When Viktor Hovland sat down for his pre-tournament presser on Wednesday following his staggering victory at the Hero World challenge at the Yas Marina Circuit the previous night, it wasn’t long before the conversation shifted to Oklahoma State University, his former school where Dubai-born Indian world amateur star Thomas is now furthering his golfing education.

“It’s a pretty cool thing that we can gather so many different kids from around the world to one place. After a couple of years, we kind of all have the same pride about the school, and we think about Oklahoma State Golf in a very unique way. It’s like an elite fraternity,” said the 22-year-old Norwegian of OSU.

Viktor Hovland at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. (Tom Dulat/Getty Images)

Thomas enjoyed a blistering start to his MENA Tour career, winning the Dubai Creek Open in 2016 as an amateur – the first on the tour to do so, and making the cut in the 2017 Omega Dubai Desert Classic. That same year his defence of the Dubai Creek Open title included nine straight birdies, a world record. But Hovland reckons this new chapter of his golfing life will set him up for yet more success.

“Hopefully he’s kind of getting there with that mentality. Especially for Rayhan, I would imagine he’s a very good player. Being from over here, he probably doesn’t have the same depth of competition as he would being in the United States, and just for him to get out of his comfort zone and to see a different place and compete at different courses, I think he’s just going to become more versatile and just get comfortable competing and beating everyone hopefully.”

The post Oklahoma State old boy Hovland says Rayhan Thomas is right where he needs to be appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Jha produced a bogey-free, seven-under-par 65 Monday to sit at the summit of the $30,000 Golf Citizen Classic leaderboard.

The 30-year-old from the southern Indian city of Bengaluru is two shots clear of Pakistani Hamza Amin and South African MG Keyser who carried on from where he left off at the Creek after capturing his maiden MENA Tour title.

“It could have been a great one [round] but I missed a few putts coming home. That’s golf. You can’t complain after opening with a 65,” said Jha who turned professional in 2010.

“I drove the ball well all day and holed some nice putts. Making those four birdies in a row from the third kind of kick-started my round. Overall, I played a good, solid round.”

Another South African, Teagan Moore, was solo fourth after a 68 while seven players carded three-under 69s, RAK Classic winner Peter Stojanovski (Australia), reigning order-of-merit champion Craig Hinton and his English compatriots Jamie Elson and Zane Scotland among them.

The steady start will be especially heartening for Scotland after the 10-time MENA Tour winner and the circuit’s only fully exempt player was forced to withdraw from the Creek Open after just 27 holes due to an on-going back injury.

Elson led this season’s order-of-merit race into the tour’s 10-week summer break but missed the resumption at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club last week as he successfully survived the first stage of European Tour Q-School in Scotland.

The 36-year-old former European Challenge Tour winner has stolen an early march on Fredrik From at The Els after the Swede took over top spot on the OOM with his T-4 finish at the Creek.

From signed for a even par 72 Monday to share 26th place with, among others, English amateurs Todd Clements (second equal last week with Presidents Cup-bound Indian No.1 Rayhan Thomas), Michael Gilbert and Jamie Richards. Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club amateur Michael Harradine opened with a 73 but it is the German, Marcus Toennessen, who leads the amateur leaderboard after a 71.

UAE’s Ahmed Al Musharrekh, three under through 13, had his chances to hit the front page of the leaderboard but dropped a couple of shots coming home and that left him sharing 26th on level-par.

The post Indian ‘ace’ Jha two ahead at Golf Citizen Classic after opening 65 at The Els Club appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray

A day after creating headlines around the world, Rayhan Thomas had to settle for providing the supporting quotes as Mathiam Keyser clinched his maiden MENA Tour title after a tense duel with the Indian amateur for the Dubai Creek Open.

“MG” Keyser overcame a shaky start and a late wobble to sign for a closing level par 71 and a two-stroke victory as Thomas, the defending champion, was denied his fairytale home-course double on Wednesday.

Starting the final round two ahead, Keyser managed to rebound from a bogey, double bogey start at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club with three successive birdies from the third. But the 30-year-old South African saw a three-shot buffer on the 17th tee suddenly slashed to one when he sent his tee shot on the penultimate par 4 into The Creek.

