By John Huggan
At first, no official reason was given for Andrew (Beef) Johnston’s abrupt withdrawal on Wednesday after nine holes of his opening round at the British Masters. A day later, however, it has emerged that the 31-year-old Englishman’s decision to stop playing was due to his on-going unease with the closed “bubble” environment—no one is allowed to venture outside the course or the designated hotel—the European Tour has created to try and move forward with competition during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m struggling to get my head around it all,” said Johnston, who was four over par when he stopped playing. “One minute I’m coming out of lockdown, going out for dinner, and then the next I’m back in lockdown in a hotel room.”

After pulling out, Johnston spoke to a European Tour representative and explained his reasons for heading back to his London home. Indeed, his participation had been in doubt right up until the last minute.

“I’ve been on-off saying I’m going to play, I’m not going to play, for months,” Johnston said. “I kept changing my mind. But being here and being confined to the hotel, confined to the course and not being able to bring my family is ultimately not what I want and not how I want to live my life. We like to travel as a family, and it’s just been very difficult to get my head around being stuck in those two places and then coming out and trying to compete. It just doesn’t feel right. I tried to come up here, but I was leaving it later and later. I came up Tuesday morning to try to be away as small a time as possible, but it’s not good prep for a tournament and it shows I don’t really want to be here.”

That the bearded Johnston, an enormously popular figure on the European Tour, should express such feeling is perhaps not too surprising. Back in 2018, he spoke of mental health issues that came to a head at the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa. Arriving back at his hotel after finishing T-27, he broke down crying in his room.

“I’ve learned to be honest about it, whereas in the past I might have just swallowed it up,” Johnston said. “I’m not going to do that anymore. If I’m not happy, I’m not going to be here. That’s the golden rule for me now. If I’m not in a good place, or I haven’t got the right set up around me, then it’s not right for me.”

While the tour are understandably not commenting on an individual case such as this, it is understood that its chief medical officer, Dr. Andrew Murray, has offered Johnston assistance. In a statement the tour said:

“We offer all of our players a comprehensive program to support their mental health and wellbeing. This includes a mental health support hotline, which operates 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. We are also aware that everyone has their own unique circumstances at the moment, which is why the 2020 season is an optional one for our players.”

The post Andrew (Beef) Johnston WDs from British Masters, cites unease with the ‘bubble’ environment appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

That doesn’t mean he’s not still beloved, especially in his home country. Playing at this week’s British Masters, the affable Englishman won the pre-tournament Hero Challenge on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday, the man known for enjoying a pint or three signed a fan’s beer belly. Have a look:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

He said he’d never wash it off ? cheers for the support ??

A post shared by Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston (@beefgolf) on Oct 10, 2018 at 9:01am PDT

We’re guessing the fan will eventually wash the “BEEEEEEF” off, but guarantee he’ll be screaming that the rest of the week.

The post Andrew “Beef” Johnston signs a man’s belly, continues to be a fan favourite appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Ernie Els added his considerable celebrity to the official opening of Royal Greens Golf & Country Club last month, with more than a little help from British fan favourite Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston. We sat down with the four-time major champion for his take on the European Tour’s big play in Saudi, the similarities he can see with golf’s growth explosion in Dubai and discover the South African legend’s plans to overcome Tiger Woods and Team USA at next year’s Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.

Tell us about your first experience of Saudi Arabia?
I was really excited to get the call to come here. I’ve heard of King Abdulla Economic City through the years now, and I was keen to come and see what they have done. This is obviously the inaugural golf course opening here, at Royal Greens. I wouldn’t say I’m surprised but I’m really glad I came because I really think they got it right. The golf course is really good, they have a great facility here at Royal Greens. It’s a wonderful spot. I’m glad I came.

