Abu Dhabi: A fired-up Richard Sheridan carded a succession of birdies to win the 2011 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship UAE PGA qualifying tournament and seal his place in the star-studded January line-up, which already includes three of the world's top four players and all current 2010 Major winners.
Dubai resident Sheridan — a PGA golf teaching professional at the Butch Harmon School of Golf at Dubai Sports City — was in a bullish mood and held his nerve at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club qualifier to become the first locally based golfer to secure back-to-back entries into the championship, now the richest event of the ‘Desert Swing' quartet.
No stranger to the National Course, which will host the 2011 championship on January 20-23, Sheridan's accurate iron shots on the second, third and fourth holes and a 15-foot birdie putt on the sixth put him in a strong position for the testing back-nine.
And despite bogeys on the 12th and 17th holes, the 33 year-old managed to finish his round with a two-under-par 70, beating Luke Cantelo and Malcolm Young who could only manage a level par 72.
Starting strong
"The only way to qualify is to start strong, and four birdies in the first six holes put me right in contention. If I am to hold my own against four Major winners and a number of the world's best players, I will need to go low when I tee off in January," said Sheridan, who missed the cut in the 2010 event. "For me, the importance of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship was my inspiration to qualify. As a PGA professional, I have admired players like Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood for many years, and now I can look forward to competing alongside them in January."
Masters-winner Mickelson will be joined by Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen, Martin Kaymer, the two-time Abu Dhabi winner and US PGA Champion, and US Open winner Graeme McDowell at the 2011 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
This will be the first time in the region all four Major winners will feature in the same line-up.
dufry open: Forms now available
Entry forms are now available for the 3rd Dufry Ladies Open Golf Championship to be held at the Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club over the weekend of January 8-9.
The 36-hole gross stroke play event (with net prizes) is sponsored by Sharjah Duty Free and open to both amateur and professional females. Entry fees are Dh495 for guests, Dh445 for EGF members and includes a 9-hole practice round the week before the event, the two tournament rounds and food both days.
Defending champion Lynsey Brown from the Al Ain Equestrian Club is expected to try and defend her title with stiff competition coming from golf professional Sandy Meyer and 2009 champion, 2010 runner up and ladies course record holder Jean Wang.
