot (above, second image). “In his mind, he’s picturing the way Rory [McIlroy] moves off
LOAD AND GO Eckroat is working on a better shift before swinging down into the ball.
the ball,” Steve says. “Rory has a giddyup at the beginning of his swing. There’s this little movement to the right as he takes the club back.”
Now Eckroat is able to load more effectively into his right side at the top ( above, fourth image ), so he can unwind naturally and not force a shift to his lead side, Steve says. He’s able to use vertical forces in the ground to post up on his left leg before he swings through. Immediately after working on that
adjustment, Eckroat shot a careerbest 62 in the Travelers Championship and has since seen an increase in ball speed while not losing accuracy (26th on tour in fairways hit at 65 percent through September). At the Procore Championship in mid-September, he ranked second in driving accuracy on the Silverado Resort’s North Course, some of the tightest fairways on tour.
“He has a renewed sense of confidence that what he’s doing is correct, and he’s just back to playing golf, working the ball in whatever direction the hole demands,” Steve says.
Picking Up Your Ball?
Here’s how to score it for handicap purposes
BY RON KASPRISKE
YOU MIGHT KNOW SOME
golfers at your club or course who have a habit of raking putts that are not “gimmes.” They might even pick up their ball after a hole has been decided in match play, even though they still had some work to do to earn the bogey they want to put down on the card.
Can you pencil in whatever number you want on a scorecard when your ball is in your pocket? If you’re playing by the official Rules of Handicapping, the answer is an emphatic “no.”
Rule 3.3 covers what to do when a hole is started but you don’t hole out. Subject to other provisions in the handicapping rules, you must record
your most likely score or net double bogey, whichever is lower, “as appropriate for the situation and depending on the format of play.” Who decides what your most likely score would have been? You have to follow guidelines set by the USGA. That score would be:
• The number of strokes already taken to reach a position on a hole
• The number of strokes the player would most likely require to complete the hole from that position
• Any penalty strokes incurred during play of the hole
You might have thought you have to take net double bogey when you pick up for handicap purposes. That’s not true. In the case of a player who knocks it stiff on a par 3 and rakes the ball, one stroke should be added to the score (so it’s a birdie). Any putt on the green from five feet or closer is considered made. If a ball is between five and 20 yards from the hole and you pick it up, you
would add either two or three strokes to your score. The number depends on your ability and/or the diffi culty of the hole (it’s at your discretion).
RAKING IT
From five feet and in, consider it holed for your handicap.
Finally, if you were outside of 20 yards, add three or four strokes (again, it’s at your discretion). In most cases, you would likely be at a maximum of net double bogey—but not always. For example, a 25-handicap gets two shots on the seven hardest holes, so a net double bogey on a par 4 could be an 8, and it could be a 9 on a par 5.
Two other things to note about posting scores when pocketing your ball: 1) There is no limit to pick-up holes recorded for handicap purposes provided you had a valid reason for continuing to do it. Maybe some of the greens had damage rendering them unputtable. 2) If you pick up while using a format where holing out is mandatory (a “rattle-bottom” tournament, for example), you’d be disqualified.
Attack the Par 4s
Get more aggressive with your driver using these keys
BY ROBIN SYMES
FO R MANY AMATEUR golfers, the difference between a good and a bad round often comes down to how they play the par 4s. Data from millions of rounds collected by Arccos Golf shows that the average driving distance for amateur men is about 225 yards each year, and it’s about 178 yards for amateur women. Those numbers should tell you how important it is to put the ball in the fairway off the tee on a par 4. (On a par 5 it’s important, too, but you’ve got an extra shot to bail yourself out of trouble.)
If your driver has been squirrely lately, give your swing a check-up with the following keys you can use to your advantage on four-shot holes.
1) Address: Lower your trail shoulder slightly (right shoulder for righties), and feel a bit more pressure through your trail foot. Widen your stance so your heels are just outside shoulder width. These adjustments create a foundation to support speed and the proper upward angle of attack. Oh, and tee it high.
2) Backswing: Focus on winding your torso so that your lead shoulder (left for righties) turns behind the ball, allowing your lead heel to lift slightly off the ground. This move is common among many great drivers. It puts the club in position to swing down from inside the target line and catch the ball on the upswing.
3) Downswing: Instead of trying to shift toward the target as you reach the top, focus on rotating your lead hip, getting it turning behind you (meaning away from the target, above ). If you minimise a forward shift while increasing rotation of your pelvis, you ensure an upward blow that optimises launch conditions. Your ball will fly higher with less spin, putting you in position to attack par 4s, instead of playing them defensively.
—WITH RON KASPRISKE
ROBIN SYMES is a master instructor at the Golfzon Leadbetter HQ Academy at the Reunion Resort in Kissimmee, Florida.
Choose Wisely
What club should you tee off with when it matters most?
BY ALANA SWAIN
MOST PRO GOLFERS HAVE a go-to club they lean on under pressure or when it’s important they stay out of trouble off the tee. Often, it’s not the driver. Tiger Woods won the 2006 Open Championship at Hoylake without hitting a single driver over the final 54 holes. His chosen club was a 2-iron, which was ideally suited for the dry, firm and windy conditions.
When a tee shot is really important, you might be tempted to hit driver. But do you really know which long club performs best for you under pressure?
Here’s how to find out: Head to the practice range and establish a “fairway” by locating two flags (or markers) about 25 yards apart. Pull out your driver and hit 10 tee shots to this imaginary fairway. Tally how many balls finished in the landing zone, then repeat the process with your other longer clubs (fairway woods, hybrids, long irons, etc.).
PUT IT IN PLAY
It’s OK to sacrifice yards for reliability.
Which club delivered the highest percentage of fairways hit? If one proved substantially better, then that should become your go-to club when you need it most.
If time permits before your next round, repeat this exercise, only hit five balls with each club. See if there’s a clear winner. Always go with the club that gives you the highest chance for success, even if it means sacrificing some distance. You’ll have a much easier time hitting the green from the fairway than in tall grass. Who knows, you might find that your driver is best, which would give you more confidence to let it rip under the gun. —WITH DAVE ALLEN
ALANA SWAIN teaches at PGA Tour Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach.
Putting Perspective
BY DENNY MCCARTHY
GO OD PUTTING COMES down to attitude. I played basketball all four years of high school. I’m 5-foot-9. While I didn’t look like the most menacing guy on the court, I became a very effective defensive player because of my attitude more than anything else. I said to myself, This guy isn’t getting by me. That’s the same attitude I bring to each putt. I think, I’m going to make this putt. I don’t care if it’s 70 feet or seven feet, I’m going to make it.
That said, I have to read it correctly. I choose my line by creating a painting
Focusing on the midpoint of the path to the hole can improve your accuracy.
putt. It makes things simpler to look at that one spot. People get too emotional about putting. They put a lot of weight on it to save rounds, but if you instead focus on that one little spot, you’re not going to get too emotional.
in my head. I look at the ball and then the cup, imagining the line the ball will have to travel to get to the hole. Is it uphill or downhill? Is the wind blowing hard enough to affect the putt? I pay special attention to the halfway point. Sometimes it’s closer, sometimes it’s further, but usually there’s something right around halfway to the hole —like a ball mark or blemish—that the ball will roll over on its way to the cup. I focus on that mark and think, What’s it going to do when it goes over that spot? Will it break? Will it speed up or slow down? That’s my focus point for the
Once I identify that spot, I point the line on my ball at it, and step in to hit the putt. Sometimes after I address the ball, I might feel the line is too high or low, so I’ll step out and readjust. It’s important to come into the putt with a positive attitude, not questioning the line.
Once I’m ready to hit the putt, I’m not thinking about anything mechanical. I’m picturing the putt, creating the painting in my mind, painting the ball right into the hole, because . . . I’m gonna make it. —WITH KEELY LEVINS
Denny McCarthy led the PGA Tour in total putting in 2024. He was fourth in strokes gained/putting.
