Tiger Woods lures in huge crowd at Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship
Fueled in by the oil boom, Abu Dhabi Golf Club has attracted one of the biggest spectator turn outs ever.
Buckled up by sand dunes and extremely hot weather in summers, the land is predominantly the home of camel racing but the turnout for an alien sport would make all the sense if there is Tiger Woods playing in the field.
Debuting for the first time in Abu Dhabi, Woods is luring in hordes of spectators from all over the world, of all races and of all nationalities.
There have been fans on the course that have come all the way from India and China, just to see their favourite player tee-off in the star-studded field.
Gagesh KK from India, who works for Emirates Airlines in Dubai, drove all the way to watch his favourite player in action. "I came here to see Tiger," he said. "I'm not much of a golf fan, but I wanted to watch him, wanted to see him. I came just for this”.
Two of the Americans inside the ropes, had flown all the way from Houston and although they were on an official assignment to study some building contracts in the lucrative Middle Eastern state, they managed to take some time out to watch Woods.
Gerry White, one of the engineers said, "I'm curious to see how he looks, if he'll come back”.
There were as many languages being spoken in the gallery as one can think of. There were nationals from Ireland, Pakistan, India, England, Germany, Holland, Japan and the United States.
Woods played well on the second day, better than his opening round, pulling in three-under, 69, good enough to appease his foreign fan plethora.
He struggled on the first round primarily because of his debut on an alien course, but regained his composure on the second day. He is now trailing the surprise leader Thorbjørn Olesen by two strokes.
Woods said, "I'm getting the club head in the right position. It's amazing when I'm able to do that, the speed I'm able to produce. Overall I'm much stronger. So with that combination, I should be hitting the ball further."
The former world number one is already being criticised for ditching his home tour, the PGA for his venture on a new venue. HSBC, the official sponsor of the event has already predicted record spectator turn out this year.
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