The double-bogey gave Thomas a sniff of repeating his final hole heroics from last season when he became the first amateur to win on the developmental Pro-Am circuit. But after the high of Tuesday when he tied Keyser’s course record 61 (from Monday) courtesy of a world record nine successive birdies, Thomas three-putted 18 for a bogey to slip into a tie for second with fast-finishing English amateur Todd Clements.

Related: Watch highlights of Rayhan Thomas’ world recording equalling round

Despite battling a cold putter all day, Thomas was gracious as ever in defeat.

“MG is probably the best player I have ever played with on the MENA Tour. He thoroughly deserved to win,” said the 17-year-old, who now heads to New Jersey for the inaugural Junior Presidents Cup.

“Missing at least three close range birdie putts, especially that four-footer on the 15th, cost me dearly.”

For Keyser, the wire-to-wire win, headlined by his 61 on Monday, follows his first professional title in an Asian Development Tour event in Malaysia last year.

“It feels great to get the job done,” said the Dubai resident after receiving the $9000 winner’s cheque from MENA Tour patron Darren Clarke, who himself closed with a 74 to finish T-16th.

England’s Todd Clements closed with a bogey-free 66 to tie Thomas in second place at -11, two shots adrift of Keyser.

“It was some battle out there after that nightmarish start, but I played well in the middle and kept it going, though Rayhan, who is a good friend, did put some pressure. After that double-bogey [on 17], I hit a good drive on the final hole and managed to make par which, in the end, proved enough to see off Rayhan.”

Swede Fredrik From made the most of the absence of Englishman Jamie Elson and Luke Joy with the order-of-merit pace-setters currently contesting the first leg of European Tour Q-School in Scotland and the KLM Open in The Netherland’s respectively.

The Swede’s T-4 placing with India’s Abhishek Jha (who aced the 5th on Monday) saw him leap-frog to the top of the points race, now 663 points ahead of Elson, with five events remaining.

The OOM is heating up nicely and understandably so – the MENA Tour champion earns starts in the 2018 Omega Dubai Desert Classic, Malaysia’s Maybank Championship, Morocco’s Hassan II Trophee, as well as an invite to the PGA Tour’s DEAN & DELUCA Invitational. A full Sunshine Tour card for 2018 and exemption to the final stage of qualifying for the Asian Tour also await.

Elson, who opened Q-School with a two-under 70 at Roxburghe G.C. in Kelso on Tuesday, is a possible starter at next week’s The Golf Citizen Classic at The Els, Dubai. But Joy will have much more ground to make up as he is also contesting the European Tour’s multi-tournament first stage of qualifying in Austria next week and won’t return to MENA Tour duty until the Sept. 25-27 Golf Citizen Abu Dhabi Open at Yas Links.

In just his second start of the season, Keyser jumped to 11th place in the standings. 

Clements (143 points), who closed with a bogey-free 66 on Wednesday playing in the company of 2012 Open champion Clarke, leads he amateur OOM from countryman Sam Hobday (139), Dubai-based Switzerland national rep Michael Harradine (126), Brazilian Tiago Lobo (121) and Thomas (118).

Harradine finished in a share of 38th alongside DCGYC teaching professional Cennydd Mills who backed up his opening 69 with back-to-back 74s to finish +4 for the championship.

The post Keyser goes wire-to-wire to deny Thomas a fairytale Dubai Creek Open double appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Darren Clarke made an unsolicited plea for a cooling of expectations surrounding Rayhan Thomas on the eve of the teen’s Dubai Creek Open title defence Sunday. Good luck with that now.

The rise and rise of the 17-year-old reached giddy new heights on Tuesday when the Indian amateur No.1 tied the world record for successive birdies in a professional event to ignite his defence of the MENA Tour title.

Riding a hot putter and the encouragement of his major championship winning playing partner, the Indian teen rattled off nine straight birdies from the second to emulate 1989 Open champion Mark Calcavecchia and European Tour star Bernd Wiesberger.