PICK THE SPOT
The way I go about things on the green might unlock your game
Tiger’s Tips
Back in 1997, he began giving our readers advice on how to play
HARD TO BELIEVE THAT TIGER
turns 50 on Dec. 30. In recognition of the GOAT’s birthday, we’re revisiting his first instructional article for Golf Digest, which appeared in the August 1997 issue, not long after he turned pro. Woods continued to offer advice on the game for decades to our readers, but it’s interesting to see the topics he covered first. Here’s what he said:
The reverse overlap grip, with your left forefinger placed atop the fingers of your right hand, makes your hands work as a unit.
Your posture should be loose and natural, not too upright or too bent over.
Keep your head down after the ball is gone. You’ll make solid contact and get a truer roll.
COMBINE FEEL WITH SOUND MECHANICS
To putt well, you need a blend of feel and sound fundamentals. Every golfer tends to stress one slightly over the other; for the most part I am a “feel” putter. But solid fundamentals will help you putt well consistently. Here are some basic keys you should review from time to time. Combine them with nice touch, and you’ll have a lot of success. For stability, position most of your weight on your left side.
BACKSWING SHAPES DOWNSWING
Your position at the top of the backswing is crucial. When I’m swinging well, as I did for 63 holes at the Masters, I could tell a good shot was coming just by how solid I was at the top. Ideally, you should feel very tightly wound yet balanced at the same time. You want to feel like you can fire your right side on the downswing with no fear of the club or your body getting out of position. The idea is to make your backswing powerful, yet efficient. These checkpoints are sure to help.
Let your right elbow come away from your side, but make sure it points at the ground.
The clubface is square when it’s parallel to your left forearm. A square clubface promotes accuracy.
Keep your right knee flexed. That restricts your hip turn a bit, and that means a more powerful coil.
Your left shoulder should turn directly under your chin.
EDITED BY PETER MORRICE
Busted
As thin as driver faces have gotten in recent years, they’re still tough to damage through normal use. Manufacturers test durability by hitting thousands of balls at speeds seen only from the longest players. No amount of your usual swings or strikes with rockhard golf balls will make a dent. At 125 miles per hour or higher, however, most driver faces get a little stressed, possibly leading to more clubface spring in as few as 100 shots. Does that mean longer drives? Consider this: Testing on tour for hot drivers is on the rise.
The Club Used by Every Top 10 Player
How the once-maligned mallet putter won over golf’s toughest critics
BY E. MICHAEL JOHNSON
You might be surprised to know that mallet putters have been around almost since the birth of the game. Large, imposing clubheads have always been their signature, with some designs wild enough to test even the most openminded golfers. The extended back sides of some mallet heads resemble a Navy destroyer, but many players come to see them as things of beauty—that is, once they start rolling in putts.
The unsightly appearance of mallets is starting to become less of an issue. Today’s mallets are a far cry
from giant hunks of metal on the end of a stick. Many are the result of a precise marriage of materials, mechanical engineering and biophysics. All of this technology is brought together to keep off-centre hits on line and the missed three-footer a shocking event instead of a common occurrence.
How do they work? Most mallets are designed to push weight behind the face to the back of the head, increasing the inertia (or stability) along that line. Manufacturers have finally found ways to deliver that performance feature in head shapes that don’t leave the golfer
recoiling in horror when setting the putterhead behind the ball.
GOT THE LOOK Today’s mallets are more stylish than their predecessors.
Innovations in composition and design have allowed manufacturers to make mallets more compact without sacrificing performance benefits. The original TaylorMade Spider and Scotty Cameron Phantom models were positively massive, but today’s models are sleeker, upping their appeal. Add in the alignment advantage (mallets scored nearly a full point higher than blades in our Hot List alignment ratings), and the allure of mallets starts to make sense.
Some mallets are downright attractive. Shane Popham, a longtime Hot List tester, found the Odyssey Ai One Milled 7T CH to be “Regal, elegant. I like how the fang lines angled toward the ground minimise the profile, so it’s not flat and chunky. It centres my eyeline.”
Few putter-makers pay more attention to aesthetics than Scotty Cameron
and his design team. Austie Rollinson, senior director of putter R&D for Scotty Cameron putters, is well aware of the appetite for mallets that are more compact in shape but deliver the benefits of a larger head size.
“How a mallet sits behind the ball and the ability of golfers to line up the alignment lines to their target is critical,” Rollinson says. “There is a lot of real estate to put alignment lines on, but in some cases, you need restraint. Also, how mallets sit on the ground is super important and so is the contouring of the edges. A lot of players use the edges of the putter for alignment.”
Then there’s the size. Many players use the Goldilocks method—not too big, not too small—for finding the right putterhead. Too far one way or the other can be a major turnoff.
“I’ve gone too big before,” Rollinson says. “It’s a balance of not only size but also the mass properties. You don’t want that centre of gravity getting too deep, because it becomes tough to maneuver and adds to the torque, making it harder to square up the face. Helping the look can help the playability, too.”
So good is the blend of appearance and playability with mallets these days that every player in the top 10 of the World Golf Ranking uses one. (You read that right.) That doesn’t happen if players can’t stomach the appearance.
Sometimes the look isn’t only about the size or shape; it’s the alignment features as well. That was a key driver behind Scottie Scheffler’s switch to a TaylorMade Spider Tour X in 2024.
“The Spider is really easy for me to line up,” Scheffler said after he made the change. “I don’t have to use the line on the ball. I line up the putter really well, and I line up in the middle of the face. It’s as simple as that.”
Still, not all mallets have to be attractive to be effective. Take J.J. Spaun’s move to L.A.B. Golf’s DF3 mallet, which has been described as a spaceship and a potato masher. The oversize mallet was a drastic departure for Spaun, who had used a blade for most of his career.
“I had difficulty getting comfortable with a traditional mallet and just picked up one of the L.A.B. putters in
May of 2024,” Spaun says. “I kind of liked it, so I had one built and just kept it at home. I finally gave it some time in the off-season and really learned to like the appearance and understand my tendencies with it.
“The biggest thing I’ve noticed is that no matter where you hit it on the
HOT LIST TESTING
face, it carries the speed that you’re intending to have,” Spaun says—like on a 64-footer to win the U.S. Open.
For golf purists, mallets still might take some getting used to, but their design benefits and now better looks make them worth a try. After all, seeing putts drop is a pretty nice sight, too.
Here are the mallet putters from our Hot List testing that some of our player-testers liked best and why, in their own words.
WAYNE JOHNSON, 59 6-handicap
Odyssey Ai One Milled
“It’s fairly simple, with the 2-ball extension. What I like about it is that you don’t have a specific alignment mark, just the generalised balls back there. You feel like you’re creating a track. Where you look is where the ball goes. You want to put your putter down, look and hit the ball where you’re looking. That’s really nice.”
ALAN COOKE, 30 1-handicap
TaylorMade Spider Tour
“It’s easy to line it up because of the bright white markings. It almost looks like a road is running down the top of it, with lanes down the middle. It sets you up dead to your roll line. Plus, it doesn’t pop o the face too much at impact; it gives you good responsiveness.”
DAN LUPO, 32 12-handicap
PXG Battle Ready II
“The aggressive look, like a bat, is almost evil-looking in a cool way, and it inspired confidence. The face treatment seemed to let me feel the ball more directly at impact, more of a firm feel. The ball seemed to have plenty of energy right from the start, getting into a true roll quickly.”
JAMIE STRUCK, 51 5-handicap
Ping PLD
“The thick alignment line left no doubt as to where you were set up. That gave me the ability to concentrate on speed control, which pretty much takes three-putts out of play. It was a perfect harmony of muted feel and sound but not to the point of being mushy.”
EDITED BY STEPHEN HENNESSEY
After decades of slow to no growth, golf construction in Scotland is back. Several new courses have opened or been announced in recent years, and among the most anticipated is Old Petty at Cabot Highlands in Inverness. Situated next to Castle Stuart, the new Tom Doak links twists and turns over delightfully rumpled fescue fields along a bay on Moray Firth, kissing both the castle and namesake 19th century church. Holes one and 18 cross one another as Scottish holes frequently did in more freewheeling times, and several others jump across a marshy estuary toward greens of suitably regal contour. Preview rounds began in September with a full opening following in Spring 2026.
