Abu Dhabi’s Saif Thabet put together a brilliant charge on the final day to upstage his more illustrious compatriots to win the second Presidents Cup, sponsored by HSBC, and add his name in the UAE’s most prestigious honours list.
Thabet opened with a 79 on the opening day and found himself five shots behind frontrunners Khalid Yousuf of Dubai, a four-time National champion, and Sharjah’s Abdulla Al Musharrekh.
But the Abu Dhabi youngster showed how much he has improved in recent months as he went around the course in 71 on the final day to claim the 2014 championship with a score of 150.
Defending champion Yousuf struggled to an 83 to fall behind in second place at 157. Musharrekh was third on 158 following a finalround 84.
Thabet said: “This tournament is a great way to represent our county. The Presidents Cup is a grand event but to see the UAE nationals playing and the number of players increasing every year really means a lot. I think this is fantastic and to be amongst it all is a great honour.”
The overall net winner of the event was Omar Thabet (Abu Dhabi City Golf Club), who shot two net rounds of 77-64 for a total of 141.
That meant both the gross and net prizes went to the Thabet family, as Omar also happens to be the proud father of Saif.
Dubai’s Rabab Al Ahj won the Ladies Championship with rounds of 102 and 94. Along with the twoday event, there was a nine-hole competition for juniors between the ages of 10 and 13-years old.
This was won by Tara Al Marzooqi of Abu Dhabi, who shot a 47 in nine holes to win the event by 10 strokes.
The growing popularity of golf among the UAE nationals was once again on display as 55 Emiratis took part in the two-day tournament at the demanding Saadiyat Beach Golf Club.