What’s your take on the new course and its signature holes?
You start out here at the clubhouse and you play a bit of desert golf, so to speak, with quite a few water hazards. They have a great balance through the course – right to lefts and left to rights – but the real treat is when you get out to 16, the wonderful 16th hole on the Red Sea. You think you’re on some island somewhere in the Caribbean with the watercolour and the contrast. It’s wonderful, and it’s a pretty difficult hole. So the back nine is really picturesque but so is the whole of the golf course. You don’t see too many holes where you actually go out to the ocean, so I thought that [the 16th] was a great addition to the course.

How do you feel the course will stack up against other European Tour venues next year?
Well, I think this one will be one of the best in the Middle East. I’ve played most of the courses in the Middle East from Dubai to Qatar to Abu Dhabi. I haven’t played Oman but this golf course here will be one of the players’ favourites. The greens can be quite tricky, as you can see here, the wind picks up in the afternoon which will make the scoring quite tough. But it is a fun golf course, if you play properly I think you can make some birdies and there are enough elements out there that will keep the guys honest. Your wind play will have to be there and your course management has to be there. Wonderful golf course, I’m looking forward to playing it.

How important is it for golf to embrace new markets like Saudi Arabia?
This event is not only going to be great for the European Tour but it will great for world golf. We need places where we can grow the game, where we can start from grass root levels and introduce the game to new markets and this is an absolutely untouched market through the history of Saudi Arabia. This will be the inaugural event and to bring world-class players here, to Royal Greens in Saudi Arabia, is just going to be a game-changer. This facility is wonderful but they are going to be building schools here, they’re going to be building housing facilities, hotels – it’s going to be an absolute unbelievable city and to have golf as your main sport here, for the kids to grow up around the game, is going to be so important and I won’t be surprised when we see some world class players in the near-future.

Els holds court during a clinic at the official opening of Royal Greens Golf & Country Club. (Getty Images)

How does Saudi today compare to what you saw back in 1993 when you played your first Desert Classic?
Yeah, there are many similarities. My first event in the Middle East was in 1993. I had a wonderful time in Dubai. If you told me in 1993 what I would be looking at now in 2018 in Dubai, I would say you’re crazy. So I have seen what people can do here in the Middle East. They really can make changes very quickly and I can see the same here. The infrastructure is in, the roads and the power in this place is ready to explode. Hang on to your boots. In only a few years’ time, you are going to see a very different environment and they’ve done their homework, so I really feel very positive for the region.

The national team will have access to your performance academy as part of the agreement between Royal Greens and the Saudi Golf Federation. How important is it for that young talent to have access to a facility like this?
I’ve always said, we’re a small country in South Africa but we have produced really good golfers for a very long time. When you have facilities and you have weather, you are already ahead of the game in a lot of areas. You just have to look at Europe; you can only play in some places there for only four, five, six months of the year. So here you have year-round weather, you have an unbelievable facility here at Royal Greens, at this academy, and if you have more of these facilities go up around this area, with the schooling in place here – before golf or after golf the kids can come and play and practice golf – it is just the perfect environment to produce world-class golfers.

You’re a three-time winner of the Dubai Desert Classic and hold the course record there. Is there a speciality to playing golf here in the Middle East?
It’s just a great place to come, normally we play the middle eastern swing in January, February, or March and where else in the world are you going to get weather like this? So just your mindset going into the Middle East, you know you are going to play on good condition golf courses and the weather is going to be wonderful. I just always felt comfortable playing in this region, and obviously, the golf courses suited me and I just had a great time. I can’t see this place changing my view at all, I loved playing here and I would love to come back – I’m getting a little older now, I’ll be 49 this year but it’s just a great place to play golf.

We have some interesting major venues on the horizon with Shinnecock Hills and Carnoustie. What do you think it’s going to take to win around those courses in particular?
Let’s take Shinnecock – it can be blustery like here, conditions can change quite rapidly out there on the island. I think long island goes out there about 80 miles from the city, so you’re basically in the ocean with a great golf course. A linksy style of golf will be required there. Then obviously with the USGA, the way they set up golf courses, they set them up the hardest of any of the Majors, so you have to bring your all-round game: your mental game, your physical game and then you have to have a little bit of luck here and there. It’s a great venue, it’s a real traditional type of Major, you could play a British Open there or a US Open there, you can play any type of event out there in Shinnecock, it is one of the great classic courses so it will deliver a great champion.

