AR
The Asian Tour’s season-ending Saudi Open heads to Dirab with a US$1 million on offer
The Asian Tour closes its curtain this month with the US$1 million Saudi Open presented by PIF, an event that has grown in stature but still carries the same emotional weight for home hope Othman Almulla.
The first professional golfer from Saudi Arabia has lived through every version of this tournament, from its early days as a national championship to its current place as the season-ending stop on a global tour. The 2025 edition, played from 10 – 13 December at Dirab Golf and Country Club, gives him another chance to compete in front of a home crowd at a venue that shaped much of his golfing path.
The Saudi national, Almulla has won the Saudi Open twice, in 2015 and 2017 as an amateur, long before it became part of the Asian Tour. That history is something he still carries with pride as he admits nothing compares to teeing it up at home. “I’m super excited,” he said. “Anytime we get to tee it up in Saudi it’s cloud 9 stuff!
“The Saudi Open is really close to my heart. I won it a couple of times when it wasn’t as big as it is today, so obviously winning it on the Asian Tour would be immense.”
Dirab Golf and Country Club. Image supplied
This year’s staging returns to Dirab, the country’s first green-grass course. Opened in 1994 and tucked into the scenic valley outside Riyadh, it has always been different from the desert layouts that dominate the region. It has mature trees, steady elevation shifts and a more traditional rhythm that rewards control and precision, while measuring an impressive 7280 yards from the championship tees. “Dirab is a great golf course,” Almulla said. “One of the oldest courses in Saudi Arabia, tree-lined, really nice. It actually has a lot of topography changes, which is exciting for a desert golf course.
“You go up and down a bit there so it’s really fun. It might be a little bit cold in the mornings, but it will be really fun to cap the season there.”
The Saudi Open’s competitive arc has also accelerated. Before joining the Asian Tour, it produced champions from across the globe including Qatar’s Saleh Al-Kaabi, England duo Todd Clements and Jamie Elson, Saudi Arabia’s Faisal Salhab and Indonesia’s Naraajie Ramadhan. Its step into the Asian Tour spotlight in 2023 came with a headline finish from 19-year-old Denwit Boriboonsub, whose closing 64 held off Major champion and Ryder Cup star Henrik Stenson. A year later, American John Catlin controlled the week with a wire-to-wire victory.
Othman Almulla with his Saudi golfing family Faisal Salhab, left, and Saud Al Sharif. Neville Hopwood
When Almulla turned professional in 2019, he stood alone. Today there are five Saudi professionals, helped by a stronger support structure and a steady flow of international events played on home soil. The Saudi Amateur Open has become an important part of that structure, giving the country’s best young players a pathway into the Saudi Open itself. It has grown into a genuine stepping stone, and its connection to the Saudi Open keeps the amateur ranks plugged into elite competition.
Both events sit under the umbrella of the Arab Golf Federation, which has set a long-term target of developing an Arab golfer capable of reaching the highest level of international competition by 2035. The presence of these tournaments in Saudi Arabia is a key part of that plan and continues to push the regional standard forward.
“To have everyone from the Asian Tour in Saudi for the last three weeks of the season pretty much because we had the Asian Development Tour season finale here as well, it’s so cool.”
“We get to travel all around the world, but there’s something special about playing in Saudi.”
With his name already etched on the trophy, expectations naturally follow. He feels them but treats them with balance. “Yes and no,” he said.
“It’s great to have your name on the trophy, but I want to have my name on it as an Asian Tour trophy. That would be the big one. I don’t want to set that as a goal. I just want to play well there and continue the good work I’ve been doing the last year and see where that leaves me.
“I’m still 39 years young, but hopefully I’ve got a few more Saudi Opens to go!”
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Main Image: Paul Lakatos Asian Tour
This article was featured in the December 2025 issue of Golf Digest Middle East. Click here for a digital issue of the full magazine