BAngkor Site
How golf in Cambodia gives a taste of Khmer culture
BY ZANNY STEFFGEN
Y 11 O’CLOCK IN THE morning, when the shuttle driver dropped me off after a 10-minute drive from Siem Reap centre in northwest Cambodia, it was already sweltering hot. The air was so weighed by humidity that I felt I was swimming, rather than walking, past manicured garden boxes and restrained swaths of jungle to the driving range of the country’s flagship golf course, Angkor Golf Resort.
Though better known for its temples, Cambodia is gaining a reputation in the world of golf and was recently named the Asia Pacific golf destination of the year by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators. Golf’s newfound popularity has attracted a greater investment in the sport—there are currently 12 golf courses in the country (designed by the likes of Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus) and three more under construction. For travellers, affordable luxury is the main draw—green fees average $100 for 18 holes at the best courses, and caddy fees are often included—but, as I would discover that day, it’s Khmer hospitality that sets
Cambodia apart as a golf destination.
My playing partner was Ed Wanambwa, a friend from my time living in Siem Reap, where I’d moved in 2018 after having fallen in love with the city as a 20-year-old backpacker. We’d met when Ed was adrift in Southeast Asia looking for a place where the cost of living was lower than the U.S. and the culture warm and welcoming. Soon he’d become a beloved part of my international community, someone I could talk to about the U.S., golf (Ed was once a golf commentator and editor at African American Golfer’s Digest) and life in Cambodia.
During my expat years, I’d worked two jobs six days a week and couldn’t afford greens fees, though I spent hours at the local driving range with friends. In the years since I’d been compelled to move back to the U.S. for health reasons, Ed had joined Angkor Golf Resort (technically not a resort, though there are dining and locker facilities) and sent me regular updates from the course. Now that I was visiting Siem Reap for the first time since I’d left, it felt only right to join Ed for a round.
BUDDHA NATURE
Temples and meditative ways of being are never far when you’re playing golf in Cambodia.
As we pulled our carts up to the first tee, I turned to my caddie, Sengkhea, and commented: “Cdau nah,” it’s so hot. She giggled at my Khmer, then handed me a towel soaked in ice water to drape around my neck before pulling out her personal tube of sunscreen and slathering it on my skin.
At first I was taken aback, but then I remembered moments like this from my years in Siem Reap—when strangers eating at street food stands would invite me to partake in their meal, or the first graders I taught English would chivalrously insist on carrying my backpack between classrooms. This was the Cambodia I knew and loved, where you’re constantly reminded, by the generosity of friends and strangers alike, that you’re part of a community. I barely avoided the water that ran along the narrow first fairway and found my rhythm a few holes later. When the sun rose all the way above the gangly fan palms, Sengkhea got out an umbrella and followed me around between shots, peppering me with encouragement and advice on how to navigate the gently undulating greens, referring to me as “Sister.” The course reminded me of both Angkor Wat and Siem Reap itself—with lotus-carpeted ponds contained by stone walls like the moat in front of the famous temple and red sand bunkers that matched the city’s dirt roads.
Later, on the modern clubhouse’s covered patio, I chatted with Ed in a conversation that echoed the ones we’d had during my expat years. I’d never imagined how the warmth and generosity of the Khmer people might manifest on the golf course. When I mentioned this, Ed responded: “The staff here are representative of Khmer culture. As long as you treat them with respect and love, they’re gonna give you that back tenfold.”
That respect and love was exactly what I’d missed about Cambodia every day since I’d left and what added a completely unexpected dimension to my round.
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R AI ON THE NUMBER
THE ENGLISHMAN PIPPED TOMMY FLEETWOOD TO THE ROLEX SERIES CROWN AT THE 2025 ABU DHABI HSBC CHAMPIONSHIP
ARON RAI claimed his second Rolex Series crown at the US $9 million 2025 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship after beating Dubairesident Tommy Fleetwood in a dramatic play-off at Yas Links Abu Dhabi.
The Englishman started the day with a one-shot lead but soon found himself two shots back following a fast start from playing partner Fleetwood.
But a run of four successive birdies on the front nine returned him to the top before Fleetwood regained control on a roller-coaster final day.
Rai produced late fireworks, though, birdieing the 16th and 17th to sit level with Fleetwood at the summit heading down the last.
And although he missed a good chance to win inside 72 holes on the 18th green, he made no mistake with his birdie putt at the first extra hole to become a three-time DP World Tour winner.
Rai, who won his first Rolex Series title at the 2020 Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, made a total
of seven birdies - including four in a row from the fourth - and two bogeys in his closing 67 to reach 25 under par, while Fleetwood produced a bogey-free 66 that featured an eagle and four birdies.
Race to Dubai leader and Career Grand Slam winner Rory McIlroy fired a ten-under-par 62 in round four to sit one shot behind Fleetwood and Rai in a tie for third, alongside Denmark’s Nicolai Højgaard.
Kiwi Daniel Hillier and Dubai-resident Richard Mansell were two shots further back on 22 under.
Rai started the week 55th on the season-long Race to Dubai Rankings, needing a big week to book his spot at
“It’s hard to put into words at the moment how this feels or how I’m going to reflect on it.”
the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
Rai, who embraced his father Amrik after clinching victory, said: “It’s hard to sum up. I think you’re just so focused on playing the round and obviously just trying to stay in your zone. It’s hard to put into words at the moment how this feels or how I’m going to reflect on it.
“But it’s just amazing to be stood here. Tommy is a phenomenal player. He’s an even better person than he is a player and that says a lot.
“To play with him the last two days and be out there with him was really special. So yeah, amazing to be here.”
Speaking about how he bounced back from missing his close-range par putt on the 14th, Rai added: “My caddie Jason (Timmis) was great. Because it was a little bit of a shock to the system really on the 14th, missing a short putt there.
“He was great, just telling me to stay present and just focusing on playing the next shots and trying to finish strong. Made a really good up-and-down on the 15th which really helped.
“Made a nice putt there which certainly gave a little bit of confidence moving forward. That was an important moment. And yeah, it was nice to finish off strongly over the last few holes as well.”
Rai was handed the trophy by His Highness Sheikh Nahyan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, while the presentation party also included His Excellency Aref Al Awani, General Secretary of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, His Excellency General Abdulla Al Hashmi, President of the Emirates Golf Federation, Abdulfattah Sharaf, Chairman of the Board, HSBC Bank Middle East, Guy Kinnings, CEO of the DP World Tour, Eric Nicoli, Chairman of the European Tour Group and Abdulla Ahmed Mohamed Rasool Alkahoori – Mohamed Rasool Khoory & Sons.
GREATEST DRAMA ON EARTH
MATT FITZPATRICK AND RORY MCILROY CAPTURE DUBAI GLORY AT DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Matt Fitzpatrick claimed DP World Tour Championship glory as Rory McIlroy secured the Race to Dubai for a seventh time on a thrilling final day of the 2025 Race to Dubai.
Fitzpatrick won the prestigious title for the third time in his career at the first play-off hole after the Bethpage Ryder Cup team-mates had ended regulation play tied on 18 under par.
The 31-year-old booked his place in extra holes thanks to a stunning end to his final round on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, birdieing the 14th, 15th and 18th holes to dramatically cut the deficit which had seen him drop three shots off the pace with six to play
following a run of eight pars in a row from the sixth.
His closing birdie looked to have done enough to win outright after breaking him out of the logjam of players on 17 under par, a group which included his Ryder Cup team-mates Ludvig Åberg and Tommy Fleetwood alongside third round co-leader Rasmus NeergaardPetersen and Laurie Canter.
But he hadn’t reckoned with the remarkable resilience of McIlroy. The Masters champion and Career Grand Slam winner looked to be out of the reckoning following bogeys at the 12th and 16th which had seen him surrender the lead. But the Northern Irishman produced a stunning second shot ap -
proach to 16 feet on the 72nd hole from where he rolled in his eagle putt to join Fitzpatrick at the top of the pile.
Neither player could repeat the fireworks of earlier at the first extra hole, McIlroy producing the first error when his drive found the creek in the middle of the fairway. His third shot after the penalty drop found a bunker, only slightly further from the green than Fitzpatrick, whose third shot ended up in the rough to the right of the putting surface.