“This event is not only going to be great for the European Tour but it will be great for world golf.”

And Carnoustie? Obviously just as difficult?
Yeah, Carnoustie is the toughest course on the Open rota. I can’t think any other tougher links I have ever played. If the weather gets tough, you saw what happened in 1999, over par wins very easily around Carnoustie. The bunkering is incredible – the course was built whenever it was and those bunkers are still in play. It has got everything you need from a Major Championship venue – length, strategic bunkering, weather, a great history, and a list of great champions.

We’re bound to hear the criticism around the U.S. Open about the golf course being too hard, in tandem with the argument that equipment is making golf too easy. Do you think the U.S. Open is a good example of how golf can be reigned by courses rather than what manufacturers are doing?
The golf ball, the clubs and the athletes we see these days are all just getting better. I don’t see any reason to change, you’ll see when we get to a tough condition golf course when the course is playing firm, the rough is up, and we have a bit of wind, I don’t care if you have supersonic equipment, the game of golf is a pretty tough game. I think the distance in the game is largely because of the condition of these athletes. They are swinging the club a lot faster than we did in our day and I think that is just a generational change that is happening. I think to move a tee back here and there for us, the pros, I don’t think that is the biggest thing in the world. I think we can do that, we don’t have to change courses completely. We will see when we have tough conditions at the U.S. Open and Open championship, hopefully, we don’t have to keep talking about how far the golf ball is going. If you’re playing in perfect condition in the U.S., yes, there is a huge benefit you get from hitting the ball longer than anyone else but you still have to put the golf ball in play so the game of golf is in good hands.

Growing up in South Africa, is The Open the one you were on the practice green as a kid thinking ‘this putt is for the Claret Jug’?
The Open has always been my favourite, largely because of the time change from Great Britain down to South Africa. There is virtually no time change, so you could actually sit on your couch and watch the golf live during the day. So I always watched the Open championship. I remember the days when Tom Watson was dominating, Seve’s win in ’88, that wonderful win in Lytham and so many wonderful champions. And for some reason, I always felt comfortable on links land. I grew up in Johannesburg which is very Parklandish and you have to put the ball in the air and obviously, links is totally different but for some reason, I was very comfortable and always just loved playing on links land. In 2012, we were working hard on the swing that year but it’s incredible the journey that it takes you through. It’s a 4-day event, the preparation that goes in and then you have to get lucky and get breaks going your way. My good friend, Scotty, obviously had a terrible finish and basically handed me the trophy but then as the golfing gods will be, he won the Masters the very next year, which was really wonderful. I think I celebrated more for that one than he did himself.

Do you think the game is in good hands with the gaggle of excellent young players coming through?
Absolutely, I think that the generation has just flipped over. It seems like our generation has been around a long time, for 20 odd years. There was a middle generation with Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott and some of those guys but they had to contend in the Tiger era and Tiger was such a dominating player. So for 20 years, there wasn’t really a changeover. And I feel now there are 10 young guys that are really going to dominate the game going forward and they’re going to have a lot of fun doing that. They seem like they’re good friends, which I don’t always agree with. I feel like you have got to be very competitive, which they are, but it’s very friendly at the moment. Besides that, they are a talented group of players and they are winning Major Championships and they are separating themselves from the rest. That group is going to take the game forward and I think they’re a wonderful group of guys to be watching.

Is there anyone in particular that you want to pick out?
Obviously, Justin Thomas. The year he had last year was a career year right there. Winning the FedEx Cup, shooting 59, winning a Major, winning some other tournament, I think four or five times. Then obviously Jordan Spieth, winning his 3rd or 4th Major now, becoming No.1 in the world already and he’s only 24 years old. You have Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm, and you have Rory McIlroy whose the elder statesman at 28, my goodness. So there are just so many of them, and Patrick Reed winning at the other day at the Masters. Wonderful, wonderful group of players.

