GOLF – SUPERSTAR golfer and World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Padraig Harrington has praised His Majesty King Hamad’s representative for humanitarian work and youth affairs, Supreme Council for Youth and Sport chairman, and Bapco Energies chairman Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa for being “well ahead of where he needs to be” in his golf game.
Harrington joined Shaikh Nasser on the Royal Golf Club course yesterday for the Pro-Am event of the 2026 Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship, and was impressed with Shaikh Nasser’s abilities, despite having only taken up golf recently.
“His Highness Shaikh Nasser has got a good game – he’s new to the game, but he can hit some really good shots,” Harrington told the GDN yesterday ahead of today’s first of four rounds in the highly anticipated DP World Tour tournament.
“He is a good and strong hitter of the golf ball. He is four months into the game and he is well ahead of where he needs to be.
“He’s going to go from strength to strength and he’ll find this game more and more enjoyable as it goes along.”
Harrington, a three-time Major winner with numerous other tournament victories and prestigious accolades at the highest level of golf, is playing in the kingdom for the third time. The 54-year-old competed at last year’s Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship as well as at the Volvo Golf Champions in 2011, both at Royal Golf Club.
The Irishman expressed his delight with the incredible development of golf in the kingdom over the years. “Back in 2011, most people who would come out to watch the golf were expats, but now you see a lot more locals coming, a lot more kids are involved, and new golf courses and new academies are starting up, so it’s becoming a game for everybody at this stage,” explained the former Ryder Cup captain.
“That’s a good thing about the Tour. It has to start slowly, but – for somebody like myself who’s been playing for 30 years – we can see those changes. Sometimes they take time, but they’re definitely happening and it’s good to see.”
Harrington welcomed the 10-year extension signed between the Bahrain Olympic Committee and the DP World Tour, which secures the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship’s place on the Tour calendar until at least 2036.
“By having the tournament over the years, we’re starting to see more people get involved, and with a 10-year horizon, you’re definitely going to see that expand,” he said. “There will be much more people playing, and that’s important.
“To have a tournament like this on the DP World Tour, it showcases golf in the country and it showcases the country. When you do that, it gets people interested, and it will definitely help grow the game.
“This is a big deal – us being here this week. We can see that and, just like having His Highness Shaikh Nasser playing today, that is a big deal. It’s a big deal for the Tour and it’s a big deal for Bahrain.”
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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