One thing that was stellar from the Englishman this week was his chipping from around the greens and he continued in that vein, knocking his fourth shot to less than three feet. It meant McIlroy realistically had to hole his par effort from 20 feet to have a chance of extending matters. He didn’t, and Fitzpatrick duly knocked home his par putt to win.
“It means the world,” Fitzpatrick said. “I struggled at the start of this year, obviously, and to turn it around in the summer like I did and have a Ryder Cup like I did...the Ryder Cup in particular, I feel like it’s hard to top given everything.
“But the way that I played today, I feel like I really didn’t hit one bad shot all day. I’m so proud of myself, the effort that everyone puts in behind the scenes. Yeah, what a feeling. What a feeling.
I’ve probably got a few more good years left in me. -Rory McIlroy
I’m so proud of myself, the effort that everyone puts in behind the scenes. What a feeling. -Matt Fitzpatrick
“Everyone on the team has really, I feel like, has come together, and I couldn’t be happier. And obviously in that down period, I had the support of my wife and my friends and family, and to turn it around and be here now is very special.”
Fitzpatrick’s win moved him to third on the final Race to Dubai Rankings, McIlroy’s considerable consolation for not claiming his third DP World Tour title of the season was the fact that, once again, he finished the season as the Race to Dubai number one.
It was the fourth time in a row he has achieved the feat and the seventh time in total, moving the Northern Irishman one ahead of the late Seve Ballesteros and now only one behind legendary Scot Colin Montgomerie in the golfing record books.
“I had a chat with his wife, Carmen, before I went out to play today,” McIlroy said on Seve. “She told me how proud he would have been. You know, I said this last year, he means so much to this Tour and to the European Ryder Cup Team.
“I caught up with Monty this week when he was here a couple days ago and I saw him,” said McIlroy. “Look, it seems within touching distance now. I’d love to
be the winningest European in terms of Order of Merits and season-long races. You know, I’ve probably got a few more good years left in me, and hopefully I can catch him and surpass him.
Also up for grabs in at the end of the week in Dubai were ten dual memberships on the PGA TOUR, with Marco Penge, Laurie Canter, Kristoffer Reitan, Adrien Saddier, Alex Noren, John Parry, Haotong Li, Keita Nakajima, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Jordan Smith claiming the ten cards for the 2026 season.
During the prize presentation His Highness Sheikh Mansoor Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council was on hand to present the trophies, while His Excellency Khalfan Juma Belhoul, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, His Excellency Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World, Abdulla Bin Damithan, CEO of DP World GCC, His Excellency General Abdullah Al Hashmi, President of Emirates Golf Federation, Guy Kinnings, CEO of DP World Tour and Eric Nicoli, Chairman of the European Tour Group, were also part of the presentation party.
That’s a wrap!
A LOOK BACK AT THE INAUGURAL PIF GLOBAL SERIES SEASON, WITH 2026 JUST AROUND THE CORNER
THE 2025 PIF GLOBAL SERIES has delivered high drama in a season that saw elite-level female golf played out across some of the world’s finest courses in Saudi Arabia, Korea, London, USA and China.
The series featured five events this past year – the PIF Saudi Ladies International, Aramco Korea Championship, PIF London Championship, Aramco Houston Championship, and Aramco China Championship. With the grand season-opener PIF Saudi Ladies International at $5m, each other event had a $2m prize fund – double that of previous Aramco Team Series events - with $1.5m up for grabs in the individual event and $500k to play for in the team event.
A key change from 2024 saw teams of four professionals compete. The removal of the championship-amateurs provided opportunity for additional professionals to compete in what was 26-teams, 104-player fields at each of the five events of 2025.
On the individual side, Jeeno Thitikul (above) stole the show in Riyadh as she romped to a four shot win at -16. Her second round, 64, put her in strong command of the tournament as a closing 69 was more than enough to take home the win.
In the team competition, Team Somi Lee with Nastasia Nadaud, Amy Taylor, and Minsum Kim took the team title by two shots at -34.
ARAMCO KOREA CHAMPIONSHIP
Kim crowned at home
Defending champion and one of the home crowd favourites, Korea’s Hyo-Joo Kim (left), took home the title for the second year running. A composed and thoroughly professional performance was enough to claim her 25th professional win in front of her loyal fans, the ‘Shooting Stars.’
On the team front it was Team Kouskova who claimed the top prize after a flurry of birdies to finish atop of the leaderboard at -21. Lee-Anne Pace’s crucial birdie on the very tough 18th separated the team from the pack as Kouskova, Pace, Navarrosa, and Schmidt rejoiced.
PIF SAUDI LADIES INTERNATIONAL Thitikul takes season-opener
PIF LONDON CHAMPIONSHIP
Laura’s breakthrough in London
In what was one of the closest individual competitions in series history, Germany’s Laura Fuenfstueck (above) birdied the final hole to claim an emotional, maiden LET victory at 10-under-par.
In the team competition, Danielle Du Toit was especially grateful for her last gasp spot in the field as she and her team emerged victorious. Joined by Megan Dennis, Marta Sanz Barrio, and Sarah Kemp, Team Du Toit’s -29 was enough for victory.
Fantastic five for Nuria
It was Spaniard, Nuria Iturrioz (above) who claimed the individual title in Houston after shooting an impressive 13-under-par for the tournament with Solheim Cup stars, Carlota Ciganda and Charley Hull in contention at 11-under-par but Nuria managed to withhold the pressure to claim her fifth LET title.
In the team event, Team Kouskova secured a onestroke victory over Team Rhodes and Team Boutier with a winning score of 32-under-par. The team was made up of Sara Kouskova, Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen, April Anguarasaranee and Ana Belac.
ARAMCO CHINA CHAMPIONSHIP
Liu lands as home hero
Ruixin Liu (above) claimed a stunning victory at the 2025 Aramco China Championship, finishing three shots clear at 16-under-par to secure her first Ladies European Tour (LET) title – and she did it in style, on home soil at the iconic Mission Hills Golf Club.
In the team event, Team Rhodes surged ahead of the competition to secure a commanding 39-under-par finish, ending the day four shots clear of their nearest rivals. Trichat Cheenglab delivered a standout round of eight-under-par 68, not only claiming the overnight lead in the individual competition but also playing a pivotal role in propelling Team Rhodes to victory.
Looking ahead to 2026
Golf Saudi and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) have announced the continuation and expansion of their transformative partnership in women’s golf through the 2026 PIF Global Series, an elevated slate of five worldclass tournaments across three continents.
The PIF Global Series will begin in February at Riyadh Golf Club with the PIF Saudi Ladies International and includes five individual 72-hole stroke-play events across the United Kingdom, Korea, China, and the United States. Highlighting the enhanced series is the debut of the Aramco Championship at Shadow Creek Golf Club in Las Vegas, a new co-sanctioned event between the LPGA and LET that brings women’s golf to one of the sport’s most iconic venues.
ARAMCO HOUSTON CHAMPIONSHIP
A HOME STAGE FOR THE SEASON-ENDING SAUDI OPEN HEADS TO DIRAB WITH A US$1 MILLION ON OFFER
OTHMAN ALMULLA
he Asian Tour closes its curtain this month with the US$1 million Saudi Open presented by PIF, an event that has grown in stature but still carries the same emotional weight for home hope Othman Almulla.
The first professional golfer from Saudi Arabia has lived through every version of this tournament, from its early days as a national championship to its current place as the season-ending stop on a global tour. The 2025 edition, played from 10 - 13 December at Dirab Golf and Country Club, gives him another chance to compete in front of a home crowd at a venue that shaped much of his golfing path.
The Saudi national, Almulla has won the Saudi Open twice, in 2015 and 2017 as an amateur, long before it became part of the Asian Tour. That history is something he still carries with pride as he admits nothing compares to teeing it up at home. “I’m super excited,” he said. “Anytime we get to tee it up in Saudi it’s cloud 9 stuff!
“The Saudi Open is really close to my heart. I won it a couple of times when it wasn’t as big as it is today, so obviously winning it on the Asian Tour would be immense.”