How impressed have you been with  Tiger’s comeback?
I’m happy with what I’m seeing. I can see the joy in his eyes again. He went through a very tough time there for a long time, on and off the course. To see him happy and to see him swing the club how he wants to after all these injuries and I am really happy for him. And I believe he has a Major in him, no doubt in my mind he is capable of it.  He has the talent, he just has to find the right venue and he can do it, there’s no doubt. A lot of exciting golf ahead. He’s 42. I think that’s the magic number in your 40’s to start winning Majors again – Ben Hogan, Mark O’Meara, Phil Mickelson myself, Darren Clarke, I think Ray Floyd was 42, Payne Stewart was 41, so if we can do it, he can do it. I’m looking forward to some good golf.

With Tiger Woods at a Presidents Cup presser. (Getty Images)

We’re looking forward a landmark Presidents Cup with yourself and Tiger as captains. Do you think that will bring an added element, given both of your profiles?
We’ve made some changes already and I want to try and have a blueprint going forward for the next [International team] guys, really change things up and put things in place where the next captain can keep following the blueprint. It’s a very important time for myself and the team to change things up, to be really competitive and win this Presidents Cup in Australia, which is a great venue for us. But Tiger’s got an unbelievable team and he’s been an unbelievable player and I think the two of us, we’ve had a bit of history in the Presidents Cup. I think we will bring an extra element to the matches and hopefully make it really exciting.

Do you have a formula for success or a special strategy?
Yeah I have something in my mind, and I want the guys to buy into it and luckily we have a lot of time before the end of next year when the Presidents Cup is being played in Melbourne. So I’m working with the guys, and getting them to hopefully buy into a lot of the stuff that I want to implement, and we will see how it goes. But I feel like there will be some big changes and hopefully, it will work and win the President’s Cup.

“I think Tiger and I will bring an extra element to the matches and hopefully make it really exciting.”

How will your captaincy style contrast against what you think Tiger will bring?
I think it’ll be very similar. I knew how to play match play, I won the world matchplay seven times and my record in the Presidents Cup is not terrible. So I have a way of playing matchplay but I want to bring other things. We have a very diverse team with nationalities all over the world. I want to make sure all my guys are comfortable, the way they want to be comfortable and not the way I want them to be comfortable. It has got to be a great experience for them. And then the strategy we need to implement to try and win the tournament; I’ve got a lot of experience around the golf course we are going to compete on. But there is a lot of input I can give the guys, I want to do that and hopefully, I can take it in.

I’m sure you are very busy with the Presidents Cup and the business but what else have you got coming up?
I’m starting to play a little better myself, I feel physically a lot better than I have in the last 18 months,  so I still want to try and be competitive. I got an invite to the U.S. Open, which is great. Obviously the Open Championship too and we will see where it goes. I want try and feel like I’m competitive and take my game into the Champions Tour.

The post Q&A: Ernie Els on Saudi Arabia’s new European Tour event appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Ron Galella, Ltd.

I think we’ve got a blockbuster on our hands — or at least, a Netflix original better than that Will Smith “Bright” disaster. If any big-time Hollywood producers are reading this, give me a call. And in the meantime, let’s talk about all the plot lines unfolding during a busy time on the golf calendar.

WE’RE BUYING
Bryson DeChambeau: Forget about the kooky cap and the kookier single-length irons, the man who pretty recently experimented with side-saddle putting is no longer a side show on the PGA Tour. DeChambeau, one of the most decorated amateur golfers ever, picked up the biggest win of his pro career (so far) at the Memorial. And the self-proclaimed artist created one of the most intense reactions you’ll ever see after draining the winning putt:

“This is probably the most important win of my entire career.”

