RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s golfers spoke about their ambition to make their country proud and inspire young players during a press conference on Tuesday ahead of the PIF Saudi International in Riyadh.
Othman Al-Mulla, the Kingdom’s first professional golfer, will be joined by Faisal Salhab, Saud Al-Sharif, and Khalid Walid Attieh, marking an unprecedented lineup of Saudi golfers taking on international stars including Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith.
Al-Mulla told the press at Riyadh Golf Club: “I’ve been representing Saudi for over 20 years, and even five years after I turned professional, I’m still pinching myself at the thought of us competing against the best players in the world in Saudi Arabia (for) one of the biggest prizes.”
Joined by Salhab and Shergo Al-Kurdi, the UK-born Golf Saudi ambassador, Al-Mulla added: “We all have the same goal: To represent Saudi Arabia in international competitions and see how good we can be. We want to be Asian champions, we want to be world champions and win events and make Saudi proud.”
Saudi Arabia has made huge inroads into the world of golf in recent years, signing a host of top players to its LIV Golf tour, and engaging in discussions over a potential merger with the PGA Tour.
On a grassroots level, the Saudi Golf Federation is backing Saudi stars like Al-Mulla, while growing the love of the game with school programs and free classes for women.
Salhab said: “What Golf Saudi is doing and what the Saudi Golf Federation is doing for both juniors and women, like opening doors for them and creating more access for them to come into the sport, have more places to play, see great players, it’s very new for us but they’ve done a great job.”
Al-Mulla highlighted the importance of the increasing number of Saudi players, and added: “We have three main objectives: We need to increase awareness, give access and opportunities, and then nurture those opportunities for people that are interested in the game.”
The tournament, which is in its sixth edition, will run from Dec. 4-7 in Riyadh for the first time following five editions at the King Abdullah Economic City.
It offers a total prize pool of $5 million and has moved this year into the coveted season-ending position for both the Asian Tour and The International Series.
Al-Mulla said: “To see how far we’ve come in such a short period of time is something that we can all be proud of as Saudis, and hopefully we can be a beacon to grow the game.”
