Had it not been for American 15-year-old Victoria Tip-Aucha’s historic appearance in Hau Hin, Thomas’ return to the MENA Tour would have undoubtedly generated the main interest ahead of the $50,000 MahaSamutr Masters at Banyan GC.

Regardless of how Tip-Aucha fares as the developmental tour’s female pioneer, Thomas’ performance will garner much attention after his growing reputation enabled the Dubai-based Indian amateur No.1 to bypass the first three events of the season for better things – the very purpose of the MENA Tour.

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American teen set for historic MENA Tour start in Thailand

Thomas created headlines when he made the cut at February’s Dubai Desert Classic and played alongside 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett in the final round. It followed a practice round tee time with Rickie Fowler in Abu Dhabi and earned the teen a late invite to the Hero Indian Open, his fourth European Tour start (after playing the Qatar Masters in 2016).

Since then Thomas has focused on the prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley GC near Augusta National where a closing 68 saw him finish a credible T13 in what is widely regarded as the world’s leading junior tournament.

The invaluable U.S. experience, coupled with his emergence in Thailand last season when he finished second at the Mountain Creek Open and third at the MahaSamutr Masters, has Thomas raring for this week’s 54-holer.

“It feels good to return to golf courses where you have enjoyed some good finishes,” said Thomas who kicked on from Thailand to become the MENA Tour’s first amateur winner at his home Dubai Creek Open last September.

“I have been working very hard with my coach Justin Parsons and the good thing is that I am feeling confident about my game.”

Thomas won’t have it all his own way in Thailand, of course. Englishman Zane Scotland, a 10-time winner, is back after a back injury saw him skip last week’s Ras Al Khaimah Classic. Bahrain-based Daniel Owen will look to rebound from a disastrous final round 82 at Tower Links after leading through 36-holes with a pair of 66s.

Other notable contenders include Lee Corfield, Craig Hinton and Andrew Marshall, all multiple winners on the tour, and cricketer-turned-golfer Craig Kieswetter, who graduated from the tour’s qualifying school earlier this year.

They’ll all be mindful of Wolmer Murillo, the 36-year-old Venezuelan star who won the Mountain Creek Open by Golf Citizen by three shots and followed it up with a second-place finish in the MahaSamutr Masters a week later when the tour travelled to Thailand for the first time in 2016.

Murillo, who is attached to Banyan Golf Club, will be keen to pick up where he left off last year, but will have to contend with a 139-player field including 13 MENA Tour winners. The tournament will have a distinct Thai flavour with a strong home contingent of 25 golfers.

UAE’s Ahmed Al Musharrekh will spearhead the challenge in the MENA Division, confident of racking up some good results.

“I am working on certain aspects of my game and hope to get things dialed in sooner than later. It’s always a work in progress,”Al Musharrekh said.

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The 22-year-old Sydneysider rattled off six back nine birdies in a final round 66 to finish -13, three shots clear of Englishmen Andrew Marshall and Jamie Elson who shared second.

Owen had started the final round with a five shot lead after back-to-back 66s but stumbled to a 10-over 82 to finish -2 in a disappointing share of 23rd.

The Englishman’s spectacular reverse – six bogeys and doubles on the par 5 13th and 18th holes – brought back memories of a similarly spectacular collapse by his fellow Englishman Jake Shepherd, who also blew a five-shot lead, incidentally in the same tournament in 2011.

Stojanovski turned professional at the 2014 Dubai Creek Open and became the first Australian to win a MENA Tour title at an event he clearly enjoys; his previous best finish was a top 6 at Tower Links in 2014.

“I am really delighted to win for the first time on the MENA Tour. I played some solid golf and really pleased to get the job done,” Stojanovski said after receiving the winner’s cheque for $7200 from Tower Links GM Simon Payne and the MENA Tour’s Trevor Varri.

“I just played my own game and didn’t think about what others were doing around me. I focused on every golf shot that I hit and that helped,”

“I started off okay, but finished strongly. My short game was quite good and I holed some nice putts when I needed to. Overall, just kind of everything fell together.

Owen’s stunning meltdown notwithstanding, idyllic conditions at Tower Links brought a raft of red-figure rounds with Marshall leading the way, his sparkling 65 moving the Englishman up from overnight tied 17th to second overall.

England’s Josh Walsh and Germany’s Georg Schultes matched Marshall’s best score of the tournament to climb up the leaderboard as Welshman Stephen Dodd, who started the day in a tie for second, settled for tied 13th on five under after a final round 74.

Walsh joined fellow Englishmen Max Williams and Stuart Archibald for a share of fourth on -9 while Schultes finished in a three-way tie for seventh a further shot adrift.

