How Othman Al Mulla Hit a Drive to Become the First Saudi Pro Golfer

Before he became Saudi Arabia’s first professional golfer, Othman Al Mulla nearly didn’t try the sport at all.

“I was quite hesitant in the beginning,” he said. “But it was probably one of the most transformational days of my life.”

The invitation came from a friend in Dhahran, where Al Mulla grew up inside the Aramco residential community; a place better known for its safety and order than for producing professional athletes. Golf, however, was an unlikely exception. The course inside the compound wasn’t a world-class facility, but it existed, and that alone made it rare in Saudi Arabia at the time.

“It was quite unique in the Kingdom,” Al Mulla told SceneNowSaudi. “Although my introduction and beginning years were quite tough, having to travel for high-level competition and coaching, I think I was really privileged.”

That combination - a modest entry point and a need to look outward - would shape much of Al Mulla’s early career. By 2007, he found himself teeing off next to Tiger Woods and Ernie Els at the Dubai Desert Classic. “I was ecstatic and super blessed,” he said. “But I was also too young to fully understand the significance of what that moment meant, not just for me, but for what I could represent.”

In hindsight, it was the beginning of something larger. He hadn’t yet gone pro, but Saudi Arabia had already been seen, if only briefly, on golf’s international map.

Then came the pause in the sand pit. Without a system to guide him through the demands of a career in golf, Al Mulla stepped away from the sport altogether. He went back to school and worked in finance. “I never had a roadmap,” he said. “And I made a lot of mistakes, some of which were very costly. The break taught me I needed to be more organised, and not be shy about reaching out to people who had already done the things I wanted to do.”

By the time he started his career in 2019, the title of 'pro golfer' came with something heavier than celebration; it came with a national responsibility. “It was an incredible honour,” he said. “And I carry it with me every day.”

It didn’t take long for the weight of that title to show itself. In his first event as a professional, at the debut of the Saudi International, Al Mulla didn’t play particularly well. But he remembers something else: a few families walking the course with their children, quietly following his round. “Since then, the gravity of the role has been apparent,” he said. “It’s motivated me ever since.”

That kind of motivation doesn’t always show up on a leaderboard. It exists in the quieter spaces, in the conversations, the visibility, and the fact that young Saudi players now enter the sport with opportunities that didn’t exist even a decade ago.

“It’s actually super satisfying to see the new landscape,” he said. “I had to take a lot of risks just to keep the dream alive. So to watch younger players come up through a system, with real backing, is incredible.”

Al Mulla doesn’t see this new era as separate from his own. The infrastructure may have arrived late, but he believes legacy isn’t measured only in results. It’s measured in continuity. “We’re only at the beginning,” he said. “But I also believe that in the group of five Saudi professionals, we will have some great wins that will help establish a legacy for the next generation of golfers to follow.”

As for the pressure of carrying that vision forward, Al Mulla does not flinch. “When you’ve put yourself in a place to achieve great things and represent your country internationally, that is a privilege,” he said. “I’ve learned to appreciate the work and the journey more than the outcome.”

What started as a hesitant visit to a neighbourhood golf course now exists as a kind of blueprint, not just for how to begin, but how to build where nothing existed before.