Abu Dhabi Golf; Golf Photography
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Kristie Lu Stout. This is CNN, the world's news leader. And here are the top stories. Rescuers are hunting for survivors after a ferry carrying about 350 people sank off Papua New Guinea. Several ships and helicopters are on the scene and so far officials say 238 people have been rescued. Australian authorities helped Papua New Guinea with the recovery effort after the ship ran into difficulties early on Thursday morning. A inquiry is being launched into a football riot in Egypt that killed 79 people and injured more than 1,000 on Wednesday. Clashes began after a match in the northeastern city of Port Said. Ambulance service spokesman said rival fans attacked each other with rocks and chairs. Forty-seven people have been arrested. The U.S. and NATO plan to end their combat role in Afghanistan by 2013. Here's Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced on Wednesday. Panetta stressed that the rule of foreign military would not transition to more of a training and advisory function. The updated timeline for withdrawal is one year before the 2014 deadline set earlier by the Obama administration. And you're watching CNN, the world's news leader. And LIVING GOLF starts right now.</s>ANNOUNCER: LIVING GOLF, in time with Rolex.</s>SHANE O'DONOGHUE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Dubai developed golf before all others in the Middle East. But a mere 19 minutes down the road, Abu Dhabi's golfing scene has finally come of age. Many of the best players from all around the globe, four of the last five major champions, the world's number one and the star attraction Tiger Woods, all here in Abu Dhabi for the start of the Desert Swing. So, is this the year that Abu Dhabi becomes the golfing capital of the Middle East? Welcome to LIVING GOLF.</s>O'DONOGHUE (voice-over): On this month's show, a new season, a new start for the biggest name in golf. A clinic with Lee Westwood and friends.</s>LEE WESTWOOD, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: So it's very important to get the right setup and get the right aim.</s>O'DONOGHUE: And the rough and the smooth as two young pros try to make it on the European tour.</s>O'DONOGHUE (on camera): This year, Abu Dhabi celebrates its most impressive field since the start of this championship back in 2006. And there is perhaps no greater symbol of this than a certain Tiger Woods, who, for the first time ever, begins his season here. Perhaps his comeback year, right here in Abu Dhabi.</s>TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I've always wanted to come here to Abu Dhabi. I've never made the trip here. So, as people know, I've made a trip to Dubai a bunch of times. So this was a first.</s>O'DONOGHUE (voice-over): More from Tiger in a few minutes. His debut here. But for other top class players in the field, Abu Dhabi's been a firm fixture for quite some time.</s>RORY MCILROY, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: You know, I've started the season in Abu Dhabi for the last five years and, you know, it's a place I love coming back to.</s>MARTIN KAYMER, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I always come here without playing any tournaments for that five, six weeks. So I am very motivated to play golf again.</s>LEE WESTWOOD, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: Well, it's a great place to start a season. You know, I think Abu Dhabi and HSBC has quickly sort of made this a very big tournament.</s>JOHN HUGGAN, EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT, GOLF WORLD: It's the first significant event of 2012. It's the first time we've seen the big boys going at it head to head.</s>COLIN MONTGOMERIE, EUROPEAN RYDER CUP CAPTAIN 2010: This is the first one. It's the best one. We have the best field for this year. The top four in the world, plus Tiger. This event can only grow into being one of the world's great events. Never mind the Middle East's greatest event.</s>O'DONOGHUE: So, is Abu Dhabi looking to steal Dubai's crown as the main event in the desert swing?</s>H.E. MUBARAK HAMAD AL MUHAIRI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, ABU DHABI  TOURISM AUTHORITY: This sport definitely played a big role in promoting Dubai. They've had -- they started the golf or the desert swing, if we can call it now, the desert swing. And we benefit from that experience. Definitely with this government, it's a big statement. Every year we've been raising the stake of this tournament and we cannot go back. It will continue, you know,</s>O'DONOGHUE: So, what does it take to secure such a cast of players, and in particular the biggest draw in golf?