We felt it, @B_DeChambeau.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/XHcqdXaq3Z

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 4, 2018

Captain American might have competition in the celebration department at this year’s Ryder Cup.

Ariya Jutanugarn: In the span of a couple hours, we went from watching a dominant performance to a gutsy playoff win after Jutanugarn blew a 7-shot lead on the back nine at the U.S. Women’s Open, but still survived extra holes with major title No. 2. We’re happy for the young star because that could have been a career-crippling loss. And Ariya, who hits a 2-iron longer than I could dream of hitting my driver, appears headed toward a pretty special career.

TV coverage: We’re tough on TV networks from time to time, but we’ve got (almost) nothing but kudos all around this week. A tip of the cap to Golf Channel and CBS for (finally) figuring out a way to show live golf at the Memorial when tee times have been moved up (Of course, it took Tiger in contention for it to finally happen). And a round of applause for Fox for its limited commercials during the final round of the U.S. Women’s Open. Well done, everyone!

John Smoltz: The Hall-of-Fame pitcher is now a budding star on the senior golf circuit after qualifying for the U.S. Senior Open later this month. It’s an amazing accomplishment — even to John Smoltz. “I pinch myself every day,” Smoltz told me on an upcoming podcast. And I had to pinch myself while talking to John freaking Smoltz. What a legend. Smoltz also told me he’s willing to be mic’d up during Fox’s coverage. Let’s hope this happens!

WE’RE SELLING
Tiger’s putting: Tiger Woods’ ball-striking at the Memorial? Vintage! Tiger Woods’ putting at the Memorial. Not vintage! Seriously, that was tough to watch. And completely mystifying when you consider how well Woods rolled it at the Players and how pure Muirfield Village’s greens are. In Friday’s round alone, Woods missed three putts inside four feet, a six-footer and a seven-footer, and still shot 67! Stats guru Mark Broadie calculated that if Tiger just had an average putting week — not Tiger average, but PGA Tour average — he would have been shaking Jack Nicklaus’ hand on the 18th green for a sixth time. For the week, he lost nearly 8 shots to the field on the greens while having the second-worst strokes gained/putting of anyone who made the cut. Not exactly what you want to see before heading to Shinnecock’s slick greens next week. . .

Bud Cauley’s car crash: The damage was extensive (five broken ribs, a fractured leg and a collapsed lung), but Bud said he’s “thankful to be alive” following “the scariest night of my life.” We’re glad to hear Cauley is on the mend and we wish him the best. And if he’s looking for motivation, we’ve got two words: Ben Hogan. The legend recovered from similar injuries sustained in his own accident and won six more majors. Of course, he’d already won three, but you get the point. Get well soon, Bud.

Final group’s pace of play: We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, but taking nearly six hours for PGA Tour pros to play a round of golf is ridiculous. Yes, they were in threesomes, and yes, the average golfer can’t begin to understand what it’s like to play under final-round pressure on a difficult course, but Bryson “Check the book” DeChambeau, Patrick “Happy Feet” Cantlay, and Kyle “Sloth” Stanley (Actually, he seemed to play at a decent pace) were practically putting people to sleep.

To summarise: Showing live golf over tape-delayed coverage is a good product. Showing guys taking an inordinate amount of time to hit shots — even if it’s live — is not a good product.

ON TAP
The PGA Tour heads to the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis, AKA that event Daniel Berger wins every year. Seriously, the man has won the past two years at TPC Southwind. Those are the only two wins of his PGA Tour career.

Random tournament fact: This is the last year of this longstanding event as we know it. Next year, it moves from June to August and becomes a World Golf Championship called the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. That’s great news for those involved in the event, but Memphis in August? You may as well hold a golf tournament inside a sweat lodge.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK
— Tiger Woods isn’t practicing on his backyard putting green right now: 1 million-to-1 odds
— Bryson DeChambeau will win the 2018 U.S. Open: 40-to-1 odds
— Bryson DeChambeau disagrees with Vegas’ calculations: LOCK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Keyur Khamar

Tiger-esque.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (NATURE DIVISION)
A moose chased a couple playing golf in Utah:

That’ll help pace of play.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Live TV is tough, and Holly Sonders is a true pro for pushing on, but this slip of the tongue is too good not to share. Sorry, Holly. .

