Latest news with #ColinMontgomerie
Arabian Business
3 days ago
- Business
- Arabian Business
Rory McIlroy hopes to be 14th time lucky at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
McIlroy, who has never won in Abu Dhabi, will return to Yas Links for the Rolex Series event on the DP World Tour, which will be played from November 6-9. The Northern Irishman leads the Race to Dubai rankings once again this season and will attempt to go past Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros' mark of six Order of Merit crowns that he equalled last year. A third straight Race to Dubai crown will bring him one closer to Colin Montgomerie's all-time record of eight. McIlroy targets Abu Dhabi victory Staged by Abu Dhabi Sports Council and the DP World Tour, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is the first event of the Tour's end-of-season showpiece in the UAE. The top 70 available players at the conclusion of the prior event will gather in Abu Dhabi, from where the top 50 qualify for the DP World Tour Championship where the new Race to Dubai champion will be crowned. The 36-year-old McIlroy became the first European to win the career Grand Slam earlier this year when he added a Green Jacket to his four previous Major victories at the 2011 US Open, the 2012 and 2014 US PGA Championship and The Open in 2014. However, McIlroy has never won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in 13 previous starts, dating back to his maiden appearance in the capital in the 2008 edition. He does have a great record in the tournament, though, notching nine top 3 finishes, including a tied third place last year. His Masters experience will give him plenty of confidence, having made one unsuccessful return after another to Augusta National after coming close to winning in 2011. He finally secured his Green Jacket in his 17th visit to the year's first major championship. McIlroy, who will tee up in the third major championship of the year at the US Open next week, said: 'I love ending the season in the Middle East and I'm excited to return to Abu Dhabi again for the first of two big events later this year. 'I've started the year well and I've got a good record at Yas Links, so hopefully, I can continue doing what I'm doing and give myself a chance of finishing the season strongly and having a shot of getting another Race to Dubai under my belt.' Aref Hamad Al Awani, General Secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, said: 'Abu Dhabi has firmly established itself as a world-class golfing destination by hosting internationally recognised tournaments that attract elite players from around the globe. We are proud to welcome Rory McIlroy – one of the sport's greatest talents – to the 2025 edition. 'Since its inception, the Championship has played a pivotal role in supporting sports tourism and generating tangible economic benefits for the region. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the DP World Tour in delivering another outstanding event befitting the prestige of the Rolex Series. 'Hosting global sporting events reflects Abu Dhabi Sports Council's commitment to enhancing both the local and international sports landscape. These events highlight the UAE's proven capabilities in organising large-scale tournaments and reinforce our reputation as a trusted destination for world-class sports competitions.' England's Paul Waring is the defending champion of the tournament.
Khaleej Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Vietnam tees off on the world golf stage as official host of Legends Tour 2025
Vietnam is making a power play in the world of international sport and golf is its game of choice. This weekend Ho Chi Minh City was officially named as one of 21 destinations worldwide selected to host the Legends Tour 2025, a prestigious series featuring some of the greatest names in senior professional golf. The Vietnam Legends Championship 2025, scheduled for November 29 to December 1, will bring the likes of Colin Montgomerie, José María Olazábal, and Miguel Ángel Jiménez to Southeast Asia. It hopes to open new doors for fans, business leaders, and investors from regions like the UAE and the Middle East, where golf, tourism, and cross-border investment continue to grow hand-in-hand. The Tour officially launched with the Staysure Marbella Legends at the renowned Aloha Golf Club in Marbella, Spain, on February 14 to 16.. A high-energy press conference held on Saturday under the direction of the People's Committee and the Department of Culture and Sports gathered notable figures, including Legends Tour Chairman Ryan Howsam, European golf icons, and leading Vietnamese and international business representatives. A Global Gateway In his welcome address, Nguyen Nam Nhan, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Sports and Head of the Organizing Committee, underscored the tournament's strategic impact saying: 'Vietnam Legends Tour 2025 is not just a sporting event, but a bridge for cultural, economic, and human exchange between Vietnam and international friends. 'Through this event, we hope Ho Chi Minh City will affirm its role as a hub for organizing world-class sporting events while opening up investment cooperation opportunities for the business community.' Chairman of the Legends Tour, Ryan Howsam, echoed this sentiment: 'We are honoured to have the Vietnam Legends Tour 2025 hosted in Ho Chi Minh City - a vibrant, friendly, and highly promising city. 'Our presence here is not solely for competition, but also to observe the dynamic transformation of a city in motion.' Dubai-Driven Vietnam Comeback The highlight of the conference was the signing of a three-year strategic partnership between the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, the Legends Tour, and The Golf House JSC, the event's promoter. Nguyen Gia Bao, Chairwoman of The Golf House, is based in Dubai and played a key role in bringing the Legends Championship back to her native Vietnam for the second time after 2023. Additionally, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Legends Tour and The Golf House to establish a Golf Academy in Vietnam - an ambitious move to nurture local talent and grow the sport throughout Southeast Asia. Gia Bao, an avid golfer and a professional motorsports racer, commented 'The official signing of a 3-year strategic partnership with the Legends Tour to bring the Vietnam Legends Championship to Vietnam from 2025 to 2027 marks a significant milestone for The Golf House. 'Our goal is not only to organize world-class tournaments but to foster a professional golf community and connect enterprises for sustainable growth. Ho Chi Minh City will be the launchpad for projecting Vietnam's values onto the global stage.' A Nation on the Rise As Vietnam celebrates the 50th anniversary of Southern Liberation and National Reunification, the Vietnam Legends Championship 2025 stands not only as a world-class sports event but also as a powerful symbol of the country's global ambition. From championship fairways to corporate boardrooms, Ho Chi Minh City is extending an open invitation to the world -especially forward-looking economies like the UAE - to connect, invest, and grow alongside a dynamic country ready to lead on the international stage.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ernie Els Has Positive DNA at Congressional
