In the mid of what used to be a barren dessert; Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, has been turned in the last 15 years into a green paradise and one of the best detestations in the world for golf lovers. In recent weeks, the city hosted its third annual Golf championship on its famous 7,334-yard, 72-hole course. The championship, which took place from Jan. 17 to Jan. 20, hosted 120 players; 112 of whom are members of the PGA European Tour. The course's clubhouse is built in the shape of a falcon with its wings stretched upwards. The course features several small lakes and gigantic trees surrounded by different types and colors of flowers whose scents were spread all over the place. The golf course is only 15 minutes away from the city centre and 10 minutes from Abu Dhabi International Airport. Twenty-three year old German Martin Kaymer was the surprise winner of the championship, defeating the two final players: second place winner Lee Westwood, the 34-year English player, ranked 23 on the world by the PGA, and third place winner Henrik Stenson, the 31-year old Swede, ranked 16th. The 45th seeded champion won with only a four-point difference. Kaymer had been described by the championship's official publication Golfer Gazette as the "survivor of the championship. According to the Abu Dhabi tourism authority s (ADTA) official website, Kaymer said following his win, "This is an unbelievable feeling. It doesn't feel like I have won by four shots - they were chasing me the whole time and there was a lot of pressure, but I stuck to my game plan and kept attacking. The championship presented a total of $2,000,000 prizes to the 65 top players in the tournament. Prizes ranged from $333,333 for the first winner, $222,220 for the second, and $125,200 for the third, to $4,600 to the 65th ranked player. "With three highly successful Championships now behind us, we look forward to building an even bigger event in the future. We are totally committed to golf, to this event and to sporting endeavors - we look forward to welcoming everyone back in 2009, said Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), the main sponsor of the championship. The tournament was sponsored by ETIHAD Airways, Emirates official airways, Al-Dar real estates' company, Emirates Palace hotel and Etisalat mobile network.
