PIF SAUDI INTERNATIONAL POWERED BY SOFTBANK INVESTMENT ADVISERS

February 3, 2023

Graeme McDowell

Royal Greens Golf and Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Will it be your first time in Oman?

GRAEME McDOWELL: First time in Oman. I've played all over the Middle East for 20 years. Never been to Oman. Actually heard great things about it, so I'm pretty excited. I've heard the golf course is great. I'm expecting similar conditions to here, windy. Sounds like a fun week, hotel on the beach, et cetera, et cetera.

This part of the season is really trying to get the game in shape, trying to get ready for obviously the LIV schedule and trying to sharpen up just in general.

Q. How important is it to take these tournaments to different countries throughout Asia to spread the game of golf?

GRAEME McDOWELL: I mean, I think it's awesome. I've always enjoyed traveling all over the world, playing in emerging markets, if you like, from a golf point of view. Saudi Arabia, it's been fun to be part of that. Going back to the early days, Dubai and Abu Dhabi and Qatar, now Saudi Arabia, obviously Oman, so that's great.

There are so many layers to creating a game for the people in countries like Oman where obviously having world-class golf courses and world-class tournaments is just one small part of it, but you're inspiring kids that see you out there and hopefully they can find accessibility and ranges, putting greens and places to go, kind of do what I did when I was a kid, which was run around hitting balls. Couldn't get enough of it. It's fun to be part of it, play a very, very small part in that growth, and as you see, in emerging markets like that.