ABU DHABI // Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe's Ryder Cup captain, will delay any decision regarding his two wild-card picks until the completion of The Barclays tournament in Farmingdale, New York in late August, he said yesterday.
The move is designed to avoid the regrettable situation that occurred when Colin Montgomerie, the 2010 captain, selected his wild cards at the close of European qualifying in Scotland, leaving Paul Casey, who was completing his final round at The Barclays, to discover he had missed out on selection while on the course.
During an official Ryder Cup press conference ahead of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championships, Olazabal, joined by George O'Grady, the chief executive of the European Tour, and Richard Hills, the Ryder Cup director, said he would hold off before making his decision.
"I talked about it with George and with the team and, I think the scenario the last time was a delicate one, especially for the captain and also for the players playing in the States," Olazabal said. "We have made the decision regarding that and it's going to be the Monday following Gleneagles. So we are going to wait until whatever happens in the States before we make the decision."
The Johnnie Walker Championship takes place at Gleneagles this year between August 23 and 26. Olazabal said the announcement would be made on August 27, with O'Grady adding it would allow the Scottish tournament to "get a fair shot" and avoid the culmination of the event "being buried in the Ryder Cup news".
Casey was openly critical of the way in which he had learnt of his omission, but Olazabal said the decision has been "independent to that".
"Looking at it when it happened, it was not a comfortable situation for anybody," Olazabal said. "For anybody that is playing in the States, that might be on the verge of winning that tournament and [improving his] chance of being in the team; I think it would be completely unfair to name those two picks before the guy even tees off."
Montgomerie's vice-captain was Sergio Garcia and after a strong end to 2011, the 32 year old is aiming to fight his way back into the reckoning. "Ryder Cup is a big part of my year," Garcia said. "You all know how important the Ryder Cup is for me. So that's one of the goals: to make the team. It would be great to be back into the European Team."
The Spaniard added: "I've been fortunate enough to play five times. I have pretty much gone through every emotion that you can go through in the Ryder Cup. So being a vice-captain was a good experience, but it was very tough because you can't do anything."
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
Abu Dhabi World Pro 2019 remaining schedule:
Wednesday April 24: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-6pm
Thursday April 25: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-5pm
Friday April 26: Finals, 3-6pm
Saturday April 27: Awards ceremony, 4pm and 8pm
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
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hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
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Nissan 370z Nismo
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UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
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Conservative MPs who have publicly revealed sending letters of no confidence
- Steve Baker
- Peter Bone
- Ben Bradley
- Andrew Bridgen
- Maria Caulfield
- Simon Clarke
- Philip Davies
- Nadine Dorries
- James Duddridge
- Mark Francois
- Chris Green
- Adam Holloway
- Andrea Jenkyns
- Anne-Marie Morris
- Sheryll Murray
- Jacob Rees-Mogg
- Laurence Robertson
- Lee Rowley
- Henry Smith
- Martin Vickers
- John Whittingdale
Scoreline
Liverpool 3
Mane (7'), Salah (69'), Firmino (90')
Bournemouth 0
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Company%20Profile
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Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Villains
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Other promotions
- Deliveroo will team up with Pineapple Express to offer customers near JLT a special treat: free banana caramel dessert with all orders on January 26
- Jones the Grocer will have their limited edition Australia Day menu available until the end of the month (January 31)
- Australian Vet in Abu Dhabi (with locations in Khalifa City A and Reem Island) will have a 15 per cent off all store items (excluding medications)
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
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