Nine-time major winner Gary Player, Ladies pro Emma Cabrera-Bello and Sri Lankan cricket legend Mahela Jayawardene hailed the Invitational as a great success as the foundation sets to raise in excess of $100 million (Dh 367 million) for charities worldwide over the next few years.

“The event has been a great success. This will help raise money to build a new sports centre here in Abu Dhabi. The Zayed facility is outstanding. We are so impressed at manufacturing things,” said Player.

“Of course, this event also helps tourism but above all we want to try and fight diabetes in this area. It’s quite prevalent. The players came out, men, women, celebrities, professionals. It’s been an absolutely wonderful day to come back to a course I designed.”

Emma Cabrera-Bello, who finished tied second in the Invitational, said: “These events are so well run and it’s an honour to be part of it. I’m happy my team pulled a great score and we were top of the leaderboard. I had great fun and the course was amazing.”

Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardene who enjoyed a decorated career with the bat, guiding the Lions to World T20 glory in 2014, commented those involved in Abu Dhabi.

“It was a great event. I really enjoyed it. The course was tough for us amateur golfers,” he said.