“Sexual Qualifying” > Sectional Qualifying
Way to keep a straight face!! ??@holly_sonders @shanebacon @BradFaxon @fs1 @usopengolf #RoadToShinnecock pic.twitter.com/EHxxpwekpa

— Dan Valine (@danvaline) June 5, 2018

Whoops. Credit to all involved for not cracking up. That’s focus.

UPDATE: Holly addressed the gaffe the following day:

SECTIONAL qualifying is complete! “Sexual” qualifying isn’t a thing…and I didn’t have the time to make a joke about my mistake as we needed to get off the air 60 sec later. If Brad and Shane had even cracked a smile we wouldn’t have made it through the segment ????

— Holly Sonders (@holly_sonders) June 5, 2018

Well played. A pro’s pro.

THIS WEEK IN DUSTIN JOHNSON-PAULINA GRETZKY PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

That “sexy beast” finished T-8 at the Memorial and is the Vegas favorite at both this week’s Memphis event and next week’s U.S. Open.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS
Add Michael Phelps’ name to the list of golfers who have made a hole-in-one before me:

First ace…. ummmm I’m speechless!?!? 190 yard window into us slightly elevated tee…. I hit 6 iron and it was a 2 hopper that rolled right into the cup… a nice and clean hole in one!!!!

A post shared by Michael Phelps (@m_phelps00) on Jun 2, 2018 at 11:38am PDT

Congrats, Michael, but c’mon with the typos. If I ever make an ace (LOL) you can bet I’m going to double and triple check my post(s) before letting everyone know about it.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I’m not going to give too much away, but it’s got to do with anatomical limits of your body and how you can best utilize them for your proprioception.” — Bryson DeChambeau talking about his golf swing. We think.

THIS WEEK IN TOUR PROS ARE JUST LIKE US!
Kyle Stanley’s bad break on the 18th hole in the Memorial playoff was just brutal — and reminiscent of what happens every time I clip a tree with a tee shot.

Wow.

What an awful bounce for Kyle Stanley at the 72nd hole. pic.twitter.com/DXJAiAeqJi

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 3, 2018

THIS AND THAT: Adam Scott will continue his streak of playing in major championships (currently at 67) after making it through a U.S. Open sectional qualifier. Clutch! . . . Also qualifying for next week’s U.S. Open was Andrew “Beef” Johnston. Good luck to whomever gets paired with him in front of rowdy New York crowds. . . . Joaquin Niemann didn’t win the Memorial, but his T-6 was good enough to earn special temporary membership on the PGA Tour for the rest of the season. Considering he’s 19 and already has three top 10s in five starts, we don’t think he should be worried too much about his future tour status. . . . And finally, take a look at this list of courses played by Barstool Sports’ Riggs:

lol it’s not even June yet #geauxriggs

A post shared by Sam Riggs Bozoian (@riggsbarstool) on May 31, 2018 at 7:31am PDT

Suddenly, I have a new hero.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER
How many tour wins will Bryson DeChambeau wind up with?
How many science degrees will Bryson DeChambeau wind up with?
How much is a set of single-length irons?

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WATCH MORE VIDEOS FROM THE LOOP

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The post Bryson DeChambeau’s big win, Holly Sonders’ slip of the tongue, and Michael Phelps makes a hole-in-one appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
With Frenchman Alexander Levy the highest ranked player in the field at No. 62 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), the new NBO Oman Open offers fading stars and lesser lights the chance to shine.

Paul Waring and Matthew Southgate duly obliged Thursday, the Englishmen grabbing a share of the lead in the $1.75 million European Tour event with seven under 65s.

