Saudi Arabia’s flagship annual golf tournament begins Thursday with world number one golfer Dustin Johnson as the favorite to win at the Royal Greens Golf Club in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Invitational, presented by the Public Investment Fund offers a purse of €3,019,002 ($3,630,712.19), with the strongest-yet field of 138 players set to compete. 12 Major winning champions will compete in the field, including Johnson and U.S. Open champion and long-ball hitter Bryson DeChambeau.
Dustin Johnson is the favorite to win, according to oddsmakers. At +400 odds, Johnson is favored over Bryson DeChambeau (+800) and Tyrrell Hatton (+1200), who won two weeks ago in Abu Dhabi. Patrick Reed, a winner Sunday at Torrey Pines, will make the long trip to the Middle East and begins the week at +1400 odds.
Local Saudi Arabia broadcast KSA Sports will be showing 20 hours of live coverage for the tournament in Saudi Arabia with a dedicated presentation team on-site at Royal Greens.
Organizers hope to display for a global audience a bourgeoning sport in a changing Kingdom. More than 60 countries across six continents will broadcast the tournament. Coverage in the U.S. will be brought to most homes through the Golf Channel, with the first rounds being broadcast starting at 3:00 AM ET. Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coastline plays host to the Kingdom’s most famous and premiere golf course, but others are on the way as the sport grows in popularity among Saudis.
This week, Golf Saudi announced that a planned new course for the massive entertainment complex Qiddiya outside of Riyadh will be designed by golf legend Jack Nicklaus.
Nicklaus said he is excited by the project, his first in the Middle East region.
“To be selected as one of the first international designers to work in the Kingdom is a great honour. I’ve already spent time looking at the topography of the land, images of the backdrop and terrain, and discussing with our design team a strategy for the course. The design will fully integrate the natural environment and the beautiful Qiddiya landscape, bringing together green spaces and mountainous terrain to form a picturesque canvas for both a beautiful and challenging golf course,” Nicklaus said.
Commenting on Jack Nicklaus’ involvement, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Chairman of Golf Saudi and the Saudi Golf Federation said Nicklaus’ commitment will give Saudis a source of pride for decades to come.
“To have the greatest-ever golfer commit to making his mark upon our developing golf landscape in Saudi Arabia and at a project as significant as Qiddiya gives us great pride. To be part of the Nicklaus legacy will be something that we will always cherish, especially knowing the positive impact it will have on growing awareness of the sport at a domestic level, whilst increasing our national visibility as a vibrant new golf destination. We are looking forward to welcoming Mr. Nicklaus for his first visit to Saudi Arabia in the coming months.”
The Kingdom’s official golf body, Golf Saudi, also announced this week that Saudi Arabia had its first national receive certification as a golf course architect. Abdullah Kamakhi, who studied landscape architecture at Arizona State University before returning to Saudi Arabia, joined Golf Saudi and says he is looking forward to the opportunity to work on new courses across the Kingdom.
