Ernie Els upbeat about his performance at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship
The reigning Open champion Ernie Els has set his sights on making a strong start in his debut performance at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
The tournament, which is also known as the premier golf event in the United Arab Emirates, will be start from January 17, 2013.
The event will be staged at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, featuring top-notch players who will contend for a share of the US$2.7 million prize fund.
The Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship is known for gathering a strong-line-up each year. This year too, the tournament attracted a number of top-notch players, including the likes of the world number one Rory McIlroy and the 14-time major champion Tiger Woods.
According to the golf commentators, Els is one of the strongest additions to the tournament this season, because of his brilliant track record in the past few months.
In the 2012 European Tour season, he made 10 starts and recorded five top-10 finishes. The World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions was the last tournament that he played, and finished tied for the second position on the leaderboard.
The highlight of his 2012 campaign included a stunning victory at the British Open, where he overcame a four-stroke deficit against Adam Scott, over the last four holes of the event.
Scott faltered for four consecutive bogeys on the last four holes of the event. Meanwhile, Els did not panic and remained consistent with his game, in a bid to record the second British Open victory of his career.
He is now desperately waiting to make his debut in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
“I’ve played all over the world but this will be my first appearance in Abu Dhabi and I am excited,” he said. “I have been playing in the Middle East since 1994, I won my first European Tour title in the UAE and I’ve enjoyed a lot of success in the Arabian Gulf; it would be great to add an Abu Dhabi title to my collection”.
“The UAE is full of world-class facilities and Gary’s always telling me about his fondness for Saadiyat. I’ll definitely hit a few balls to help fine-tune my game ahead of the tournament,” he said.
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