Both went bogey free around the majestic Al Mouj Golf layout but Southgate’s card was illuminated by an ace on island green 5th. The seven iron dunk from 165 yards was the 29-year-old’s second hole-in-one inside a month after he binned a nine iron on the par-3 7th at Emirates Golf Club during last month’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic; it was also the second ace on the historic day in Muscat after German Marcel Siem holed out from 162 yards on the 13th moments earlier. In a bizarre coincidence, the caddies of both players are twin brothers – Gary and Guy Tilson. 

Southgate and Waring lead by a shot from Dutchman Daan Huizing who hit the first shot of the championship and just 65 further strokes to cash in on a special invite having played four of the five Challenge Tour events previously held at Al Mouj, including a T-10 at last November’s NBO Golf Classic Grand Final.

Ryder Cupper Andy Sullivan and fellow Englishman Callum Shinkwin were a shot further back after 67s while Matteo Manassero’s name was a welcome sight among a group of six players on 68.

Waring, the world No. 251, will be relived with his fast start after a challenging beginning to 2018 which has seen the 33-year-old miss three successive cuts en-route to Muscat after opening the wrap-around season with a T-41 effort in Hong Kong before Christmas.

Paul Waring

The 2005 English amateur champion played last season on a medical exemption after wrist and shoulder problems but also enjoyed a career-best campaign, finishing 60th on the Race to Dubai rankings and saw light despite the unwanted weekends off.

“I’d missed three cuts on the spin but I didn’t feel like I’d played badly to miss them. I didn’t feel too far away,” Waring told EuropeanTour.com after a round that included a hat-trick of birdies from the 14th (he started at 10) and birdies on all four par 5s.

“It was definitely a bit of a glide. I played some of the best golf I’ve played for a little while. I actually missed a few chances, which sounds ridiculous. I did hole a nice one on one from 30 or 40 feet which is nice to keep the momentum going. I’m really happy with that.”

Southgate’s early form hasn’t been much better than Waring’s. Ranked 163rd in the latest OWGR, he missed the cut at the SA Open and in Abu Dhabi before T-57 and T-62 finishes in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur.   

It was a good day for this guy ?

Shoots 65
Makes a hole-in-one
Takes the first round lead pic.twitter.com/rIK3woah9R

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 15, 2018

The Southend-on-Sea professional provided one of the stories of 2015, coming through all three stages of Q-School to regain his card after surgery for testicular cancer just months earlier. More recently Southgate has been in the news for cruelly incurring a four stroke penalty at the DAP Championship during last September’s Web.com finals, a freak incident that ultimately cost him a PGA Tour card.

Putting on the 15th at Canterbury Golf Club in Ohio, his ball was struck by a leaf that blew across the green, nudging the ball off line ever so slightly.

Southgate finished the hole, but made a huge error in the process as he should have placed his ball back to its original location and replayed the shot without penalty. Instead, by continuing the hole, he was handed a four-stroke penalty – two for playing from the wrong spot and two more for signing an incorrect card.

Here’s the incident:

Golf is hard … especially when you’re playing for a @PGATOUR card. pic.twitter.com/SoyWo6X01q

— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) September 24, 2017

Sullivan, T-6 in Dubai and T-17 in Malaysia, is trending nicely as he looks to September’s Ryder Cup in Paris. The 31-year-old concedes complacency crept in after he slipped to 62nd place in last year’s Race to Dubai standings following back-to-back top 20 finishes in 2015 and 2016.

He achieved just two top-10s in 2017 but is determined to get back to the top after the high of qualifying for the 2016 Ryder Cup in Hazeltine.

“I think it was just a bit of complacency,” he told EuropeanTour.com. “I got to the Ryder Cup pretty early and achieved everything in really quick time and you just don’t realise how hard you have to work to maintain these things. I’d be guilty of that and of not quite performing how I wanted to.

“Since DP World we’ve put the hard work in and it’s nice to see it coming back to where it was so early. I didn’t expect it to happen quite so quickly.