Ernie Els has a memorable history with Congressional Country Club. Returning to a venue where you've won a major, you have a little giddyup in your step, but this return is on a course that has changed considerably, with the most glaring change being the elimination of hundreds of trees. The greens are substantially different as well. Advertisement Yet, for Els, the DNA of Congressional is sympatico with his own, so when he played his first round in some time over the venerable course, it was old hat. 'It was consistent,' Els said of his bogey-free 3-under 69 on Thursday at the Senior PGA Championship. 'It was a round I wanted to have. I would love to have had a couple better. At the end, there I had a couple of chances.' It was in 1997 that Els started his first round at Congressional in the U.S. Open. Ernie Els hits his tee shot on the 17th hole during the Galleri Classic at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif.© Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Three years earlier, Els had won his first U.S. Open in a playoff at Oakmont Country Club, making each appearance in the national championship an opportunity to add to his resume. Advertisement The 1-over 71 was a tie for 18th, six shots off the lead of Scotland's Colin Montgomerie. Els would go on to record the next three rounds under par, including a 1-under 69 on Sunday that included a finish of five consecutive pars to beat Montgomerie by one shot. Now Els is just two back of Australian Cameron Percy at 5-under. 'This one feels more like a major. Last week they called it a major, but it's just a nice big Champions Tour event,' Els said of last week's Regions. 'But this one has got more of that feel. It's got a golf course with history, and it's got some prestige here. So, this one feels good. It feels big. It's a good feeling to have on this course.' Ernie Els Has Positive DNA at Congressional first appeared on Athlon Sports on May 22, 2025
Press and Journal
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Press and Journal
Compete with golf's legends at Staysure PGA Seniors Championship
If you're a golfer then you'll have dreamed of striding the fairways with your heroes. Stroking home a nerve-jangling five-footer under the approving gaze of a major winner, or watching a Ryder Cup legend smile as your drive splits the fairway is truly a bucket-list experience. Some Press and Journal online content is funded by outside parties. The revenue from this helps to sustain our independent news gathering. You will always know if you are reading paid-for material as it will be clearly labelled as 'Partnership' on the site and on social media channels. This can take two different forms. This means the content has been paid for and produced by the named advertiser. This means the content has been paid for and approved by the named advertiser but written and edited by our own commercial content team. At this year's Staysure PGA Seniors Championship from July 31 to August 3 that dream can become reality. The event offers packages that not only let you tee it up with the stars, but also compete alongside them, relax in the same lounge as them, practise where they practise and dine where they dine. It's a package that goes far beyond the normal pro-am experience or corporate hospitality deal. Here you won't just watch from a box – you'll be part of the action with names such as tournament host Colin Montgomerie and former Open winner Paul Lawrie. Neither is it just golfing legends that you'll get to rub shoulders with. You will also be taking your place alongside famous faces from sport and TV as you enjoy the ultimate inside the ropes experience. All that and it takes place at one of the world's best golf courses in Trump International Aberdeen – a modern links masterpiece that rolls through the spectacular dunes on Scotland's northeast coast. Tempted? You should be. So, what exactly does it entail. There are three playing packages available – the Championship Pro Am, Celebrity Pro Am and The Legends Experience. In this fantastic package you'll tee it up with two other amateurs alongside a Legends Tour player for 18 holes on the Tuesday before the event. On top of that you can use the same practice facilities as the Legends to warm up and have breakfast beside them in the players lounge. You'll also get a bespoke Legends Tour Gift bag, along with post-round hospitality and a prize giving for £1,200 per person or £3,500 per team. An exceptional opportunity where you are part of the professional tournament itself, this truly is one of the finest amateur experiences in sport. Lucky participants will enjoy four days of golf, starting with Wednesday's Celebrity Pro-Am. Then the real fun starts as you play 36 holes alongside two Legends in the tournament proper. You'll get to see exactly what it is to be a golfing star as you play in front of TV cameras and crowds, while also getting access to the players' lounge, locker room and practice facilities. Those who make the cut will compete on the fourth day to be named top amateur. You'll be put up in luxury accommodation and have the chance to hone your skills with a clinic from the Legends. There will also be world-class hospitality, VIP functions and evenings hosted by Ryder Cup Legends. Crossing The Legends Experience off your bucket list costs £12,000. This immensely popular package described by former Premiership footballer Robbie Fowler as 'an incredible experience' is already sold out and no wonder. Lucky participants will be playing a round alongside a star of sport, TV or media as well as a Legend on Wednesday July 30. They will also get access to all tournament facilities, as well as pre and post-round hospitality and a tournament branded gift pack for £2,500 (including VAT). You just have to look at the packages to know this is something that will create memories for a lifetime. But don't just take our word for it. Here's what former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley had to say. 'It means a lot to spend time with passionate golf fans, sharing my thoughts and knowledge on leadership, performance and creating a winning team culture based on a player and as a victorious Ryder Cup captain.'
