Mark Sault, CEO of Parasol Garden Furniture, and Diarmuid O'Malley, Publishing Director of ITP Publishing, managed to defeat the heat and a quality field to become champions of the 2008 Leisurecorp Middle East Corporate Master Grand Final, hosted by The Els Club.

O'Malley and Sault qualified by winning the CEO/Entrepreneurs Cup, presented by First Wealth, also held at The Els Club. But winning the second time was much more difficult.

With a total of 40 points, the winners had to be confirmed by a countback, after they tied with runners-up Patrik Dainty of Norton Rose and Steve Kelly of Emirates airlines were defeated.

O'Malley and Sault will now represent the Middle East business community at the World Final, to be played in November this year at Monte Rei, Portugal.

After the prize-giving at the new Westin Hotel, Jamie Cunningham of organisers Professional Sport Group said: "The tournament has been a massive success and we are extremely happy with the outcome. Golf is such an important tool in this region for client entertainment and business development, and we have had some great feedback from our sponsors.

"We look forward to developing the concept even more for next year and hopefully expanding in the region. We would like to thank all our sponsors for their support."

Lewis Naim, Marketing Director for Leisurecorp, was delighted with the company's first title sponsorship: "The tournament has been a great opportunity for us to engage the elite business community who are golfers.

"This group is important to us as both residents of our properties, as well as consumers for all Leisurecorp's activities. It also allowed us to entertain some of our key business partners. It's been a good first year."