“Once you’ve played one Ryder Cup you don’t want to miss another one, it’s so special. My first one was in America and obviously we got humped but the whole experience is so awesome, being a part of that team, you just don’t want to miss another one.

“One of my goals is to try and force my way into that team. I know it’s going to be difficult and I’ve left myself a lot to do but that’s where I want to be again.”

Levy, for the record, signed for a one-under 71 Thursday, as did Andrew “Beef” Johnston.  Shubhankar Sharma, the 21-year-old Indian who leads the 2018 Race to Dubai after wins at the Joburg Open and Maybank Championship in the past two months, finished with a 73 despite a near tap-in eagle on the par-5 12th.

It was a tough day for the local hopes. Al Mouj teaching professional Steven Troup (SCO) is tied for 128th overnight after a 77 while Oman national team amateur Azaan Al Rumhy carded an 80. Bahrain amateur Nasser Yaqoob was on +13 after an 85.

The post Southgate, with an ace, and Waring lead in Muscat after 65s appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 21-year-old Indian is the surprise early leader of the season-long Race to Dubai after winning the Joburg Open and Maybank Championship in the past two months to scoot up to No.71 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Sharma will peg it up with 2016 Ryder Cupper Andy Sullivan and Frenchman Alexander Levy at 7.15am in the marquee morning three-ball as Al Mouj Golf graduates to full European Tour status after a five year Challenge Tour apprenticeship. He’s clearly expecting a challenging week.

“I’m surprised this is the first time Al Mouj Golf has hosted a European Tour event as it’s such a great course,” he said. “It’s a tough, long course that can get windy; I definitely think that it’s a championship course. Now they have the event here I’m sure it will continue for many years to come.

“It would mean a lot to win an event in the Middle East especially at such a great course as Al Mouj Golf. I’m playing well at the moment so hopefully I can have four good rounds and we will see what happens. Every win is special to me so hopefully I can keep going and pushing my career on.”

Levy, whose ace during last month’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic earned the European Tour shot of the month award, has his eyes on a 2018 Ryder Cup spot and will tee off the 10th, 10 minutes before European captain Thomas Bjorn who is grouped with Soren Kjeldsen and Thomas Detry.

January’s Shot of the Month ?️???

Fans voted this @AlexLevyGolf shot as the European Tour’s best shot in January. pic.twitter.com/iAT9XutwdD

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 13, 2018

Fan favourite Andrew “Beef” Johnston will look to rebound from an unwanted weekend off at last week’s World Super 6 Perth when he heads off at 11.55am with former Ryder Cupper Robert Karlsson and Joost Luiten.

Thai Thongchai Jaidee, Welshman Jamie Donaldson and England’s David Horsey are off 10 minutes earlier, also from the 1st tee, while the threesome of Darren Clarke, Brett Rumford and Stephen Gallacher are sure to lure their share of the first day galleries at 12.05pm.

There will be great local interest in the performance of Omani amateur Azaan Al Rumhy (8.15am, 10th tee) and Bahrain’s Nasser Yaqoob (1.15pm, 10th tee) who qualified via the Oman amateur qualifier.

With just Sharma and Jorge Campillo in the current Race to Dubai top-10 and Levy, at No.62, the highest placed entry in the OWGR, the new Desert Swing event is wide open.

One of the stars could be Al Mouj Golf itself. The Greg Norman design, ranked third in our latest Top 10 Courses of the Middle East ranking, is in sparkling condition and set to be showcased to a global audience in excess of 400 million.

Related: Our 2018 Top 10 Courses in the Middle East ranking

Coverage of OSN Sports runs from 10.30am to 12.30pm on Thursday and resumes at 2pm-5pm.

The @NBOGolf course is ??#NBOOmanOpen pic.twitter.com/x6XcCKPj7n

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 13, 2018

The post Surprise Race to Dubai leader Sharma off early as Al Mouj makes its European Tour bow appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.