JEDDAH, 22 January 2007 — For Othman Almulla it was a choice between living a dream and going back to school. Obviously, school will have to wait after Kingdom No. 1 Almulla qualified for the Dubai Desert Classic scheduled Feb. 1 to 4 at the Emirates Golf Club.
Almulla earned a ticket to the $2.4 million tournament after narrowly missing a spot last year when he carded a solid two under 70 during the qualifying tournament last week.
“The feeling of joining a field studded with players of the stature of Tiger Woods and Ernie Els hasn’t sunk in yet, but “it’s always been a dream of mine to play in a tournament of this reputation,” Almulla was quoted as saying by a Dubai newspaper.
According to Othman’s father, Ibrahim, who spoke to Arab News, his son was the first Saudi and the youngest-ever Arab at 21 to book a spot as the top amateur during the qualifying tournament for the Dubai Desert Classic where he will join a star-studded field that includes world No. 1 and defending champion Tiger Woods.
Othman’s achievement was huge and a big boost to the game of golf in Saudi Arabia. Being the first Saudi to play at Desert Classic was amazing, said Othman during an interview from Dhahran. He added “this could be the first step towards realizing my ambition which is to turn pro one day.”
After the Dubai qualifying, where he beat Sebastian Heisele by one shot, Almulla has been honing his game with his golf pro, South African Roan Shuttleworth, at the Aramco Rolling Hills Golf Club in Dhahran in preparation for the big event.
“My goal is to make the cut at Dubai Desert Classic. I think it’s a realistic goal. No Arab amateur golfer has survived to play at the weekend in this tournament,” said Almulla, a zero handicap golfer and member of the Saudi national team.
Almulla said all aspects of his game are fine, adding he is practicing daily from sunrise to sunset at Aramco.
Almulla, who routinely dishes drives of more than 300 yards, has been enjoying one of his finest seasons. Late last year, he finished fifth in the individual play in the Pan Arab Championship in Morocco.
“I was tied for the lead up until the last nine holes when my game unraveled,” said the affable Almulla who also placed fourth in the Doha Open two weeks ago.
He shot the amateur course record of 67 in the first round of the Creek Open, the warm-up event to the Classic qualifier, but then skied to a fat 91 during the second day.
Qualifying along with Almulla in the professional division was David Adams who beat Nicholas Oakley on the second playoff hole after both finished with a three over 75.
The Dubai Desert Classic qualifying event was played at the Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis Course where 37 players took part.
Almulla was on Saturday supposed to be back after a leave of absence at the New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico in the US where he is enrolled in a course with major in marketing and minor in professional golf management.
He is happy not to be back in the meantime, a decision fully supported by his parents who without fail accompany him in every tournament he enters. “My parents are the best support system anyone can hope for,” Almulla, he of the Tigeresque swing, said.