England’s Todd Clements comfortably kept up his dominance in the amateur division, carding a tidy 68 to finish on -7 to beat his nearest challenger Tiago Lobo of Brazil by five shots as Sam Hobday, who also returned a final round 68, settled for third a further shot back.

Next up on the MENA Tour is a three-event Thailand swing that gets under way with the MahaSamutr Masters, sponsored by MahaSamutr Country Club, Hua Hin, at Banyan Golf Club on May 2.

A guaranteed spot in the PGA Tour’s 2018 DEAN & DELUCA Invitational (for the MENA Tour champion), multiple European Tour starts, including the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, the Hassan II Trophy, Maybank Championship Malaysia, and the KLM Open, await the MENA Tour’s leading performers, in addition to playing privileges on the Sunshine Tour, and exemptions into the Final Stage of the Sunshine Tour and Asian Tour Q-Schools.

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The Bahrain-based 27-year-old touring professional will take a five stroke lead into the final round of the Ras Al Khaimah Classic on Wednesday over a group of five players including three-time MENA Tour winner and European tour veteran Stephen Dodd.

Dodd (70-67) was joined by joint overnight leader Max Williams (66-71), fellow Englishmen Jordan Garnish (68-69) and Jamie Elson (71-66) and Australia’s Peter Stojanovski (68-69) at -7.

After mixing two eagles and five birdies against three bogeys in Monday’s opening round, Royal Golf Club-aligned Owen had his driver going to rattle off six birdies in a flawless six-under circuit to be -12 for the tournament.

“I have been coming here since 2011 and know the course pretty well. It suits my eye. I did miss a couple of greens, but never really got into much trouble. I gave myself good opportunities and made a few putts,” Owen said of his sizzling second round on a steamy RAK day.

Owen will be looking to kick on after racking up a string of top five finishes on the tour.

“Obviously, it’s hard to ignore where I am, but at the same time the game plan doesn’t change. I will try and make some early birdies to kind of settle the nerves and, hopefully, get the job done this time around.”

As a three-time European Tour winner Dodd, who mixed six birdies with a lone bogey on the tough 3rd hole in his second-round 67, stands as a significant threat to Owen.

The Welshman made his European Senior Tour debut at the Senior Open Championship last July and went on to win the 2016 Senior Italian Open, a feat which showed his hunger remains as keen as ever.

Elsewhere, Spain’s Francisco Perez and England’s Paul Dwyer, who were among a four-way tie for the lead overnight, left themselves with work to do after carding respective rounds of 73 and 72 to be at -6.

England’s Lee Corfield, a four-time winner on the MENA Tour, moved into a tie for 10^th on -5 after a second round 71, one ahead of Craig Hinton, the winner of the 2016 MENA Tour Order of Merit title, as experienced Andrew Marshall settled for a tied 17^th after a shooting a two-under 70.

England’s Todd Clements carded a 69 to top the amateur division on -3, four shots ahead of Switzerland’s Dubai-based Michael Harradine, who backed his opening 71 with a 74.

UAE’s Ahmed Al Musharrekh returned a second-round 75 for 36-hole total of seven-over-par 151, missing the cut, which was made at two over, by five shots. A total of 54 professionals and nine amateurs have made it to the final round.

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A 9-iron to six feet on the last secured Williams’ second eagle on a day of low scoring at Tower Links as countrymen Daniel Owen and Paul Dwyer and Spaniard Francisco Perez also signed for 66s to top the leaderboard at six under.

The quartet combined for 23 birdied and four eagles – including another brace of eagles by Owen – against just seven bogeys.

“I played really well and very pleased with my day’s work. The course is just fantastic and in great condition,” said Williams (pictured) who had earlier eagled the par 5 5th.

“It’s always nice to get an eagle, let alone two. Just kind of everything fell together, ball striking, putting and ball control.”

Bahrain-based Owen lit up his opening round with five birdies and two eagles (on the 5th and the 13th) against three bogeys to put himself in contention for his maiden MENA Tour win. Dwyer rattled off three birdies in a row to start his round and kept the momentum rolling with a solitary bogey the only blemish. Perez picked up eight shots, including five on the front nine, against two bogeys on a day when 34 players broke par.

Englishman Lee Corfield overcame an bogey on the 1st to card a four-under 68 which left the four-time MENA Tour winner in a seven-way tie for sixth. Defending order of merit champion Craig Hinton shared 13th a further shot adrift in a four-man group which included Spain’s Leo Lilja, the winner of the season-opening Palmeraie Country Club Casablanca Open in March.

Among other notable scoces, Welsh ace and European Senior Tour player Stephen Dodd carded a 70 while England’s Andrew Marshall returned a 71.

Switzerland’s Dubai-based Michael Harradine rolled in three birdies on the back nine after making the turn at two over to hit the front in the amateur division on a 71, two shots ahead of a four-man group that includes Qatar’s Saleh Al Kaabi.

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