Saudi pro golfer takes cue from Tiger to hold nerve for big tournament

Othman Almulla during his debut at the Saudi International golf tournament last year. (Photo/Supplied)
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Updated 28 January 2020
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Saudi pro golfer takes cue from Tiger to hold nerve for big tournament

  • Othman Almulla says ‘I have to be comfortable in the uncomfortable, and I’m ready for that’

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s first and only professional golfer has been taking his cue from one of the game’s greatest players, Tiger Woods, when it comes to controlling tournament nerves.

Othman Almulla believes that getting his debut year under his belt has enabled him to cope with the kind of pressure he will face when he plays alongside his idols at this weekend’s Saudi International.

The 33-year-old, who will tee it up at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) on Thursday in the tournament that kick-started his pro career 12 months ago, said: “Tiger Woods is the best golfer on the planet and he says the day he doesn’t feel nervous on the first tee is the day he’ll stop playing golf.

“I take respite in that – knowing that if he’s the best player in the world and he feels nervous, then it’s okay for me to maybe feel a bit of that too!”

Almulla’s breakout year as a member of the MENA Tour has taken him across the fairways of the Middle East and as far afield as the UK, allowing him to develop his game as he chases an ambition of earning a place alongside the household names of golf on the coveted European Tour — while also dreaming of one day competing at the Olympic Games.

He will play alongside the greatest golfers in the world at the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers — including world No. 1 Brooks Koepka, US powerhouse and defending tournament champion Dustin Johnson, and a host of Ryder Cup stalwarts and major-winning golfers.

Such opposition for any golfer would represent a fairly intimidating homecoming, but Almulla is adamant that the lessons he has learned in his first year on tour will help him keep cool, calm, and in the zone, allowing him to perform to the level he knows he is capable.

He said: “It would be very, very easy to be put in an uncomfortable position playing alongside and against the best golfers in the world. But you have to be comfortable in that uncomfortable position, and that’s what I’ve learned in this last year.

“Yes, they are the best golfers in the world, but we’re all trying to make it; I’m trying to achieve my goals and so are they. I take it as a learning experience, and that’s the most important thing.

Overall, I think it’s all about reminding myself how great an opportunity this is, and that there’s people supporting me regardless of how I play this week. The big thing is to learn from the experience.

Othman Almulla

“These players are at a much higher level than I am, but that’s the level I want to get to. All I can do is go out there, do my best, and hope that the work I’ve put in this year will put me in a position to compete.

“Overall, I think it’s all about reminding myself how great an opportunity this is, and that there’s people supporting me regardless of how I play this week. The big thing is to learn from the experience,” Almulla added.

His first year as a professional has allowed him to fly the Saudi flag at tournaments in such countries as Morocco, Oman, the UAE, the UK, Bahrain and Jordan.

His on-course highlight was his final MENA Tour event of last season at Ras Al-Khaimah, in the UAE, where he birdied the last three holes to make the cut, then shot 65 on the final round to go from last place on the cut to 23rd — an experience he described as “unbelievable.”

“My game is feeling really good. It’s such an honor for me to represent Saudi internationally. Now it’s time for me to give back and hopefully start performing at a higher level.

“I’m 100 percent ready to push on to reach that. I’m putting things in place day-by-day, month-by-month, tournament-by-tournament that are going to let me show signs of what I can do in the game of golf and what I can really achieve,” said Almulla.

“That continues at the Saudi International, where I want to put in a couple of competitive rounds. If I do that and play how I know I can play, then hopefully I’ll make the weekend. That’s the goal.

“My aim is then to hopefully show a bit of form this year. I want to have a high finish on the MENA Tour Order of Merit, which will then give me opportunities of playing on some of the bigger tours.

“Within the next two years I would like to get either an Asian Tour card or a European Tour card, that’s the main-main goal, and, for the decade, what I really want to do is play in the Olympics. That’s a massive dream of mine,” he added.


Canelo, Crawford arrive in Saudi Arabia to promote the ‘Fight of the Century’

Updated 20 June 2025
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Canelo, Crawford arrive in Saudi Arabia to promote the ‘Fight of the Century’

  • The pair will fight in Las Vegas in September

RIYADH: Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and Terence Crawford, two of boxing’s finest, arrived in the Saudi capital on Thursday.

