Tour now has Saudi swing

THE European Tour will break more new ground over the next 12 months when it spreads its wings to Saudi Arabia.

The new event, signed off in a threeyear deal yesterday, will be staged from January 31-February 3 at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City and form part of the Tour’s desert swing. Chief executive Keith Pelley said: “We are proud to be recognised as golf’s global Tour with tournaments in 30 countries this year alone and we are very much looking forward to adding Saudi Arabia to that list in 2019.”

The Tour also confirmed that the inaugural European Golf Team Championships, staged from August 8-12, will be screened free to air on the BBC.

It will feature 16 nations in separate men’s and women’s match play with players then joining forces for an 18-hole foursomes Mixed Team Championship.

SPAIN’S Pablo Larrazabal lies second at the Indian Open – despite waking up only 38 minutes before his tee time yesterday.

Larrazabal missed his morning alarm call but, after a courtesy car journey through Delhi he described as “wild”, recorded a five-under 67 to sit two shots behind leader Emiliano Grillo when play was suspended for bad light. HOSTS South Korea and neighbours North Korea will march separately at today’s opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympics.

The nations marched together before the Winter Olympics and the respective National Paralympic Committees were given the option to do so again by the IPC, but declined.

IPC president Andrew Parsons said: “Although we are disappointed, we respect the decision of the two NPCs.”