This year’s staging returns to Dirab, the country’s first green-grass course. Opened in 1994 and tucked into the scenic valley outside Riyadh, it has always been different from the desert layouts that dominate the region. It has mature trees, steady elevation shifts and a more traditional rhythm that rewards control and precision, while measuring an impressive 7280 yards from the championship tees. “Dirab is a great golf course,” Almulla said. “One of the oldest courses in Saudi Arabia, tree-lined, really nice. It actually has a lot of topography changes, which is exciting for a desert golf course.
“You go up and down a bit there so it’s really fun. It might be a little bit cold in the mornings, but it will be really fun to cap the season there.”
The Saudi Open’s competitive arc has also accelerated. Before joining the Asian Tour, it produced champions from across the globe including Qatar’s Saleh Al-Kaabi, England duo Todd Clements and Jamie Elson, Saudi Arabia’s Faisal Salhab and Indonesia’s Naraajie Ramadhan. Its step into the Asian Tour spotlight in 2023 came with a headline finish from 19-year-old Denwit Boriboonsub, whose closing 64 held off Major champion and Ryder Cup star Henrik Stenson. A year later, American John Catlin controlled the week with a wire-to-wire victory.
When Almulla turned professional in 2019, he stood alone.
Today there are five Saudi professionals, helped by a stronger support structure and a steady flow of inter-
*
It’s great to have your name on the trophy, but I want to have my name on it as an Asian Tour trophy. That would be the big one.
national events played on home soil. The Saudi Amateur Open has become an important part of that structure, giving the country’s best young players a pathway into the Saudi Open itself. It has grown into a genuine stepping stone, and its connection to the Saudi Open keeps the amateur ranks plugged into elite competition.
Both events sit under the umbrella of the Arab Golf Federation, which has set a long-term target of developing an Arab golfer capable of reaching the highest level of international competition by 2035. The presence of these tournaments in Saudi Arabia is a key part of that plan and continues to push the regional standard forward.
“To have everyone from the Asian Tour in Saudi for the last three weeks of the season pretty much because we had the Asian Development Tour season finale here as well, it’s so cool.”
“We get to travel all around the world, but there’s something special about playing in Saudi.”
With his name already etched on the trophy, expectations naturally follow. He feels them but treats them with balance.
Saudi Open Previous Winners
2015 – Othman Almulla (SAU)
2016 – Saleh Al-Kaabi (QAT)
2017 – Othman Almulla (SAU)
2018 – Todd Clements (ENG)
2019 – Jamie Elson (ENG)
2021 – Faisal Salhab (SAU)
2022 – Naraajie Ramadhan (IND)
2023 – Denwit Boriboonsub (TAI)
2024 – John Catlin (USA)
“Yes and no,” he said.
“It’s great to have your name on the trophy, but I want to have my name on it as an Asian Tour trophy. That would be the big one. I don’t want to set that as a goal. I just want to play well there and continue the good work I’ve been doing the last year and see where that leaves me.
“I’m still 39 years young, but hopefully I’ve got a few more Saudi Opens to go!”
Ageless Golf(er)
My advice for playing this game for decades to come
By Bernhard Langer
with Ron Kaspriske
Photographs by Jesse Rieser
Editor’s note: You probably know Bernhard Langer is the oldest player to win a PGA Tour Champions event. Langer, now 68, did it last year at age 67 (Charles Schwab Cup). But here’s a fun fact: Guess who is the second oldest? It’s also Langer. How about the third? Same. He actually has set the age record six times! Scott Hoch, at age 63, is the next oldest. They say golf might be the only sport you actually play more as you get older, not less. This could explain, in part, why Langer’s
career seems to defy the laws of nature. Langer has won a record 47 tournaments since he turned 50 (Hale Irwin won the second most with 45). Langer also has finished in the top five in PGA Tour Champions events an astonishing 156 times. Before wrapping his 18th season on the senior circuit at the Skechers World Champions Cup, Langer graciously took some time to share his thoughts on how to slow down Father Time to keep playing golf at a high level. —Ron Kaspriske
Why me? Not sure, but I have a few guesses
Why do I think I’ve had so much success after turning 50? Well, first, I think I have good genes. My mother (Walburga) lived to 100. Also, I live reasonably clean. I sleep eight hours a day, and I’m not out all night partying. What else—I’ve exercised all my life and have been constantly working on the technique of my golf game. So why do I have more longevity? I really can’t say for sure, but all of those things contribute—and so does my keen desire to compete. I love competition, and I don’t mind practicing to stay sharp (but I have learned to take more time off as I get older and older). You have to listen to your body and brain and find the right balance of practicing and playing and knowing when to rest. I don’t hit hundreds of balls a day like I used to.
I hope this seems like common-sense stuff for most of you. My best advice is, if you want to keep playing at a level that is satisfying, practice, but not too hard. Work on your short game maybe more than your full swing. Also, get plenty of rest and know when your body and mind feel fresh and when they don’t. If you ignore that last part, things might not work out so well for you. There’s also some things you can do with your game to adjust to how you’re aging. They are things that I’ve done, which might help you, too.
ADDRESS AND BACKSWING
You can still make a full turn (just not like you used to do it)
I hear people on TV say my swing looks similar to what it looked like 30 years ago. I think it’s quite different. One thing you’ll notice is my stance. It’s somewhat narrow compared to other players (below) because it helps me rotate better. If you stand too wide, it tends to restrict the hips—and many of you are already stiff in the hips—so it will limit your backswing length. For me, a wider stance also gets me swaying off the ball, which can really hurt your ball-striking. Solid contact is more important than ever as you get older. I might have lost a yard or two with my driver because I don’t stand wide with all that spine tilt away from the target, but I make better contact. I’ve always felt like I’m more precise with a narrower stance. Another thing you might notice is how much my head swivels as I take the club back (left). I’ve had a very stiff neck for many years, so my head has to do that. It’s the only way I can make a full backswing. However, allowing your head to rotate just a little as you swing back does help promote a better turn. Try it.
THROUGH-SWING
Take pressure off your spine and release the club
My late golf coach, Willy Hoffman, saw how I was swinging in my 20s—more reverse-C finish and pressure on my spine, etc., and he said we needed to make changes so I could play well in my 40s, 50s and 60s. Knowing that modern equipment would help preserve some distance, I started working on swing changes that were better for my back, even though they weren’t as effective for hitting it far. It wasn’t like Nick Faldo, who was gone for two years from tournaments while he changed his swing. Mine took years and years before it got to where it is now.
The way I swing now, with more of an emphasis on trapping the ball and reducing the amount of spine tilt through impact, helps keep my lower back healthy. I still get sore, but this is a swing you can use for a long, long time. The feeling you want is your chest stays over the ball as the club moves through the hitting area. Some people call it “covering the ball,” and it puts a lot less stress on your spine while still providing some pop to your drives and other full-swing shots. You still want a little tilt away from the target through the hitting area like I’m demonstrating (right), but the feeling is that you’re more centered and not hanging back.
Also, to compensate for a lack of distance, you might consider getting your forearms and wrists more involved in the strike. When I turned 60, I started to gradually lose yards—and I didn’t like it. I tried swinging harder but then my back started hurting, so I had to find another way to generate power. One way to do that is by utilising the hinging and unhinging of the wrists and the rotation of the forearms (far right). They can create real speed for golfers who can’t get as much power anymore from leg strength and hip rotation. For me, I like to feel I create a bunch of speed just before the club gets to the ball, and that comes from a “release” of the wrists and a rotation of the forearms through impact. I trap the ball and compress it.
SHORT GAME
For guys like us, this part of the game is the great equaliser
You don’t need strength to have a good short game. Even better, you won’t wear yourself out practicing around the greens. I knew as I got older, I had to become a better short-game player to make up for having to hit longer shots into greens. If you can routinely get up and down, it really does level the playing field.
The first thing you should do is try using different clubs to hit these shots around the greens. A 64-degree wedge might be good for someone like Phil Mickelson who can play the miracle shots all the time, but I think you should try chipping with a pitching wedge like I am (above) or a 9-iron, 8-iron, even a hybrid. Get good at running the ball up to the hole. How much you get your hands and wrists involved in these shots is up to you, but I will say letting the club do most of the work is probably going to help you a lot more if you aren’t someone who practices much. Even hitting chips with a 6-iron like you’re making a putting stroke is going to be a reliable shot.
