Skaik sets record, wins maiden UAE Presidents Cup crown

The Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) hosted the 2020 UAE Presidents Cup at Yas Links Abu Dhabi.

Sponsored by HSBC, the 8th edition of the UAE Presidents Cup saw it’s the largest number of participants since the event first started in 2013. 94 players competed in the main event and 24 players played in the Par 3 Championship. Winning for his first ever Presidents Cup title Ahmad Skaik was the 2020 Champion.

Firing a UAE Presidents Cup record Skaik shot rounds of 71 and 68 for a championship of 139, five under par. Skaik’s five under (139) is the lowest score recorded since the start of the event in 2013.

Skaik has had a great 2019 and 2020 golf season coming into the UAE Championship with an appearance at the 2019 APGC Amateur Golf Championship, a Bronze Team and Individual Medal at the 2019 GCC Golf Championship, and competing in his first European Tour event at the 2020 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship presented by EGA.

“It feels amazing to finally win this event. I have come close in the past two years with a second and third place finishes but being able to close the door this weekend and being the UAE Champion is an amazing honor,” Skaik said after the event.

“All weekend I was spot on off the tee, it was probably the best I’ve ever hit the driver. My driving off the tee made it easy to hit greens and roll some decent putts. I have been working hard the past few months and it shows that I learned from my mistakes and corrected them for this championship.”

This year’s event saw some good scoring with the top three players shooting level par or better and after round one, the top five players were all just four shots apart.

Skaik went on to add, “this year the competition was strong and it’s good to see so many players competing in this event. The EGF and HSBC have done a great job running this event and continuing to make it grow every year”.

Just two shots back and taking the runner-Up prize with rounds of 71 – 70 for an event total of 141 was the defending championship, Khalid Yousuf.

Yousuf and Skaik were battling it out all weekend and it came down to the last few holes but with birdies on 16 and 17, Skaik had a two-shot lead heading into the last hole. With both tapping in for par on the challenging 18th at Yas Links Ahmad came away with the championship.

Rounding out the top-three and coming in third Place, was Saif Thabet. Thabet shot rounds of 73 – 71 for a 144 total. Although Thabet didn’t win the event this weekend he had a massive smile after the final round due to his first ever hole in one on the daunting hole number 17 at Yas Links.