Related: Rayhan Thomas Equals World Record As He Flirts With Mythical 59 At Dubai Creek Open

After an outward nine of just 27 strokes and another birdie on the 10th, local social media was abuzz with a “#59 watch”. Thomas would eventually have to settle for a course-record tying 61 but the global reverberations were no less seismic.

Clarke, the 2011 Open champion, Europe’s beaten Ryder Cup captain last year and the MENA Tour’s patron, hasn’t changed his view on Thomas despite Tuesday’s eventual hullabaloo.

Indeed, the Ulsterman quickly rebuked a local reporter for daring to mention “Rory [McIlroy] at this age and Rayhan at this age” in the same breath.

“They’re totally different, you can’t compare them and I think you’ve got to be respectful as well. You can’t be heaping too much pressure on Rayhan,” Clarke said.

“He’s going to play Junior Presidents Cup [in New Jersey later this month], his game is going in the right direction, everything is really good , but we just need to let him get on with things.”

But as unfair as the McIlroy comparsion was, the fact Thomas’ name was even uttered in the same sentence gives a sense of the interest in the online-schooled teen.

This time last year he was the 1050th ranked amateur in the world but now, after becoming the first amateur to win on the MENA Tour, making his first European Tour cut at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and a run to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur, Thomas is 50th and suddenly the talk of the developmental tour. If he hasn’t quite put the MENA Tour on the global map, he’s certainly given the world’s golf media a jolly good reason to at least Google his and the Pro-Am circuit’s name as these tweets suggest:

Rayhan Thomas is 17, an amateur and today posted nine straight birdies in the Dubai Creek Open, a professional event. Ties a world record.

— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) September 12, 2017

@RayhanThomas=baller! https://t.co/9XPQvR39ki

— Claude Harmon III (@claudeharmonIII) September 12, 2017

Of course, Trevor Immelman, the 2008 Masters champion, knows about the Dubai Creek product who has qualified No.1 for his International team ahead of the inaugural Junior Presidents Cup. 

Yeah baby! Great playing!
Enjoy and see you soon @RayhanThomas….

— Trevor Immelman (@TrevorImmelman) September 12, 2017

Even Clarke relented a little.

“He didn’t quite play so well yesterday [Monday] but today he played fantastic. The score he shot is probably the worst he could have shot and you can’t say that too often.

“He’s very clam and collected and knew exactly what he wanted to do.”

Perhaps the most impressive of all Thomas’ quotes afterwards was when he admitted golf’s once mythical 59 mark entered his thinking.

“When I birdied 10, it was my 9th birdie, it crept into my head that I could of made, possibly 59, but I just tried to make sure I remembered I have a tournament to play,” he said. “You know, 59 is not the goal, trying to get myself into contention is, so I didn’t want to do anything silly, stick to my game plan.”

The game plan Wednesday will be to emulate Englishman Zane Scotland as a back-to-back winner of the Dubai Creek Open.

Thomas will start two shots adrift of MG Keyser after the Dubai-based South African backed up his part of the now joint Creek course record on Monday with a 68 to move to -14 for the championship.

At -9, Englishman Robert Harrhy is certainly not out of it. But, despite Clarke’s sage plea, the only story in town will inevitably focus on a kid who started playing golf at the club just eight years ago, and began this week having a rock named after him

Related: Rayhan’s Dubai Creek Legacy Literally Set In Stone

Clarke has been around long enough to know his plea has now fallen between an altogether different rock and a hard place. But without wanting to heap too much added pressure on the level-headed lad, we sense the Rayhan headlines will continue to flow.

The post VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Watch Rayhan Thomas seal his world and course record-equalling MENA Tour round appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Add a world record to the remarkable CV of Dubai golf prodigy Rayhan Thomas.

The 17-year-old Indian amateur sensationally reeled off a record nine successive birdies and flirted with golf’s mythical mark of 59 at the MENA Tour’s Dubai Creek Open on Tuesday.

