Latest news with #GolfTour
Al Etihad
a day ago
- Business
- Al Etihad
‘Credibility' only flag mission for new MENA Golf Tour commissioner
20 Aug 2025 00:08 KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)The MENA Golf Tour is set to return stronger and better, this time under the stewardship of Keith Waters, who was recently appointed Commissioner and Chairman. Waters, a veteran administrator with decades of experience at the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour), says the priority is not immediate expansion or grandeur, but to restore trust after the Tour took one and two years' break in 2018 and 2023 respectively.'Creating the credibility and the integrity is absolutely critical in the first place,' he said. 'We have got to deliver exactly what we say we're going to do in terms of our schedule and paying out the prize money precisely every week after the tournament. So we're doing the very basic stuff first.'The tour, founded in 2011, understandably had teething problems. It was suspended in 2018 for a season, while a strategic move in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to align with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, backfired despite good intentions. That partnership attempted to use the MENA Tour's world-ranking status to support LIV's push for ranking points, but Waters explained why it unravelled, 'David Spencer was trying to find a way to generate some more interest in the MENA Tour… He tried to reverse engineer the fact that the Tour had world ranking points to help the LIV Tour. But that wasn't possible. The rules and regulations in place didn't allow the MENA tour events to actually transfer their points in any way to the LIV events.' COVID-19 had already left the Tour reeling, just like sporting events all over the world grappled with the effects. 'The financial challenges they had, it just wasn't a viable product at the time,' Waters said. Cut to the start of the 2025-26 season, the new avatar of the Tour is backed by new investors and a formal company structure based in the Dubai World Trade Centre Free roadmap now is a modest but steady rollout: 12 tournaments with $100,000 prize funds for each, starting with the first event in Portugal and a qualifying school at the end of November. 'We've committed to the schedule and prize money. The players will pay a membership fee and an entry fee to play in the tournaments. And we do have some interested sponsors,' Waters confirmed. Discussions are ongoing with venues in Morocco, Portugal, and across the region, with an eye on sustainability and reducing travel costs by clustering events in the same location. Waters also sees the Tour as a developmental pathway. Talks are underway with the DP World Tour and the HotelPlanner Tour (formerly Challenge Tour) to provide progression routes, while grassroots integration is on the agenda. 'Our ambition is now to create a programme where the children from the schools in Dubai, for instance, will have a pathway onto the MENA Tour. Even if they are 16 or 17, one or two of them will qualify for the tournaments. They may not be professional, but it creates the pathway and the opportunity,' he said. Partnerships with national federations, including the Emirates Golf Federation, are also being lined up. The Tour's international appeal, he noted, will also be strengthened by its calendar. 'There are very few tours that play tournaments in December, January and February at this level,' he said. 'You can't play in Europe at this time of year. The weather is not good enough. So we're creating an opportunity for a large number of players who can't play elsewhere during the winter.'While the ambitions extend to eventually adding a women's circuit and deepening ties with established tours, Waters is determined to avoid overreach. 'I'm 100% confident we will deliver,' he said. 'We have a very experienced team. We have the funding. We've built the platform from a legal and commercial point of view already. It is now about purely delivering from an operational point of view.' For now, the MENA Golf Tour's future rests on whether it can rebuild the trust of players and sponsors alike. 'We're just trying to create credibility, integrity. That is the key.'
