Abu Dhabi Golf Championship: Henrik Stenson to make 2014 bow in tournament

The world No 3 has a great record in the United Arab Emirates having won the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai last month as well as the 2006 Qatar Masters and the 2007 Dubai Desert Classic.

 

"2013 finished on a high in the UAE and it would be great if 2014 started on a high in the UAE," said the Swede.

 

"The country was a fantastic home for us for eight years and I've always enjoyed playing here."

 

Stenson finished as the runner-up in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in 2006 - one shot behind Chris DiMarco - and tied for second alongside Lee Westwood in 2008, albeit four shots behind the winner Martin Kaymer.

Tougher

"There's a falcon-sized gap in my trophy cabinet that I'd dearly love to fill," Stenson added.

 

"Not just because of the 2006 and 2008 near-misses but so I can become the first player to complete the sweep of Gulf titles.

 

"The National course gets a bit tougher each year and the Championship has become one of the most coveted on the Tour, so it would be great to tee off the season in style here."

 

The Abu Dhabi field is also set to include Open champion Phil Mickelson, US Open champion Justin Rose, two-time major winner Rory McIlroy, former world No 1 Luke Donald, Kaymer, Matteo Manassero, Sergio Garcia, and Jamie Donaldson.

Read More

France's Victor Dubuisson secures Masters place for first time in career

The Frenchman is one of 14 non-qualified players to secure a place in the year's first major championship after the final Official World Golf Rankings of the season were published.

 

Dubuisson hit form with a vengeance at the end of the 2013 season which included his first European Tour title at the Turkish Airlines Open in November.

 

He went on to finish third behind Henrik Stenson in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai and his results were enough to finish the year 32nd in the world, more than enough for one of the places at Augusta guaranteed for players in the top 50.

 

Dubuisson has only qualified for one major in his career so far, the 2010 Open Championship which he played in as an amateur just before turning professional.

 

As well as Dubuisson, Hideki Matsuyama, Thomas Bjorn, Jamie Donaldson, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Francesco Molinari, Rickie Fowler, Matteo Manassero, David Lynn, Thongchai Jaidee, Peter Hanson, Joost Luiten and Branden Grace also secured their invites.

 

The field for The Masters already sits at 90 players, raising the possibility of more than 100 players participating for the first time in nearly 50 years - 103 took part in 1966.

 

Players who are not already qualified can do so by winning one of the early season PGA Tour events (not the Puerto Rico Open) or being in the top 50 at the end of March, a week before the event takes place.

Read More

Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose leading candidates for European Tour award

Stenson capped a memorable comeback year by winning the season-ending DP World Tour Championship to clinch the Race to Dubai title having already banked a $10m bonus with victory in the FedExCup.

 

Rose lifted only one trophy this year, but that was the US Open title at Merion where he became the first Englishman to win the tournament since Tony Jacklin in 1970.

 

Stenson's achievements were remarkable considering he was ranked only 230th in the world at the start of 2012.

 

The Swede made encouraging progress last year before igniting a surge up the world rankings with victory at the South African Open, breaking a five-year title drought on the European Tour.

 

The 37-year-old was a model of consistency over the first half of 2013, posting three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour while finishing 18th at the Masters and 21st in the US Open.

 

But he was the hottest player in the world from July onwards, starting a sparkling run of form with a third place finish at the Scottish Open.

 

He was runner up to Phil Mickelson at the Open Championship and was also second at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational before finishing third in the PGA Championship.

 

Stenson then won twice during the FedExCup play-offs, including a dominant victory in the Tour Championship which secured the overall title.

 

Returning to the European Tour, he struggled with a wrist problem over the first two events of the inaugural Finals Series before cementing his place at the top of the Race to Dubai with a seventh place in Turkey.

 

He was in a class of his own during the season finale in Dubai, closing with his second 64 of the week to cruise to a six-shot victory and become the first player to win the FedExCup and the Race to Dubai in the same season.