Thomas eventually signed for a 10-under-par round of 61 to tie the course record at his home Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, set just 24 hours earlier by Dubai-based South African professional MG Keyser.  After opening with a one-under 70, Thomas’s historic round saw him snatch the clubhouse lead and well and truly rekindle the defence of the title he famously captured as a 16-year-old a year ago, becoming the first amateur to win on the developmental Middle East and North Africa  Pro-Am circuit in the process.

Related: Rayhan’s Dubai Creek Legacy Literally Set In Stone

Tuesday’s nine birdies, achieved courtesy of an impossibly hot putter from holes 2 through 10 at the Creek, saw the correspondence schooled teen provisionally join 1989 Open champion Mark Calcavecchia in the record books with the most successive birdies in an Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR)/professional event.

What a world record equalling card looks like. And signed by 2011 Open champion and Ruder Cup captain Darren Clarke to boot!

Calcavecchia’s run came on holes 12 to 2 (he started on the back nine) at the 2009 RCB Canadian Open on the PGA Tour. Bernd Wiesberger matched the feat at February’s Maybank Championship Open en-route to a 63 although it is not officially recognised as preferred lies were in force at the European Tour event due to wet conditions at Saujana G&CC in Kuala Lumpur.

The world birdie and local course records are further milestones in a young career clearly going places. Before this tournament last year, Thomas was the 1050th ranked amateur in the world. Now he’s up to 50th place on the back of a remarkable run of form which has included making his first professional tournament cut at February’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic and a run to the semifinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.

“I don’t know what to say” was Thomas initial reaction on learning he was a world record holder. “It certainly wasn’t going through my head, I was just trying to make as many birdies as I could.

“Last year I set the amateur course record [65] in the first round so it feels really good to have the actual course record now and share it with a friend of mine, feels good to have it at my home club.

“I’m very happy. I’ve played well here because I know the course well and to do it front of all the members and my parents was even more special.”

Have you ever had a birdie blitz even remotely close to that before? “Never nine, nine’s a lot,” Thomas conceded after his round in the company of Swede Fredrik From and 2011 Open champion and former European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke, the MENA Tour’s patron. “ I just started holing putts. Hit a lot of good iron shots and I was just holing putts all day. Today almost all the putts I looked at, I felt like they could go in. It was just good to keep it going.”

The round was a huge confidence boost for Thomas who is using the tournament as prep for the inaugural Presidents Cup in New Jersey later this month. The 61 certainly won’t have gone unnoticed by International team captain Trevor Immelman, the 2008 U.S. Masters champion.

“It was good to get this good round in, it just shows I have what it takes to go low and going forward for the rest of the season it’s going to be a good memory to fall back on,” he said.

https://twitter.com/JParsonsGolf/status/907535579352616960

Thomas admitted thoughts of shooting 59 “crept in” when he birdied the 10th but his putter cooled every so slightly.

“I just tried to make sure I remembered I have a tournament to play and you know, 59 is not the goal, trying to get myself into contention is, so I didn’t want to do anything silly [in the closing stretch of holes].

“After the first day I was nine back so I know I had to shoot something better than six or seven under to get myself into contention and I was able to achieve that.”

Well done @RayhanThomas , different league @MENAGolfTour #golf #golfer #juniorgolf… https://t.co/MeUSRnvhrd

— Jamie Mcconnell (@JMGolfCoach) September 12, 2017

As for the game plan on Wednesday when Thomas has the chance to emulate MENA Tour record holder Zane Scotland as a back-to-back winner of the Dubai Creek Open? Expect more of the same.

“If I can shoot one more of these I’ll probably be fine [laughs] tomorrow but, no, it will be the same mentality, stick to my game plan, if I can hole putts, I can hole putts, but if not, just be sure I make pars in the right places and attack in the right places.”

The field have been forewarned.

The post Rayhan Thomas equals world record as he flirts with mythical 59 at Dubai Creek Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It’s not uncommon for footballers and cricketers to have stands in stadiums named in their honour, a lasting legacy to illustrious careers past. Golf’s equivalent, of course, is the humble fairway plaque, a perpetual reminder of the spot from which a history-defining shot was flushed.

