Paul Azinger spent many a long hour agonising over his four wild-card picks to complete the US Ryder Cup team line-up, and while Chad Campbell was the big surprise, his selection was no shock to me.
Zinger and I are neighbours in Bradenton, Florida, and he gave me a sneak preview of his likely team when we met on the beach on Sunday at nearby Anna Marie Island, where we often go with our families.
This time, many people had gone to the island to see the amazing surf caused by Hurricane Gustav, and when I bumped into Zinger, his mind was on the Deutsche Bank Championship, which was heading for its climax the next day in Boston.
Steve Stricker (10th in the US Ryder Cup standings), Hunter Mahan (13th), and the big-hitting JB Holmes, a Kentucky native who could expect huge home support at Valhalla, were already firmly in his mind to win three of the wild-cards.
But Zinger was looking for an in-form player, preferably with Ryder Cup experience, to emerge from the pack of candidates at Boston to clinch the fourth spot.
Seventh place in a PGA Tour event wouldn't normally be enough to swing it for a Ryder Cup hopeful.
But it was the sixth top-10 finish of the year for Campbell, who had gone close to winning in Houston earlier in the season and ranks 11th in the Tour's scoring average with winnings of more than US$2million (Dh7,346m).
And a good showing in Boston tipped the balance in favour of Campbell, who had the advantage of having been in the US team in 2004 and 2006, and looks ready made for a third Ryder Cup appearance.
Before finalising his four wild-cards, Zinger spent hours on the phone gathering input from his three vice captains, Raymond Floyd, Dave Stockton and Olin Brown, automatic Ryder Cup team members, and other people in golf whose opinion he respects. Rather than being a sign of indecision, that's confirmation that Zinger has his finger on the pulse. He needed to pick four players who would fit in and command respect, and he's done just that in my opinion.
I told him that I'd be focusing on his selections in this column, and he called me from his hotel room in New York just before midnight last night to say that he'd be able to have a good night's sleep after finally deciding on his four wild-cards, ahead of tomorrow's official announcement.
I've known him since my time on the PGA Tour 20 years ago, and have got to know him a lot better since we became neighbours. I interviewed him at his home for a Ryder Cup TV preview, and was impressed with his clear thinking. A vital asset for a Ryder Cup captain.
Obviously, his choice of Campbell won't please everyone, just as Nick Faldo's selection of Ian Poulter and Paul Casey didn't go down well with some in Europe.
Azinger told me he was surprised that Faldo had not picked Darren Clarke, particularly after his victory in the Dutch Open. But Faldo has gone for two players who are generally more consistent, and are much higher up the world rankings. As a result, he has a team made up of players who are all in the world's top 50.
Clarke has won twice this year and would have been a popular choice, particularly after his heroics in Ireland two years ago. But his form is still a bit up and down, and Poulter and Casey are generally more consistent, as their world rankings of 25 and 36 reflect, compared with Clarke's of 61.
Poulter probably played himself into the team with his second place at the Open Championship. He's missed the last two cuts in the US, but that's probably because his mind has been on the Ryder Cup. He should fine at Valhalalla.
Casey had a great Walker Cup record and has also won the World Matchplay Championship. That adds up to him being one of the best matchplay specialists in Europe, and on the strength of that he was a good choice. He'll have no problems dealing with the intense pressure that the Ryder Cup creates.
So it's hard to argue with Faldo's two selections, while his decision not to pick Colin Montgomerie was straightforward. I talked to Monty recently and even he didn't feel he had much of a chance.
He's been sliding quickly down the world rankings to his present position of 95th, and while you would never write off Monty - and he's already said he's determined to be back in 2010 - he just hadn't shown the form to win a place.
On one hand, he might have been picked because of his brilliant Ryder record, and the fact that he would have intimidated some of the American players.
But a few Ryder Cup captains of the past, particularly Americans, have made big mistakes in picking players based on their performances in previous years.
Curtis Strange is one good example of someone who got in on his reputation and Ryder Cup record, and then had a terrible time. I'd hate to have seen that happen to Monty, but don't count against him being in the team on merit in 2010.
@Email:sports@thenational.ae
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
WHY%20AAYAN%20IS%20'PERFECT%20EXAMPLE'
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Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Company%20profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Eriksen 80')
Inter Milan 0
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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General%20Classification
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Company%20Profile
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Company%20Profile
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The biog
Most memorable achievement: Leading my first city-wide charity campaign in Toronto holds a special place in my heart. It was for Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women program and showed me the power of how communities can come together in the smallest ways to have such wide impact.
Favourite film: Childhood favourite would be Disney’s Jungle Book and classic favourite Gone With The Wind.
Favourite book: To Kill A Mockingbird for a timeless story on justice and courage and Harry Potters for my love of all things magical.
Favourite quote: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill
Favourite food: Dim sum
Favourite place to travel to: Anywhere with natural beauty, wildlife and awe-inspiring sunsets.
2021 World Triathlon Championship Series
May 15: Yokohama, Japan
June 5: Leeds, UK
June 24: Montreal, Canada
July 10: Hamburg, Germany
Aug 17-22: Edmonton, Canada (World Triathlon Championship Final)
Nov 5-6 : Abu Dhabi, UAE
Date TBC: Chengdu, China
Contracted list
Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine, Matt Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye.
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
HOSTS
T20 WORLD CUP
2024: US and West Indies; 2026: India and Sri Lanka; 2028: Australia and New Zealand; 2030: England, Ireland and Scotland
ODI WORLD CUP
2027: South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia; 2031: India and
Bangladesh
CHAMPIONS TROPHY
2025: Pakistan; 2029: India
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
If you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Chicago from Dh5,215 return including taxes.
The hotels
Recommended hotels include the Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, located in an iconic skyscraper complete with a 1929 Olympic-size swimming pool from US$299 (Dh1,100) per night including taxes, and the Omni Chicago Hotel, an excellent value downtown address with elegant art deco furnishings and an excellent in-house restaurant. Rooms from US$239 (Dh877) per night including taxes.
Credit Score explained
What is a credit score?
In the UAE your credit score is a number generated by the Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB), which represents your credit worthiness – in other words, your risk of defaulting on any debt repayments. In this country, the number is between 300 and 900. A low score indicates a higher risk of default, while a high score indicates you are a lower risk.
Why is it important?
Financial institutions will use it to decide whether or not you are a credit risk. Those with better scores may also receive preferential interest rates or terms on products such as loans, credit cards and mortgages.
How is it calculated?
The AECB collects information on your payment behaviour from banks as well as utilitiy and telecoms providers.
How can I improve my score?
By paying your bills on time and not missing any repayments, particularly your loan, credit card and mortgage payments. It is also wise to limit the number of credit card and loan applications you make and to reduce your outstanding balances.
How do I know if my score is low or high?
By checking it. Visit one of AECB’s Customer Happiness Centres with an original and valid Emirates ID, passport copy and valid email address. Liv. customers can also access the score directly from the banking app.
How much does it cost?
A credit report costs Dh100 while a report with the score included costs Dh150. Those only wanting the credit score pay Dh60. VAT is payable on top.
The biog
Name: Capt Shadia Khasif
Position: Head of the Criminal Registration Department at Hatta police
Family: Five sons and three daughters
The first female investigator in Hatta.
Role Model: Father
She believes that there is a solution to every problem
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
