Dustin Johnson donates clubs used to win debut Saudi International to host course Royal Greens

JEDDAH: Two-time Public Investment Fund Saudi International champion and US superstar Dustin Johnson has donated some sporting history to Saudi Arabia.

The former world No.1 was the inaugural winner of the Saudi International in 2019 — the country’s first-ever professional golf tournament, now powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers. The American star followed that win with victory again last year and is firmly in the hunt on closing day at the 2022 tournament.

And now, the double Major-winner has donated the golf clubs that carried him to victory at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club to the golf course, where they will sit for all to see as a treasured piece of Saudi golf history.

“It’s a cool thing they’re doing here by gifting all the winners’ clubs,” said Johnson.

“I’m honored to be a champion here and have always enjoyed this event since coming here in 2019 for the first one ever in its history. The club might hopefully inspire some of the young kids to pick up golf and I know there’s lots more who are getting interested. I’m happy to be a part of it.”

The clubs will be on display in a permanent exhibition inside the clubhouse at Royal Greens, one that will expand to include golf clubs donated by all winners of the Kingdom’s flagship events: the PIF Saudi International, the Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF, and the Aramco Team Series in Jeddah. The 2020 Saudi International champion Graeme McDowell also handed over his tournament-winning putter to the golf club this weekend.

Mostapha Mneimneh, general manager at Royal Greens, said: “The debut Saudi International back in 2019 was a history-making, landmark event in the Kingdom, and a tournament we were so proud to be the host course for —