Perhaps the most famous is the one laid on the 18th fairway at Merion commemorating Ben Hogan’s famous 1-iron to win the 1950 U.S. Open, while more recently Jamie Donaldson was on hand to plant a permanent reminder of his 2014 Ryder Cup winning wedge shot from 146 yards out on the par-4 15th hole at Gleneagles. Closer to home, the 240 yard driver Colin Montgomerie famously hit off the deck from the far corner of the dogleg on the par-5 18th on the Majlis, setting up a two-putt birdie and a one-shot victory over Ernie Els at the 1996 Dubai Desert Classic, is the stuff of now concreted legend as this video reminds us:

Fast-forward just over two decades and Dubai Golf has another plaque, this time at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club.

It’s in honour of MENA Tour history-maker Rayhan Thomas who, at the tender age of 17, is only just beginning his career and can never have imagined his name would be plastered in such a place.

We emphasise “such a place” because it should also be noted that the plaque is set in stone, quite literally. In fact, it’s on the exact rock from which Thomas received the ultimate member’s bounce en-route to winning his home Dubai Creek Open last September to become the first amateur winner on the developmental circuit.

"Ray's Rock". A classy touch @DubaiCreekGolf ?. @RayhanThomas opens defence of his @theMENATour title @ 11.10am. https://t.co/SQT9J9sLQA pic.twitter.com/t1HfC9uvBZ

— Golf Digest ME (@GolfDigestME) September 11, 2017

The shot mightn’t have been flushed or the plauqe positioned in any part of the Creek’s 18th fairway but “Rayhan’s Rock” is a classy touch from the club to its favourite son nonetheless. As it says, “It doesn’t hurt to be lucky, once in a while”.

Just 16 at the time, Thomas’ historic title charge almost ended in disaster when he pushed his approach from a fairway bunker on the 54th and final hole of regulation, only for the ball to ricochet back into play from the rocky right hand side of the Creek’s water-guarded 18th green. The teen would go on to save par from the fluffy lie and the title was his when English professional Jake Shepherd made a watery double-bogey in the first hole of overtime.

The rest, as they say, is history. From a world ranking of 1050th at the time, the Dubai-born, Indian No.1 is now a giddy 50th in the amateur world rankings and set to contest the inaugural Junior Presidents Cup in New Jersey later this month as the No.1 qualifier for Trevor Immelman’s International team.

Related: Rayhan Thomas can’t lose at the Junior Presidents Cup

“Having a rock named after me is a great honour and a nice gesture by the club, one that I will cherish forever,” Thomas said after recovering from a rocky (apologies) bogey-par-bogey start to open his defence of the Dubai Creek Open with a solid one-under 71 on Monday.

That's very classy and encouraging. Well done @RayhanThomas and @DubaiCreekGolf https://t.co/Jaxl1GqHED

— Jeev Milkha Singh (@JeevMilkhaSingh) September 11, 2017

“Getting recognised and noticed for our work is something we all relish. This [support] from the Dubai Creek and the [Shaikh Maktoum Golf] foundation is certainly the best thing that could have happened to me now as I plunge into serious golf training for a fulfilling golf career.”

Officials hope ‘Rayhan’s Rock’ will serve as lasting inspiration for future junior members following in the soft-spike marks of Thomas who took to golf at the age of nine through the Junior Development Programme (JDP) at Dubai Creek.

“I am sure ‘Rayhan’s Rock’ will figure in discussions every time golfers approach the 18th green and, hopefully, will motivate youngsters to work hard on their game and realise their dreams of pursuing a career in golf,” said MENA Tour chairman Mohamed Juma Buamaim.

The post Rayhan’s Dubai Creek legacy literally set in stone appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

While the MENA Tour is primarily made up of fledgling young touring professionals and promising amateurs aspiring to a career in the paid ranks, the developmental circuit also offers a start to one teaching pro from the host club at each stop throughout the season.

