Aussie PGA Champion O'Hern confirms for Abu Dhabi

Australian PGA Champion Nick O'Hern is the latest big name to sign up for next year's Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club from January 18-21, 2007.

O'Hern, ranked number three in Australia has proved he has the game to challenge the world's best. Earlier this month he won the Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship, beating countryman and Peter Lonard in a sudden-death play-off, and at this year's US Open he finished joint sixth, three strokes behind the winner, fellow Australian Geoff Ogilvy.

O'Hern's brilliant performance at Winged Foot in June earned him his first top 10 finish in a major, and the strong form continued in 2006 with a joint second finish in the US Tour's Booz Allen Classic behind past Open Champion Ben Curtis.

The talented Australian left-hander joins a glittering field for the January Championship, which includes the Abu Dhabi debut of Retief Goosen of South Africa, currently ranked sixth in the world; Sergio Garcia of Spain, the current world number 11; Henrik Stenson of Sweden, currently world number 12; Scottish Ryder Cup legend Colin Montgomerie, ranked 17 in the world; and defending champion Chris DiMarco, one of America's top 10 players and currently at 20 in the world standings.

"With five of the world's top 20 players in the field, the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship has a very strong line-up, but I'm playing well and I'm confident I'm in with a chance of taking the title," said O'Hern.

"With the likes of Retief, Chris and three members of the European Ryder Cup winning team, not to mention Miguel Angel Jimenez, the competition is going to be tough, but only Monty had the better of me at the US Open, so 2007 could be my year."

A regular on the European Tour since 1999, 35-year-old O'Hern is currently ranked a personal high of 22, even though he intentionally cut back on his tournament appearances in 2006 to spend time with his young family.

"I was really delighted to win the PGA Championship coming on top of my excellent showing in the US Open earlier in the year. Although I cut down my schedule to allow me to spend more time at home with my wife and kids it doesn't seem to have done my game any harm. In fact I now have the highest world ranking of my career to date I'm really looking forward to playing in Abu Dhabi, I've heard good things about the course and will be heading there in January confident I can make the Championship my first ever win on the European Tour," he explained.

O'Hern, from Perth, Western Australia, took up golf at the age of nine and turned professional in 1994. He reached a career-high 12th on the Volvo Order of Merit in 2004 after 11 top 10 finishes on the European Tour. His form earned him a place on the Rest of the World team in the 2005 Presidents Cup, following other team appearances for Australia in the Alfred Dunhill Cup in 2000 and the World Cup in 2004.

One of the most consistent performers on the European Tour, O'Hern was launched into the top 50 of the Official World Rankings in 2005 following top five finishes at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, in which he defeated two-time defending champion Tiger Woods in the second round; the Irish Open; and the BMW Championship.

Although O'Hern cut back on playing commitments in 2006, he made 10 cuts in 15 starts ending the year at 26th on the European Tour Order of Merit.

"Nick O'Hern is coming to Abu Dhabi off a really exciting and significant victory in the Australian PGA Championship. He's got the taste for victory and the game to ensure that the PGA is likely to be the first of many, so golf fans in Abu Dhabi are in for a treat as this immensely talented player comes here to compete with a real chance of winning the title," said Mubarak Al Muhari, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, which owns the tournament.

"Any man who can defeat Tiger Woods on the day, as Nick did in the second round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in 2005, is in with a great chance at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and would be a worthy champion.

"And with an increasing number of Australians now resident within the UAE we anticipate he will draw an extensive following during the Championship."

A total prize fund of US$2 million and unique facilities make the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship one of the most attractive tournaments on the European Tour schedule, ensuring a world-class line up of players will compete for the first prize of US$333,330. The 2007 Championship will begin with the Al-Masaood Pro-Am and Awards Gala, in which sponsors and guests have the chance to play and socialise with some of the world's best professionals.

December 20, 2006

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