The Citizen
04-08-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
LIV Golf Tour heads to Chicago this week
Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm are the favourites to triumph this week. It's not only the PGA Tour season coming to an end in the next few weeks, but the 2025 season of the breakaway LIV Golf Tour as well. And with South Africa on the roster for next year, at Steyn City next March, there might just be an upswell in interest in LIV Golf abroad and the South African 'Stinger' team. This week the tour is in Chicago in the first of three back-to-back events to complete the season. Jon Rahm is the defending champion, having edged out multiple winner Joaco Niemann on the 18th hole las season, and the big-hitting Spaniard is second favourite to triumph again, according to Betway's early predictions for the weekend's golf action. The action will take place at Bolingbrook Golf Club on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Betway have Bryson DeChambeau as the favourite to win this week, at 5.85, not a bad option. Rahm is at 6.20 and third favourite is Niemann at 7.50. South Africa's Dean Burmester, who's had a good year on the LIV Golf Tour, is not a bad bet at 34.00. There are a number of other betting options available through Betway, including round leaders, winning margins and even for holes-in-one. These odds are correct at time of publishing and subject to change.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rickie Fowler Opens Up on Life with Wife Allison Stokke and Two Kids
Rickie Fowler Opens Up on Life with Wife Allison Stokke and Two Kids originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Rickie Fowler will tee off Thursday at the John Deere Classic, his 16th event of the 16th year of his career on the PGA Tour. He recently came off the Rocket Classic, missing the cut after carding rounds of 71-71. Advertisement A lot has changed since he turned pro in 2010. He married sports model and former track-and-field athlete Allison Stokke in 2019 and in 2021, they welcomed their daughter, Maya. Their second daughter, Nellie, was born in August 2024. Fowler opened up about his life now at a press conference on Tuesday. 'Yeah, this is my 16th year on tour and I don't feel a whole lot older. Maybe a little more experienced. Married and two kids like you said; different part of my life now,' Fowler shared, preparing to return to the John Deere Classic, a tournament he last played as Rookie of the Year in 2010. "Golf is still a priority and what I love to do, but there is some other things that have moved in front of that. Obviously, there is times where I need to go to work, go practice, go play, but family is family." Fowler added. Advertisement Rickie Fowler plays his shot from the ninth tee during the second round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic.© Aaron Doster-Imagn Images Maya has become the most important aspect of Fowler's life. He claimed in a PGA Tour interview after his daughter was born that the main thing in his life is Maya, while everything else comes secondary. He opened up about the excitement of life with Maya. "I'm excited that we still get to travel together week in and week out up until school really starts. At that point, it'll be here and there and primarily just summers." Fowler continued. "But, yeah, enjoying this part of life right now. Special to be all together. Like this week you're here at the Deere, to have something like the Big Dig." Advertisement "Our three and a half year old, Maya, I am not sure if she fully understands it, but she'll be pretty excited there tonight." Related: Zach Johnson Drops Career Update on Wednesday This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
IOL News
02-07-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
SA's Dean Burmester qualifies for Open Championship after playing 'best round of Links golf'
FILE - South Africa's Dean Burmester fired rounds of 70 and 64 at Royal Cinque Ports to qualify for the 2025 Open Championship. Burmester fired rounds of 70 and 64 over 36 holes to win the qualifier by four shots. Burmester, who plies his trade for Stinger GC on the LIV Golf Tour, won the final qualifying event at Royal Cinque Ports to join Stinger teammate and 2010 Open Championship winner Louis Oosthuizen in the field. After making the long trek from Dallas in the United States to the United Kingdom, Burmester tied the course record with an eight-under par 64 in blustery conditions to qualify for the Open Championship. "That's one of the best rounds of Links golf I've played," Burmester said about his 64. "It was just flawless from the get-go this afternoon. ... Basically from the first hole it looked like every putt was going to go in, and that's pretty much what happened for the next 17 holes. "I'm super chuffed with the way it's turned out. It was a goal of mine to get to Portrush. Now I've got to find some accommodation!" Burmester finished T23 at LIV Golf Virginia and T18 at LIV Golf Dallas leading into the qualifier. For the season, he is currently 11th in the individual standings. The 36-year old will be making his fourth Open Championship start, finishing tied for 11th in 2022 and tied for 19th in 2024. @JohnGoliath82
Washington Post
27-06-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Knapp shoots 11-under 61 for Rocket Classic 18-hole record, marking 4th tournament record in 2 days
DETROIT — Jake Knapp shot an 11-under 61 to break a Rocket Classic record that stood for less than a day, becoming the first PGA Tour player to break 60 and shoot a 61 or lower in the same season. Knapp started the second round 130th in the 156-player field after opening with a 72. He surged into contention Friday with nine birdies and an eagle in a bogey-free round.