</s>ALASTAIR TAIT, SENIOR WRITER, GOLF WEEK: I've heard $1.5 million up to $3 million. It could be $5 million. Who knows. I mean it's always gone on. It goes back to Johnny Miller and Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer playing the Lancome French Open, whatever. Same deal.</s>MUHAIRI: Tiger was always under our radar. And I -- we found, you know, the opportunity. And when he was open to discuss coming again to the Middle East, we worked on it. And the deal was for one year, definitely. This is not a secret. It's been announced before. But we are looking at the future also with him.</s>O'DONOGHUE (on camera): And there is speciation, and there is always speculation, but that he received somewhere in the region of $2.5 million to appear here. That's since been brought down to $1.5 million.</s>MUHAIRI: It's all speculation, but definitely it's between the two figures you just said.</s>O'DONOGHUE: But it's not just the treasures of the tournaments that are enticing the best players to the capital. In a short space of time, Abu Dhabi has become something of a sporting meca. You wouldn't really expect to walk off a grand prix circuit, cross a road, and find yourself here on a beautiful links course that would look right at home on a stretch of Scottish coastline. But then there's probably nowhere else quite like Abu Dhabi's Yas Island.</s>GRAEME MCDOWELL, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: It's kind of a bit of an oasis in the desert, if you like. I mean they've put a really great golf course together over there at Yas Links and, you know, it really feels authentic.</s>O'DONOGHUE: Steven, great to see you.</s>STEVE MORGAN, HEAD PRO, YAS LINKS GOLF COURSE: Coming from Scotland, the aesthetics of the golf course are actually beautiful. You see you've got the rolling hills, you've got the long grass. And -- but what we're most excited about is that the golf course plays like a links Scots (ph).</s>O'DONOGHUE (voice-over): We visited Yas Links a few months before it opened in 2010. In just two years, it's become the number one ranked course in the Middle East. And there are rumors it may become the next home of the Abu Dhabi championship. With a world class tournament and three outstanding golf courses, Abu Dhabi is clearly on a roll. Although not quite everything has gone to plan. To date, there's been no sign of a spectacular title course on Saadiyat Island. Commissioned at the same time as the Yas Links. But Sheik Mubarak insists it will be built and it won't be the end of development.</s>MUHAIRI: We are looking now in the future when really to kick off the start of that golf course. As I said earlier, we'll keep improving, you know, the infrastructure of tourism and of golfing in Abu Dhabi. And that's another championship course. I think Abu Dhabi, in the next five years and 10 years, will reach its maturity as a destination. We are still in the beginning of that care (ph).</s>O'DONOGHUE: Whatever the future holds for Golf in Abu Dhabi, the fact remains that this year all eyes were on Tiger Woods. We spoke to him about his game and the season ahead.</s>WOODS: My practice session has been very good at home. I've been practicing with Sean and we've done some good things. And all we're doing is trying to build on what we did towards the end of last year. We haven't changed on working on anything different. It's the same things. Just trying to get more efficient on doing them.</s>O'DONOGHUE (on camera): Obviously you're back in full health. The majors are up and coming. How good do you feel about 2012?</s>WOODS: I'm excited. I'm very excited. You know, last year was a tough year. Unfortunately I wasn't -- I missed some of the majors last year. I missed basically the whole major championship season really. The two and then the last one I wasn't in play very well. And -- so it was nice to end the year the way I did and then to, you know, head into this year healthy and ready to go. So looking to hopefully get my game ready for Augusta. And I know it's a few months away, so just trying to get ready for that.</s>O'DONOGHUE: Now you are rated among spokmakers (ph) to be 7-5. So just a little bit above even to win a major this year. Would you bet on yourself?</s>WOODS: I always bet on myself.</s>O'DONOGHUE: Still to come, from Q School to the open championships, two young golfers trying to make their mark. Life through a lens. A master class with the world's best golf photographer.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the shot I was looking for.</s>O'DONOGHUE: And Lee Westwood and friends show us how it's done.