The pair, who are set to fight in September, are in the Kingdom to kick off a promotional tour on Friday for the much hyped clash.

The media event will be at Bakr Al-Sheddi Theater in Boulevard City, in Riyadh.

The showdown between two of the biggest names in the sport has been billed as the “Fight of the Century,” and is being organized by Riyadh Season.

The undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Álvarez, who boasts an impressive record of 62 wins (39 by knockout), will face off against his opponent Terence Crawford, a four-division and two-weight undisputed champion, who enters the ring with a perfect record of 41 wins and no losses, including 31 knockouts.

The press conference will be the first stop of a media tour, which will include stops in New York at Fanatics Fest on Sunday, before concluding next Friday in Las Vegas — the host city for the blockbuster fight on Saturday Sept. 13.


Lionel Messi scores on free kick to lift Inter Miami over Porto

Updated 20 June 2025
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Lionel Messi scores on free kick to lift Inter Miami over Porto

ATLANTA: Lionel Messi connected on a free kick in the 54th minute to propel Inter Miami to a 2-1 victory over FC Porto in a Group A match of the FIFA Club World Cup on Thursday afternoon.
After Porto struck first on Samu Aghehowa’s penalty kick in the eighth minute, Marcelo Weigandt assisted on Telasco Segovia’s game-tying goal in the 47th.
Miami found its second goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half against Porto goalkeeper Claudio Ramos as Messi scored on the 68th free-kick goal of his illustrious career.
Each team netted their first goals of the tournament after Miami tied Al Ahly 0-0 on Saturday and Porto suffered the same result against Palmeiras on Sunday.
After VAR review confirmation, it was determined that Miami’s Noah Allen committed a tripping penalty in the box against Joao Mario, leading to Aghehowa’s penalty goal that was deflected by goalkeeper Oscar Ustari and in for the game’s first goal in the eighth minute.
Aghehowa, 21, had 19 goals in 30 Primeira Liga matches for the Portuguese side this past season.
Miami knotted the score at one less than 90 seconds into the second half, as Weigandt’s cross into the center of the box was finished by Segovia, who fired in the equalizing goal past a sprawling Ramos.
Miami then continued its great start to the second half, as Porto’s Rodrigo Mora’s foul led to Messi’s successful free kick — perfectly placed in the top right corner in the 54th minute.
 


World No.1 Sinner shocked in Halle second round by Bublik

Updated 19 June 2025
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World No.1 Sinner shocked in Halle second round by Bublik

  • Earlier world number three Alexander Zverev rallied from a set down to see off Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego and advance to the quarter-finals on grass in Halle

HALLE WESTFALEN, Germany: Defending champion Jannik Sinner lost his second-round match on grass at Halle on Thursday to Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik, the Italian’s first tournament since his French Open final defeat.
The world number one fell 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to the 45th-ranked Bublik for the 23-year-old’s first defeat to a player ranked outside the top 20 since the summer of 2023.
A few days before his defeat to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the title match at the French Open, Sinner had easily dispatched Bublik in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, dropping only six games.
On Thursday, ten days before Wimbledon, Bublik claimed his second victory in six ties against Sinner.
The Kazakh will play Tomas Machac in the quarter-finals after the Czech beat Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 6-2, 6-3 earlier in the day.
Earlier world number three Alexander Zverev rallied from a set down to see off Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego and advance to the quarter-finals on grass in Halle.
The 28-year-old German won 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) against the 46th-ranked Sonego and next plays another Italian, Flavio Cobolli for a place in the semifinals.
A finalist in Halle in 2016 and 2017, Zverev recorded his fifth victory in as many meetings with Sonego, a year after beating him at the same stage of the same competition.
Sonego took advantage of his only chance to break in the first set at 4-3. The German struggled throughout to break his opponent’s serve.
Zverev dug deep in the second set, leading 5-4, to win the set before dominating the tiebreak in the final set.
Argentina’s 63rd ranked Tomas Martin Etcheverry also reached the quarter-finals after a three-hour duel against fourth seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (8/6).
The Argentine saved two match points in the tiebreak of the deciding set to set up a meeting with Russia’s Karen Khachanov.