PUTTING
Feeling shaky? You might need a fresh approach
It’s no secret that I’ve had the yips multiple times in my career, and I’ve since gone to using a long putter to help make a better stroke. You can see how I use it (right). Standing taller like this also takes some of the pressure off my lower back that using a standard-length putter and stance can cause. Truthfully, though, I don’t think it’s easy to use a long putter. It’s actually harder. But if you’re really bad with a short putter or you feel like your hands are too shaky, you might as well give one a go. The reason? It might bring the one thing to your putting that really is the difference between success and failure. That thing is comfort. Whatever putter you use, and however you stand over the ball or hold the club, that’s the real key to this part of the game. Use the approach that gives you the most confidence and belief in yourself.
Don’t hate the gym. It’s going to be your best friend
One thing I’ve learned is that we sit too much. I was given a stretch by a physical therapist back in Germany, and I do it before and after the gym, before I play, even before I go to bed. It opens up your front side from your toes all the way through your hips—all the parts of your body that get short and tight from sitting. For me, it counters all those airplane flights and long drives in the car. You can do this stretch standing or kneeling. I do it standing with my arms braced in a door frame and my pelvis extended forward. Or you can do it like you see here (right). Shift your hips forward and hold the extended position with one arm up for a few seconds, return to start, then do it a few more times, flipping leg positions.
I’m in the gym almost every day. On off days, it’s 90 minutes. On days I’m playing, it’s an hour and then I stretch after the round. That probably sounds like a lot, but it’s a big reason I’m able to stay out on tour as much as I do. It’s typically about 30 to 60 minutes of cardio, usually the stationary bike or walking uphill on a treadmill. The rest of the time is stretching and light weights. I’ve never done heavy weight lifting. I had a stress fracture and bulging disc in my spine when I was 19, so I have days when I feel stiff and very achy and days when I’m good. I’ll take antiinflammatory drugs sometimes, but I don’t want to do that often. I don’t want to put my stomach through that, but they do help when you really need it.
The thing you have to try to do is get the blood flow going. That’s going to help you feel and play your best, so focus on things that get you loosened up.
THE NEXT MATCH
Let your love of the game motivate you to do the work
I’m playing in the Skechers World Champions Cup at Feather Sound Country Club in Clearwater, Florida (Dec. 4-7, ESPN/ABC). I’m really excited about it because it’s a team event. I’m playing for Team Europe, and it reminds me of the Ryder Cup—with some noticeable di erences. You’re playing matches against two guys from di erent teams at the same time, instead of one. We’ll have six of the most famous Europeans, Americans and the rest of the world (International Team) playing against each other. I always thought it would be a great thing to have a Ryder Cup-type event on the PGA Tour Champions. Many of us playing in this have known each other for 30 to 40 years. We’re all friends, but when it comes down to it, you still want to win and beat the other guy. This could be a big event for the future. I think if you’re looking forward to playing, it goes a long way to motivating you to do all the things you need to do to make that happen—no matter how old you’re getting. The message is to keep it fresh and enjoy golf. At least that’s how I’ve approached it—and so far it has worked out pretty well.
How Iona found her voice
INSIDE THE CAREER AND LIFE OF GOLF’S
MODERN NARRATOR
WITH HARRY GRIMSHAW
IONA STEPHEN’S desire towards the game of golf hasn’t followed the script she once imagined, but it has gone onto shape her into one of golf’s most engaging modern storytellers.
The Scots early trips to the Middle East helped fuel her playing ambitions, but after a career altering injury, the tour hopeful then found her transitioning to on-course broadcaster which has brought Iona a new chapter to her golfing path, one filled to the brim with the games biggest names.
In this exclusive Q&A with Golf Digest Middle East, at last month’s season ending DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates on the DP World Tour, Iona delves into how her relationship with golf has managed to stand the test of time, so far.
Iona, welcome to Dubai and a sunny Earth course, how long is it now that you’ve been visiting the Middle East for?
I first came to the Middle East to practise when I was still playing golf full-time, early on in my career, so that must’ve been back in 2015 or 2016?
I still remember getting in the taxi from the airport and driving into Dubai for the first time –my jaw was on the floor. I couldn’t believe the size and scale of the buildings, and the way everything lights up at night. It’s breathtaking. I felt like a kid abroad for the first time. Dubai made a huge im-
ABOVE: St Andrews, the Home of Golf, became the launchpad for Iona’s career in golf
pression on me – I couldn’t have anticipated how vibrant and energetic it feels as a city.
It’s well documented that I had some struggles with my wrist, and it didn’t like the cold. I needed some sunshine – reliable sunshine – and at the time I was practising at the Centurion Club in the UK and they kindly brought me out on a trip with them to Dubai. I stayed at Arabian Ranches and did a lot of practice there. It was a wonderful place to work on my game. My wrist absolutely loved it, and so did the rest of my body. Being able to swing in the heat and the warmth was a game-changer, especially through those cold winter months in the UK.
A few people I knew were already out here. Zane Scotland was a friend, and there were a few other pros based here too. There were always people to meet up with and get a game in, so all in all it was a great place to come and work on my game.
You’ve spoken about it before, but could you give us a brief rundown of your golfing career – where did the love begin?
I’ve got serious big love for the game of golf – deeply, madly in love in fact, even though it’s broken my heart many times. It’s a relationship that’s stood the test of time so far.
I came to golf a little later than most. I started playing when I was 19. I’d played every sport grow-
ing up – lots of racket sports – and I had two big brothers, so I was always pushed to my limits. I was playing international field hockey at the time and got involved in a sport transfer scheme that looked to move athletes into individual pursuits. Golf wasn’t one of the sports on offer, but around that time I went to watch the AIG Women’s Open at Carnoustie. I remember watching Paula Creamer, Kylie Walker and Michelle Wie and thinking, these women are amazing – I want to play this game.
It appealed to my strengths: hand-eye coordination and the mental challenge I was yet to discover. I was given the opportunity to go on a golf scholarship at Wentworth. I’d been studying at St Andrews University, playing lots of golf there, and within 15 months of taking up the game I was playing county golf. I’d started at Glasgow University but quickly transferred to St Andrews – I knew that was where I needed to be if I wanted to get better.
It was a stroke of luck, really. Transferring to such a prestigious university isn’t easy, but I managed it. In my application letter I was very persuasive about how much I wanted to play golf – it was my main motivation. At St Andrews I had an amazing time. My golf kept improving, and when I was invited down to Wentworth, I was playing off four, then within a year I was down to plus four.
I had a fantastic coach, Kristian Baker, and eventually joined the Surrey County team with players like Annabel Dimmock, who’s gone on to a great career on the LET. Everything was heading in the right direction.
Then looking back, I was so eager to turn professional. I never really played to play amateur golf – my only goal was to reach the pro ranks and play in the AIG Women’s Open, where I’d first been inspired.
Where do you think that drive of wanting to succeed at golf come from?
ABOVE: 2024 AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews Old Course
It’s funny – I was thinking about that recently. When you’re a kid, people always ask what you want to be when you grow up. Some people know right away. I remember a friend of mine in primary school saying she wanted to be a surgeon – she’s now one of the best young surgeons in London. I didn’t know what I wanted for a long time, but my love was always sport.
When I was at school, women’s sport wasn’t what it is now. There weren’t many professional paths, but I desperately wanted to be an athlete. When I discovered golf and saw the professional game up close, that was it. I thought, this is my chance to become a professional athlete, and I might actually be good at it.
I became completely focused. It was an amaz-
I’ve got serious big love for the game of golf –deeply, madly in love in fact.
ing time in my life, but then I started to feel pain in my wrist. The wrist is a complex joint, and it ends more golfing careers than people realise. It’s the number one injury for golfers, ahead of the shoulder and back. So I’m not alone, but it hit just as I was preparing to turn professional.
