With three-eighths of its inaugural edition still to run, the jury still has plenty of time to reach a verdict on the DP World Tour play-offs.
Unless, perhaps, Paul Waring has the casting vote, in which case it will already be deemed the most resounding success imaginable.
Nobody has benefitted more from the new, two-legged finale to the tour season than the 39-year-old Dubai resident.
This time last week, it might still have been possible to regard him as a journeyman pro, even if he had just signed for an eight-under par 64 to start the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links.
In the time since, the Englishman has seen his bank balance swell, his trophy collection double, his ranking soar, and his ambitions transform out of sight.
Now it almost feels de rigueur for the new Abu Dhabi champ to be vying among the stars of the game at the top of a Rolex Series leaderboard.
After the first round of the DP World Tour Championship, he is placed third among the 50 players who made the cut for this restricted field tournament.
His opening day four-under-par 68 around Earth Course is just one shot behind the joint leaders, Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton. And he is ahead of the likes of Adam Scott, Billy Horschel and Shane Lowry, as well as a variety of other stars.
“Coming off last week, being able to come straight out of the blocks and get going again, I was really impressed with myself,” Waring said.
“[It has been the] first time dealing for me with a lot of media on a Tuesday and Wednesday. That is something that I’m not used to and something that hopefully I’ll have to get used to.
“It takes time and energy, so to be able to separate that and get on the golf course Thursday afternoon and go again, I'm really happy I was able to reset and get back into that flow state.”
Scoring on the opening day at the Earth Course was not as spectacular as at Yas last week, when the previous course record of 62 was matched twice, while Waring lowered it to 61 on the second day.
Waring was in the hottest match on the course, as Hatton was his playing partner. Even though the latter holds a share of the lead after Round 1, his trademark grumpiness was vented a number of times on the way round.
Notably, Hatton was irked by the turf on the fairways at times, and he said conditions were unusual. “I don’t know how the weather has been over here but the greens are definitely slower than they have been in the past,” Hatton said, after signing for 67.
“Because they are slower, the grain probably takes the ball a little bit more so they don't roll maybe as good as they have done previously and the fairways are a little bit weird, as well.
“The fairways are quite awkward to play off, even on the last, I hit a nice wedge shot and I got a flyer off the fairway. You're not really playing for that.”
Few players in the field will be quite as au fait with the intricacies of the Earth Course as his playing partner. Jumeirah Golf Estates is Waring’s home club, which means he felt comfortable ahead of the start of the championship.
“The surface is a bit different,” Waring said. “It is a bit tighter. You’ll see it’s a bit compacted sand underneath so chipping is not the easiest at the moment, and the greens are just a little bit quicker than what we tend to see sort of week-in and week-out.
“The course has been presented really well with everything that went on at the start of the year with the storms. They have done really well to get it in the state they have.”
Formula One top 10 drivers' standings after Japan
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 306
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 234
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 192
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 148
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull 111
7. Sergio Perez, Force India 82
8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 65
9. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 48
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault 34
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
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Rating: 3/5
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- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Business Insights
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