 


Coco Gauff loses in Berlin in first match since French Open title, turns attention to Wimbledon

Updated 19 June 2025
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Coco Gauff loses in Berlin in first match since French Open title, turns attention to Wimbledon

  • Gauff had a bye to the second round at the grass-court tournament, a warmup for Wimbledon
  • “It was a tough one today but happy to be back on court,” she wrote on her social media

BERLIN: Newly crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff was stunned on her return to action Thursday, losing to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-3 at the Berlin Open.

The second-ranked Gauff, who won at Roland-Garros less than two weeks ago for her second Grand Slam title, amassed 25 unforced errors and seven double faults in her loss to Wang.

Gauff had a bye to the second round at the grass-court tournament, a warmup for Wimbledon.

“It was a tough one today but happy to be back on court,” Gauff wrote on her social media accounts. “Tried my best to adjust with the quick turnaround but it wasn’t enough. As always, I’m learning as I go so I hope to do better next time.”

The 21-year-old Gauff added that she is “excited to get some more practices in to be ready for Wimbledon,” which starts June 30. She has not made it past the fourth round at the All England Club.

Wang, ranked No. 49, said she would have been pleased just with the first set Thursday, considering the level of her opponent.

“After I won the first set, I just told myself ‘OK let’s take a minute and enjoy this, I’m playing the French Open champion, and I won the first set,’” she said in her on-court interview.

“No matter how the second and third go, I was like, ‘OK let’s just enjoy it for a second,’” said Wang, who will face Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals. “I’m really happy with how I played today. I was serving good and putting a lot of pressure on the return, especially second-serve return.”

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka finished off Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (6) in a match that was suspended Wednesday after one set because of a slippery court.

Sabalenka had lost to Gauff at the French Open final and later apologized to the American for making “unprofessional” comments after the Paris title match.

Sabalenka will meet 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals.


Palmeiras ease past Al Ahly in Club World Cup

Updated 19 June 2025
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Palmeiras ease past Al Ahly in Club World Cup

  • The match was suspended in the 63rd minute because of a weather warning
  • Victory took Palmeiras provisionally top on four points

EAST RUTHERFORD, USA: Palmeiras drew first blood in Club World Cup Group A with a 2-0 victory over Al Ahly on Thursday in New Jersey.

Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami face Porto later on in the group’s other clash after two goalless draws in the first round of fixtures.

The match was suspended in the 63rd minute because of a weather warning, with players and fans at the MetLife Stadium instructed to “take shelter” because of a nearby storm.

Palmeiras were leading by two goals at the time, with a Wessam Abou Ali own goal sending the Brazilians ahead in the 49th minute before Flaco Lopez doubled their lead on the Egyptians 10 minutes later.

Victory took Palmeiras provisionally top on four points, with the other three sides level on one point each.

It was the third match at the tournament affected by adverse weather at the tournament.

On Tuesday Mamelodi Sundowns game against Ulsan HD was suspended just before kick-off for just over an hour due to a weather alert.

Then on Wednesday RB Salzburg’ s match against Pachuca was suspended in the second half for 97 minutes because of a storm.

Palmeiras, led by talented youngster Estevao Willian, who is set to join Chelsea, played well but were held by Porto in their opening clash.

Al Ahly kept them at bay in a tight first half, in which English referee Anthony Taylor sent off Palmeiras midfielder Raphael Veiga for a foul on Ahmed Zizo, before overturning his decision following a VAR review.

Palestinian striker Abou Ali headed Anibal Moreno’s free-kick into his own net to hand Palmeiras the lead.

Lopez finished coolly for the Brazilians’ second after Mauricio played him through on goal.

After the suspension of around 45 minutes for the weather warning, Palmeiras played out the remainder of the match comfortably without risking their advantage.

South American sides have come into the tournament strongly, in good condition given they are in the middle of their domestic seasons, and have stayed unbeaten to this point.