Masters champion Bubba Watson roared back to beat Tim Clark in a play-off after seemingly blowing his chances down the back nine of the WGC-HSBC Champions on a super Sunday in Shanghai.
The Masters champion punched the air after holing an outrageous 20-yard bunker shot for eagle at the 18th to get into a play-off with South Africa’s Clark at 11-under.
The left-hander then rolled in a lightning quick 20-foot putt down the hill on the same hole for the winning birdie, sparking wild celebrations for his first World Golf Championships event win and his first victory of any kind outside of the US.
Leading at 12-under par with three holes to play, Watson had seemingly imploded with a bogey followed by a double-bogey at the 16th and 17th to fall to 9-under.
At that point five players were a shot ahead of him, until his magic from the sand saw him finish 11-under for the tournament.
Clark, playing alongside Watson, holed out for birdie from six feet at 18 to also get to 11-under as Rickie Fowler’s chance disappeared into the greenside water.
The final group of overnight leader Graeme McDowell, Martin Kaymer and Japan’s Hiroshi Iwata then all failed to get the birdie they needed to join the extra-holes shootout.
Watson had started the day two shots behind long-time leader McDowell at 9-under and got off to a shaky start with a bogey five at the first.
He repaired the damage with two birdies in the next three holes but dropped another at the fifth.
McDowell’s putter had been hot all week but his touch deserted him early on Sunday with missed birdie chances at the second and third holes.
It never came back for the Northern Irishman as he finished with a 1-over 73, his worst round of the week for a share of third place.
“The putter that was so hot early in the week kind of cooled off this weekend,” McDowell told AFP. “Of course I would have loved to have been going out in that play-off. Disappointed, but I’ll look back generally as a solid week.”
Watson turned up the heat in the front nine with a hat-trick of birdies from the sixth to lead at the turn by one from McDowell and Kaymer.
Watson put his drive into the water at 13 and dropped a shot to slip back alongside McDowell, one ahead now of Kaymer who dropped a shot at the 11th after finding sand twice.
Fowler joined the German on 10-under moments later but both then dropped shots on their next holes to fall back.
Watson birdied the par-five 14th from 15 feet to put himself alone in front. Iwata, who was hanging on grimly after a 2-over par outward half, finally nailed his first birdie at the 11th and clawed his way back into contention with a fine back nine before Watson’s stunning finish.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The bio:
Favourite film:
Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Favourite holiday destination:
Declan: Las Vegas but I also love getting home to Ireland and seeing everyone back home.
Heidi: Australia but my dream destination would be to go to Cuba.
Favourite pastime:
Declan: I love brunching and socializing. Just basically having the craic.
Heidi: Paddleboarding and swimming.
Personal motto:
Declan: Take chances.
Heidi: Live, love, laugh and have no regrets.
Wonka
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