I did turn pro and went to Q School, earning a partial card for the LET. I got a few starts, played on the LET Access Series and the Santander Tour, but about six or seven months in, I needed my first wrist operation. One operation became two, then three, and eventually there was no way back. It was absolutely heartbreaking – all I wanted was to play.
I’d never had another injury in my life, so to have this one end my dream was devastating. But thankfully, as people know now, that led me somewhere new. I took a break, tried other sports like running and cycling, and eventually got a call inviting me into the media world. That changed everything.
Transitioning from playing to broadcasting must’ve been a tough period?
Yes, it really was. When I was first invited to screen test for Golfing World, I actually said no – I wasn’t interested. Everything was all just too raw still.
Thankfully, they persuaded me to give it a go. I never thought I’d get the job, but I think my background helped. I guess I wasn’t just a presenter; I had a deep love and knowledge of golf, which appealed to them.
They sent me to Mexico for one of my first jobs, and to be honest, I dragged my feet a little because I was scared to be around the game. I wasn’t sure how I’d handle it emotionally because I still wanted to play. I felt frustrated – I’d never had the chance to show what I was capable of.
At the start it was hard, and even now it still is sometimes. But what the game’s given me in return is something I could never have predicted, and I’m incredibly grateful. That’s life.
It hurt deeply because golf was my passion, but I’ve managed to re-establish a new relationship with it and now it’s totally different to what I imagined, but in many ways even more special. I appreciate it more now, and I’m in awe of the players who take it to the top level. I still love the game – I just experience it in a different way.
And how much do you enjoy covering golf now in a broadcasting aspect?
I love it. I’m completely obsessed. Over the past five or six years I’ve worn different hats – on-course commentator, presenter, interviewer. I’ve covered the Ryder Cup, I was anchoring when Robert MacIntyre won for the first time on the PGA Tour, I’ve anchored shows for Sky Sports Golf, I’ve worked for CBS and I’ve interviewed pretty much everyone in the world’s top 20, both male and female!
Each role has taught me something new, and I’m still learning every day. I feel like I’ve just completed the foundation level of a media degree and there’s still so much more to come. I’m very grateful for this job and never take it for granted.
With all those experiences, you must have a best round or moment you’ve witnessed while commentating?
Being part of two Ryder Cups is right up there. Marco Simone was probably the greatest week of
BELOW
The DP World Tour Championship prize ceremony on the DP World Tour
Marco Simone was probably the greatest week of my career
so far.
my career so far. I was on-course commentating, right in the cauldron of noise, chants and singing – it was incredible.
Then being given the honour of presenting the Ryder Cup to Luke Donald and his winning team on the final day – in front of millions – that’s something I’ll never forget. I remember standing there thinking, how on earth did my life lead me here? All the injuries, all the lows – it all came flooding back, and I just felt so grateful.
This year at Bethpage was a completely differ-
ent experience, but equally special. Being part of an away Ryder Cup brought a different kind of intensity, which I really enjoyed. I was on the ground for Sky covering Shane Lowry as he holed the putt to retain the Cup, and then was sent to Tyrrell Hatton’s match, which clinched it. To be there for both moments was amazing.
And then this year I was covering the Masters for CBS when Rory won the Grand Slam. I was on holes 15 and 16 – both crucial for him – and it was incredible to see it unfold. I even managed to get up to the
BELOW: 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome
green to watch him win in the playoff. Seeing him collapse on the green afterwards gave me incredible chills, such an out pouring of emotion.
Is it hard not to get emotional in those moments?
Oh always. Some of the winners’ interviews I’ve done, you can hear a lump in my throat. I remember telling my boss at Sky once, “I can’t do this job – I keep crying when people win.”
I’ve always been emotional watching sport –Wimbledon, football, anything. But he told me, “That’s exactly why you are right for this job – because you feel it.”
He was right. I’ve learned ways to manage it now, but that emotional connection is something I wouldn’t trade.
Is there such a thing as commentary idols?
Definitely. Ken Brown is my absolute pin-up. I’m very lucky to call him a friend and mentor. For oncourse commentary, he’s been my guide. His tone, his respect for the game, his subtle humour, his vocabulary – he can make even the most mundane detail sound magical.
That’s what commentary is all about: describing things vividly so the viewer can feel what it’s like – the sounds, the atmosphere, everything. Ken’s brilliant at that. Peter Alliss, of course, is one of the greats. I never got to work with him, but I’ve listened to so much of his commentary. Dottie Pepper is someone I look up to, she’s just incredible, obviously being female and what’s she’s done in her career is a real inspiration.
Also at Sky, Ewen Murray is outstanding. His tone and delivery are spot on every time. Right now, he’s someone who really sets the bar.
You’ve added another string to your bow with your YouTube channel – how do you find the time?
Yes, so On the Road with Iona is my YouTube channel I started about two and a half years ago. I missed a lot of the long-form, sit-down pieces I used to do, and I wanted to create a space for deeper conversations about golf.
It’s not just with professional players but golfers of all levels – talking about what the game’s taught them, and the parallels between golf and life. It’s a passion project. We’ve had some amazing guests: Butch Harmon, Adam Scott, Sam Torrance, Dame Laura Davies, Niall Horan, Jamie Dornan – a wonderful mix.
I feel like the audience has been allowed to get to know me a little bit more and we’ve been able to take time to offer a space that I hope is very re -
ABOVE:
warding for viewers that watch it. It ultimately offers them hope and maybe gives them something like a little chink or a little shimmer of something they can relate to in their own life that maybe they’re struggling with or maybe they needed some inspiration for, and they can take it into their own life and say, you know what, I’m really glad I watched that because now it’s made me think about something a little bit differently.
I’m quite a creative person and it’s also a very creative outlet and I love the way we pull the pieces together and how we set it to music to evoke a bit of emotion. It scratches another itch for me, which is amazing. I love shaping each episode with the whole team – from the interviews to the music and editing – to find the right tone and emotion. It’s been such a rewarding project.
The 152nd Open at Royal Troon
Small Island, Big Dreams
BY BRANDON ROBINSON-THOMPSON
IGREW UP on the Isle of Wight, an island with less than 150,000 people and only two 18-hole golf courses. The odds of making it as a touring professional might have seemed stacked against me, but I never thought about it that way.
The reason I got into golf was simple: I wanted to hang out with my granddad. He was never at home on weekends when we stayed over because he was always at the golf course. So, I begged him one day to take me. When I turned nine, he finally said yes, and from that day on, I’ve been playing. I don’t remember a day I haven’t picked up a club. My granddad loved the game, and that’s the way I learned to love it too.
I grew up playing at Freshwater Bay, and it really was the best place on Earth for a kid. We had a handful of courses on the island, but only two 18-hole ones, so I feel lucky to have had that playground.
Football was another sport I loved, but I snapped my ACL on my sixteenth birthday. Then during recovery, my family and I decided that golf was the sport I should pursue, whether it was to an elite level or not. So that’s when I knocked all the other sports on the head and focused on golf. I then went on to play collegiate golf at the University of South Carolina-Aiken from 2013 to 2016, and turned professional in 2017.
My career has taken me all over the world. I’ve played PGA Tour Latinoamérica, Clutch Pro Tour, MENA Tour, HotelPlanner Tour, and now DP World Tour. The journey hasn’t always been glamorous. Sometimes there was no money, no opportunity, but my love for it has kept me going. That’s the main reason I’m still here.
Representing the Isle of Wight while travelling the globe gives me a huge sense of pride. That’s where I’m from, born and bred, and where my whole family still lives. Getting to go home is always special—a chance to relax in a place that really grounds me.
Representing the Isle of Wight while travelling the globe gives me a huge sense of pride.
I’ve also built a strong connection with the Middle East, especially Doha, Qatar. I’ve been visiting on and off for the last six or seven years, and I’ve fallen in love with it—the people, the locals, the expat community. I go back a few times each year just to relax with friends and enjoy the great weather.
I also enjoy sharing what life on tour is really like on social media and YouTube. I like showing the behind-the-scenes side of pro golf, beyond the private jets and millions of dollars! It can be tricky to balance with competition, but it gives fans a closer insight into the game and us as athletes. At the same time, it can distract me, whether that’s spending hours looking at someone else’s technique or wishing I hit it the same way. Being on the DP World Tour, especially travelling with my wife, keeps me grounded though and helps me balance it.
