CHARLOTTE // Bubba Watson fired a seven-under-par second round of 65 to grab a share of the lead at the Quail Hollow Championships.
Watson equalled the course record of 30 over the front nine at Quail Hollow Club and carded eight birdies and an eagle against three bogeys to draw level with Retief Goosen at the top of the leaderboard on eight under par.
Tiger Woods, the overnight leader, bogeyed two of his final three holes to finish level par for the day and seven-under for the tournament alongside Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson and George McNeill.
Watson, 30, began his second round on the 10th and having opened with a birdie and then a bogey, sank three consecutive birdies from the 14th as he began to gather momentum.
He was briefly checked by bogeys at the 17th and 18th to reach the halfway point one-under but birdies at the first, third and fourth saw Watson climbing the leaderboard.
A 27ft putt at the seventh brought an eagle and a birdie at the eighth saw him end the day level with Goosen, who completed a second consecutive 68.
The American Watson admitted his mental approach over the weekend will hold the key to his chances of victory.
"I think I'm good enough to play golf. I think I'm good enough to win. I might never win, who knows, I can't tell you that, but it's my mental game," he said.
"The physical game is there. I can hit a driver as far as I want, I can hit a driver as short as I want. I can chip and putt if I want to.
"It's just am I physically and mentally going to be ready to play golf? Am I going to be mentally in the game.
"No matter what the golf course is, no matter how tough the conditions are, if I'm mentally ready I'm going to play golf.
"My mind just wanders. I'm thinking about what shoes I'm going to buy, I need to wash my car. I'm thinking about stuff that doesn't matter because we're out there for so long.
"Five hours of PGA Tour golf. I mean, it's just not fun. I love the game of golf, and I think it should be done in three hours.
"The mental part is just hard. It's hard for me because I didn't listen in school, I didn't graduate college until last year, so that's a seven-year lay-off.
"Just for me to focus for that long is just hard. My caddie kicked me in the butt a few times and kept telling me to stay focused."
Woods, meanwhile, began his day with a bogey at the first but fought back with birdies at the fifth, ninth - courtesy of a 55ft putt - and 10th before finding a greenside bunker at the 16th which led to a bogey.
He then dropped another shot at the last to fall one shot behind the leading pair. "My game was spotty here and there but I just kind of hung around," he said.
"Unfortunately I didn't finish very well. I didn't drive the ball particularly well, didn't hit my irons as well. I was hanging in there but overall it's not that bad, considering the way I was hitting the ball."
* PA Sport
Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20WATCH%20SERIES%209
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SCORES IN BRIEF
Lahore Qalandars 186 for 4 in 19.4 overs
(Sohail 100,Phil Salt 37 not out, Bilal Irshad 30, Josh Poysden 2-26)
bt Yorkshire Vikings 184 for 5 in 20 overs
(Jonathan Tattersall 36, Harry Brook 37, Gary Ballance 33, Adam Lyth 32, Shaheen Afridi 2-36).
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
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
Company%20Profile
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
