01파키스탄 골프의 새 지평을 열 기회
파키스탄의 아마드 바이크(Ahmad Baig)가 DP 월드 투어 파이널 스테이지 퀄리파잉 스쿨(Qualifying School)에 참가해 파키스탄 골프 역사상 새로운 이정표를 세울 도전에 나선다.
이번 파이널 스테이지는 다음 시즌 DP 월드 투어 출전권을 다투는 최종 관문으로, 세계 각지에서 모인 선수들이 시드권을 확보하기 위해 치열한 경쟁을 벌이는 무대다.
아마드 바이크는 파키스탄 선수 최초로 DP 월드 투어 정식 시드를 획득할 수 있는 결정적인 기회를 잡은 것에 대해 큰 설렘과 기대감을 전하며 완주 의지를 드러냈다.
02Original (English) — DP World Tour
Prior to beginning his first foray into DP World Tour Qualifying School earlier this year, Pakistani golfer Ahmad Baig had never played in Europe but he is now in with a shot at creating history for his country.
After finishing second at a First Stage event in Germany in September, he won at Second Stage last weekend to extend his stay in Spain and book his spot at the gruelling Final Stage.
Since turning professional in 2019, Baig has plied his trade across Asia and Africa and won three times on the Asian Development Tour from which he played his way onto the Asian Tour at the end of the 2024 season.
Now, the 28-year-old has the chance to become the first golfer from Pakistan to earn DP World Tour membership.
This is the goal I've been working towards for quite a long time.
To do so, he will have to navigate what is widely regarded as one of the toughest assignments in professional golf.
"I am so excited for the week ahead," he tells the DP World Tour on a phone call from Spain.
"This is the goal I've been working towards for quite a long time. I'm focused on sticking to my process and taking it one round at a time."
At INFINITUM in Tarragona, Baig takes his place in a 156-player field that features a host of DP World Tour winners, including Ryder Cup players Thomas Pieters, Edoardo Molinari and Ross Fisher.
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While he may never have played a six-day competition before, he has a belief that his game is ready for what is an incredible opportunity to transform his career and take it onto a truly global stage.
On the back of an eye-catching performance in Second Stage at Desert Springs Resort which saw him post a 72-hole total of 27-under-par, why shouldn’t he be feeling optimistic about his chances.
Across his four rounds in Almeria, he made a hole-in-one, 28 birdies and just three bogeys to claim a five-shot victory.
"Last week was the best golf I have played this year," says Baig.
For a player who is 953rd in the Official World Golf Ranking and whose best finish in 2026 is a tie for seventh in Morocco on the Asian Development Tour, this may strike you as a contender for understatement of the year.
But, as he goes on to explain, his performance in Almería at Second Stage was the product of hard work in practice.
"I felt very confident throughout the week," he adds. "The course suited my game and I'm proud about how I handled the conditions.
"I'm very confident about this week. I've been working on a few areas of my game, particularly my short game.
"I'm good off the tee, my driving is a strength along with my three wood and long irons."
Hailing from a country best known for its love for cricket, Lahore-born Baig is hoping to serve as an inspiration and proof that a career in professional golf can be a path for others in Pakistan.
While the sport is becoming more popular in the country, he admits to having to explain to his parents still to this day - seven years after joining the paid ranks - that under par means he has played well.
It begs the question, how did he come to start playing a sport that is not mainstream in his homeland?
"So basically, my elder brother (Usman) used to work at a golf course [Lahore Garrison Greens Golf Club]," he explains.
"I was studying at school at the time, and my elder brother always would talk about golf.
"Very close to my home, there was a cricket ground and whenever we went there most of the people there also worked at the golf course. Some worked as caddies and others as marshals."
It wasn't until late into his teenage years that he first played golf, but even from hitting his first shots he quickly found a new passion that he quickly became very good at as he rose through the ranks.
Baig namechecks Tiger Woods and Adam Scott as two of his inspirations, while he also reveals how he avoided coaching and instead sought to learn about the technical aspects of the game through watching YouTube videos of fellow Major Championship winners Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson.
"I played for the first time in 2014 when I was 16 years old. My swing was very good," he recalls with no element of boasting.
"Many people told my brother, ‘your younger brother has a very good swing, you should start to help him play golf.’
“But he was like there is no career in golf in Pakistan, let him study.”
But from his very first appearance in a tournament as a junior he was hooked and determined to pursue the sport professionally.
After opting to skip his studies in 2016, prior to his 18th birthday, Baig soon after won a series of international amateur titles. One of those, the Qatar Open, earned him an invite to play on the DP World Tour at the Qatar Masters in 2018.
While his progress as a professional was halted by the Covid-19 pandemic, a move to Indonesia two years ago – a decision made to better aid his development and better facilitate travel – coincided with him going on to finish fourth on the Asian Development Tour’s Order of Merit and earn promotion to the Asian Tour for the 2025 season.
He has since kept his card at the end of his first two full seasons through their Order of Merit, but through it all he always hoped to test his game internationally and now comes his chance to write his name into the DP World Tour’s record books.
“It felt like all of Pakistan was happy for me [after Second Stage],” he says. “I got so many messages on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, congratulating me and wishing me well for this week at Final Stage.”