USA Today
18-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
It's been 30 years since Colin Montgomerie's PGA Championship heartbreak at Riviera
It's been 30 years since Colin Montgomerie's PGA Championship heartbreak at Riviera Whenever there's a mention of Colin Montgomerie and major championships, it tends to provoke the kind of grimacing shudder you'd get from a toddler reluctantly slurping a teaspoon of cod liver oil. Near misses, close shaves and ones that got away? Heartbreak was such a common theme of Monty's futile mission for a major moment, he just about had a loyalty card for that well-kept hotel down at the end of Lonely Street. 'We've got your usual en-suite, Mr. Montgomerie.' As the closing round of the weather-delayed PGA Championship was set to unravel Sunday at Quail Hollow, those across the pond will be watching on and listening to the sing-song delivery of Sky television's lead commentator, Ewen Murray, putting another major championship to bed. Colin Montgomerie forced playoff with Elkington Thirty years ago in 1995, Murray was working himself and everyone else into a giddy fankle as Montgomerie put all and sundry through the wringer during a nail-nibbling, nerve-shredding and ultimately agonising finale to the PGA Championship at storied Riviera in Los Angeles. 'Oh, he's got it,' roared Murray as Monty trundled in a raking birdie putt from 20 feet on the final hole to force a play-off with Australia's Steve Elkington. 'Oh yes. Oh yes. What a finish from Colin Montgomerie.' It certainly was. With a valiant, do-or-die charge that could've earned him a medal, Montgomerie, who was five off the 54-hole pace set by Ernie Els, birdied the 16th, 17th and 18th in a thrilling 65, which left the Scot tied at the top with Elkington on 17-under. Elkington was no final-round slouch either. He blasted a 64 to barge his way to the front. 'The round of my life,' he gasped. Back to the 18th they would go for the sudden-death shoot-out. "It's a terrible feeling when someone makes a long putt to tie you and put it into a playoff," Elkington added. "But you re-group and you try to birdie the first hole." And he did, the rascal. Elkington, with a similar putt to the one Montgomerie had holed in regulation, knocked it in from about 20 feet. Monty, from just inside his rival, narrowly missed on the right and the vast Wanamaker Trophy ended up in the clutches of the Aussie. Loss was one of many for Motgomerie in majors A couple of years after losing out to the aforementioned Els in a three-man play-off for the U.S. Open at Oakmont, Montgomerie was left nursing another wound. 'So near and yet so far for Colin Montgomerie,' said Murray with a lament that could've been accompanied by the sombre skirl of a lone piper. 'It's so sad there has to be a loser. He's taken it on the chin a few times in the last couple of years. But he'll come back for more.' You couldn't keep Monty down. At the 1997 U.S. Open at Congressional, he was right in the merry midst of it again, but a bogey on the 71st hole dropped him from a tie for the lead, and he lost by a single shot to Els. In the 2006 U.S. Open, meanwhile, a chaotic conclusion saw Monty rack up a shattering double-bogey from a perfect spot in the 18th fairway at Winged Foot and he eventually finished joint second, just a stroke behind Geoff Ogilvy. A faded 7-iron into the last was a trademark shot that Monty had built a garlanded career on. It failed him when it mattered the most, though, as he caught it heavy and watched his ball plunge into the unforgiving greenside rough. 'I messed up,' he grumbled in the gloomy aftermath. Elkington won the Wanamaker in 1995, Monty didn't lose it Monty's 1995 PGA Championship disappointment, of course, was a very different loss. 'He (Elkington) won the tournament, I did not lose the tournament,' he said at the time through gritted teeth. 'All I can say about myself is that I did nothing wrong. I was standing on the 18th fairway when he finished, and I knew I needed a birdie. I take it as a positive that I achieved that.' Montgomerie's defeat to Elkington was the Ryder Cup talisman's fifth successive play-off loss in all competitions. 'It went through my mind, my play-off record, and I felt the law of averages had to take effect sometime,' he said. 'I felt that it was my turn. But it wasn't to be. 'What did I think when he sank his putt for a birdie (in the play-off? Well, I've played enough golf to expect the unexpected. I was hoping he doesn't do that sort of thing. But he did. And all credit to him.' The PGA Championship would be Elkington's one and only major triumph. "The first one is always the hardest one, they say," Elkington said. Poor old Monty would've agreed with that.