2025 has been an incredible year. I made it to the DP World Tour Championship and I feel truly grateful for golf and the people I’ve met along the way. This year has been a career highlight, and I’m just excited and happy to be here.
Tour players I work with score by playing the right shot at the right time. Use their strategies to transform your game
BY MARK BLACKBURN
NO. 1, GOLF DIGEST’S 50 BEST TEACHERS WITH DREW POWELL
PHOTOGRAPHS BY J.D. CUBAN
PREVIOUS SPREAD
AIM SAFE, CURVE IT IN
tour pros seem to always miss in the right spots, but how? Most of the time they aim away from trouble and curve their shots toward the risky spots, being careful not to over-curve them. If the pin is tucked on the left side (previous spread), pros know they don’t want to miss left, on the short side, so they aim at the middle of the green and work the ball toward the hole. Amateurs often go directly at the pin, leading to short-sided misses. Make your target bigger by aiming at the safe side of the green. If you curve your shot toward the hole—great shot! If not, you’re still on the green.
BAD GREENSIDE LIE? LEAN TOWARD THE TARGET
the first question pros ask themselves when they get to their ball is, What’s the lie? Analysing how the ball is sitting and adjusting your technique to accommodate the lie is crucial. Average players rarely do this. Take this nasty lie in greenside rough (below). Pros know that if they used a standard chipping setup and swing here, the club would get snagged in the grass coming into impact. When the ball is sitting down like this, take your highest-lofted wedge and open the clubface. The
big key, though, is to get nearly all of your weight on your lead leg, leaning your whole body toward the target. Notice how it looks like I’m “sitting” into my left leg. This creates a very steep swing, where the clubhead drops onto the ball, not behind it. Another mistake with this shot is not swinging hard enough to get to the green. Hit this shot twice as hard as you think you should. The resistance of the rough will deaden the blow. Play it like a bunker shot: Open the face, lean left and swing hard.
Hit this shot twice as hard as you think. Play it like a bunker shot: Open the face, lean left, swing hard.
HINGE IT FOR HEIGHT
the best wedge players typically flight the ball low by limiting the amount of wrist hinge in the backswing (above, left), but that doesn’t work every time. If the hole is cut in the front of the green, say, over a bunker, pros will generate more height to have the ball land softly. Average golfers tend to leave these shots short because they know their typical lower trajectory has no chance of stopping near the hole. By hitting wedges higher to front pins, pros create more margin for error. They
More hinge sets up a fuller release of the club through the ball—and more loft.
do this by moving the ball slightly up in their stance, just forward of center. But the real key is to hinge the wrists more in the backswing (above, right). More hinge sets up a fuller release of the club through the ball—and more loft on the clubface at impact. Be sure you still make a full turn going back by rotating your ribcage. This is not an arms-only swing. Then, from that extra wrist set, feel the club unhinge coming down and then rehinge on the other side to create more loft.
GO STEEPER IN ROUGH
what makes the rough so difficult is the unpredictability of how the ball will come out sometimes dead, other times hot. Both are caused by grass getting trapped between the clubface and the ball. Pros manage this by making setup and swing adjustments to steepen their angle of attack into impact, so less grass comes between the face and ball. Many average players make no changes and wonder why the rough grabs the clubhead and kills the shot.
To get the club to travel more steeply into the ball, stand a few inches closer,
Stand a few inches closer, grip down, and put 70 percent of your weight on your lead leg.
grip down and put 70 percent of your weight on your lead leg (opposite page). From this setup, the club will tend to swing slightly to the outside going back (far right), which sets up a steeper downswing. Feel like the clubhead drops straight down on the ball. The last thing you want from the rough is a sweeping motion through impact. Also, because the ball tends to spin less from the rough, pros often take less club to play for rollout. If you’re 150 yards from the hole, you might need to carry the ball only 130 to get it pin-high. Club down accordingly.
LET YOUR BODY TURN THROUGH ON CHIP SHOTS
when you’re in the fairway, just short of the green, it’s tempting to opt for a bump-and-run or even a putt. That’s often the right play, but pros know it doesn’t work in every situation. If the pin is cut just onto the green or the grass is wet, they carry the ball onto the putting surface for consistent results. You can hit this higher pitch, too. First, open the clubface and keep it open throughout the swing. (Play every greenside shot, aside from a
bump-and-run, with an open clubface.) Take the club back slightly to the outside, then think, body, body, body. Look at how I’ve rotated through so that you can see the back of my pants and shirt (left). Good players keep turning and nip the ball. Amateurs duff it because they use only their hands and arms. Turn through until your belt buckle and shirt buttons face the target. You’ll catch the ball solidly and stop it with backspin. That’s how to do it like the pros!
Play every greenside shot, aside from a bump-and-run, with an open clubface.
AGF news
H.E. Yasir Al-Rumayyan reappointed President of Arab Golf Federation
The General Assembly of the Arab Golf Federation has renewed its confidence in H.E. Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan, reappointing him as President for the 2025–2029 term.
The announcement was made during the Assembly meeting held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the sidelines of the Pan Arab Championship, with the attendance of representatives from Arab golf federations and members of the Executive Committee.
H.E. Al-Rumayyan opened the meeting by welcoming participating delegations, expressing his pride in Saudi Arabia’s hosting of these important gatherings. He stated: “I warmly welcome you to your second home, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and wish you a pleasant stay during the Pan Arab Golf Championship.
“Over the past year, Arab golf has witnessed significant growth in tournaments, organisation, and competitive
performance—thanks to our collective efforts and the developmental initiatives introduced by the Federation, particularly the Arab Golf Series, which represents a major turning point for Arab players on their path to global professionalism, alongside the Elite Scholarship Program that supports promising Arab talents.”
Mr. Noah Alireza, Secretary General of the Arab Golf Federation and CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation, delivered a welcoming speech in which he expressed his delight in meeting representatives of the Arab federations once again. He emphasised that the General Assembly serves as an important platform to evaluate the previous phase and outline future directions for Arab golf. He said: “I am pleased to welcome you once again to the General Assembly meetings. We value your presence here in Riyadh among your brothers. Today’s meeting continues a long journey of cooperation and presents an important opportunity to align our vision and strengthen the future of Arab golf.”
Record number of Arab golfers in PIF Saudi International
A record number of Saudi Arabian and MENA golfers took part in the Asian Tour’s PIF Saudi International, powered by So Bank Investment Advisers. Those players included Egypt’s Issa Abou El Ela; Morocco’s Adam Bresnu, Youssef El Hali and Reda El Hali; Saudi Arabia’s Othman Almulla, Khaled Attieh, Faisal Salhab, Saud Al Sharif, Shergo Al Kurdi, HRH Prince Khalid bin Saud Al-Faisal and Khalid Alqunaibit; and the UAE’s Joshua Grenville-Wood.
HRH Prince Khalid bin Saud
Al-
Faisal wins Seniors Division in Pan Arab Championship
The Pan Arab Championship for Men and Seniors, presented by Arab National Bank, celebrated an memorable edition in which Arab players showcased impressive performances that reflected the remarkable development of golf across the region. In the Seniors Individual category, His Royal Highness Prince Khalid bin Saud Al-Faisal captured the title a er a solid and consistent performance, adding another milestone for Saudi golf in a highly competitive field featuring top Arab senior players.
Historic moment for Palestinian Golf at the International Lebanese Amateur Open
The International Lebanese Amateur Open, held at the Golf Club of Lebanon, witnessed a historic moment for Palestinian golf recently. Bilal Ataya emerged victorious in the tournament, becoming the first Palestinian male golfer to be ranked on the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Al-Halli earns place in PIF Saudi International via Pan Arab Championship
Morocco’s Youssef Al-Halli claimed victory in the Men’s Individual title of the Pan Arab Championship. Finishing second was Egypt’s Issa Abou ElAla, while Reda Al-Halli of Morocco secured third place. With this victory, Al-Halli earned automatic qualification to compete in the PIF Saudi International at Riyadh Golf Club.