 

Stenson's exploits lifted him to third in the world rankings, one ahead of Rose.

The Englishman finally fulfilled the huge potential he had shown as an amateur, winning his first major championship in some style over a brutally tough Merion layout.

 

He jostled for the lead with Mickelson over the closing stages of the final round, and the Englishman arrived on the 18th tee armed with a one-shot lead.

 

The challenge ahead was a daunting 511-yard uphill par four with an elevated green, but Rose displayed commendable composure as he split the fairway with his drive before drilling a stunning four-iron approach which grazed the cup and nestled in the rear fringe.

Rose calmly lagged to inches and tapped in for one of the best pars of his career, and he was crowned champion moments later when Mickelson failed to become the first player to birdie 18 over the entire weekend.

 

The 33-year-old remained in contention for the Race to Dubai title after top-five finishes in China and Turkey, but he missed out on a second Order of Merit crown after trailing home 12 shots behind Stenson in Dubai.

 

Rose had to settle for third in the Race to Dubai, but his magnificent performance at Merion earned him a place in the history of English golf.

Read More

Bernard and Lesley Gallacher launch heart awareness campaign

The former Ryder Cup captain suffered a cardiac arrest during a function at the Marcliffe Hotel in Aberdeen in August.

The 64-year-old insists he owes his life to the quick treatment he received after collapsing, which included the use of a defibrillator that had been installed at the hotel.

Gallacher and his wife Lesley have now launched a major campaign to raise awareness of the need to have defibrillators close to hand in a bid to increase the percentage of survivors of cardiac arrest.

He also compared his life-threatening incident to that of former Bolton footballer Fabrice Muamba, who was fortunate to survive a cardiac arrest during an FA Cup clash with Tottenham at White Hart Lane in March 2012.

"The problem with cardiac arrest is that you always feel fine - that's the danger," said Gallacher, whose campaign has been backed by the Arrhythmia Alliance and the British Heart Foundation.

"If you have a heart attack, there's usually pain associated with it and the warning signs are there.

"But there are no warning signs with a cardiac arrest. There were no warning signs when Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the football field. He, like me, was very lucky there were people around that saved his life and my life.

"My wife Lesley has been the driving force behind this campaign. She was told what happened at the Marcliffe Hotel in Aberdeen, where a defibrillator was quickly in evidence and I was given treatment, just like Fabrice Muamba.

"That's why we're anxious to get defibrillators into golf courses. A golf club is a good place because you have young, middle-aged and older people playing golf and it can attack at any age."

Education

Lesley Gallacher added that more should be done to educate people on how to treat victims of cardiac arrest and heart attacks as she reflected on almost losing her husband.

"We're on a mission," she said. "There's no excuse for not having a defibrillator. They're not terribly expensive and it would make such a difference to save somebody's life as we've seen.

"What I have learned is the lack of knowledge there is out there, as well as learning the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest.

As we look back at last week's golf

                   

"People can make a difference, you can't do any harm by using a defibrillator. Also, CPR is something we should all know how to do."

Bernard added: "Around 100,000 people die of cardiac arrest every year, only one in 10 survive an attack and I'm one of the one in 10. If we can get more defibrillators out there and an awareness campaign then we can definitely save lives. That's what it's all about - saving lives.

"I actually owe my life to a man called Colin Laden, who is here at Wentworth for the launch. He quickly realised what was happening to me and started CPR on my chest. He asked for a defibrillator to be brought in, and he kept me going until the ambulance arrived.

"The more awareness we can raise, the more lives we can save. Hopefully we can get that percentage up from one in 10. It would be nice to get it up to 50 percent.

"We're trying to link the campaign to competitions within the clubs, with the entrance fee going towards a fund to buy a defibrillator.

"We're also linking it in with some Ryder Cup tickets and other prizes as well, so there's a big incentive to join this campaign and try and get these defibrillators into the clubs."

Read More