As the reigning UAE PGA champion, Mills justifiably got the nod from his employers at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club and repaid them in kind with a two-under 69 on Monday to do the region’s teaching fraternity proud. His round included two birdies, as many bogeys and a rare eagle two on the 11th courtesy of a holed lob wedge.

Related: Meet UAE PGA champion Cen Mills

But after impressing a small gallery that included (for a few holes at least) the club’s Director of Golf Operations, Stephen Hubner, and lauded superintendent Matthew Perry, it was back to reality. Mills was needed to help run a clinic for members featuring the tour’s patron Darren Clarke and the tournament’s defending champion, home club hero Rayhan Thomas. There’s no rest for the wickedly good teaching pro, it seems.

Darren Clarke and Rayhan Thomas with lucky DCGYC juniors at Monday’s MENA Tour clinic.

For the record, Mills is only a shot shy of Clarke and a shot better than Thomas heading into Tuesday’s second round.

“I’m happy with a round under par after a break in any competitive play since [the UAE PGA Tour] April,” said the Welshman afterwards.

“Anything again in the red tomorrow would be a great result and it would be nice to play the last round and have a chance of a decent finish.”

Mills will start moving day eight shots behind pace-setter MG Keyser after the Dubai-based South African’s course record 61.

Related: Keyser On Fire With Creek Course Record As MENA Tour Storylines abound

As a home course-pro, there was perhaps no one better placed to put Keyser’s round into context even if Clarke previously jointly held the record and Thomas has likely looped the course more than anyone in the field.

“The 61 today was a great score. The course is in fantastic condition so if you’re on your game then you can shoot a number. The greens are rolling pure and at a nice pace.

“Still, the back nine of 28 is very impressive. That’s a very good eagle on 13 and a strong birdie on 18 to close out the round.”

[divider] [/divider]

Check out the latest tip from Mills who is a Golf Digest Middle East teaching editor here:

The post Mills does UAE PGA brethren proud with opening 69 at Dubai Creek Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

This time a year ago Thomas was the 1050^th ranked amateur in the world but an historic victory in his home Dubai Creek Open sparked a memorable run of form that sees the 17-year-old return to defend the MENA Tour title 1000 places better off in 50^th on the warg.com list.

Related content: Clarke would love his golf to do the talking at Dubai Creek Open but promises a good yarn either way

Thomas is understandably bullish about his defence given his intimate knowledge of Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club and his giddy run of form leading into the $50,000 event, including making his maiden professional tournament cut at February’s Dubai Desert Classic and a charge to the semifinals of the recent U.S. Junior Amateur.

Those results helped the correspondence-schooled Indian, who doesn’t turn 18 until November, seal the No.1 spot in Trevor Immelman’s International team for the inaugural Junior Presidents Cup later this month. It has also centred attention on the teen as he prepares to tee it up with Clarke in the first round of the 54-holer at 11.10am on Monday. Not that Thomas seemed overly phased as he joined the 2016 Ryder Cup captain for a preview press conference on Sunday.

“For sure I know this course like the back of my hand and I guess when you’ve done it once, it’s a little more comfortable situation,” Thomas said of his title defence. “Yeah, I think my chances are very good, I’m playing very well…we’ll see Wednesday.”

Related content: Rayhan Thomas can’t lose at Junior Presidents Cup

The measured confidence wasn’t lost on Clarke who, as patron of the MENA Tour, has watched Thomas’ progress closely. The DCGYC member coincidently finished leading amateur in the Clarke’s only other start on the development circuit at the 2015 RAK Classic.

“I think we all know where his game could be headed. Rayhan’s obviously a very special talent,” said Clarke who will also be partnered with Swede Fredrik From, the winner of tour’s weather-curtailed Pattana Golf Championship in May, in Monday’s opening round.

Rayhan Thomas, tournament director Robbie Williams, Darren Clarke and Dubai Golf’s Christopher May pose ahead of Monday’s Dubai Creek Open.

“To win here last year as he did, it’s not that easy for amateurs to win any professional tournament, I don’t care where you are in the world, that’s another marker in his career.”

But as Thomas’ ranking has plummeted, Clarke has seen expectations soar and has urged for patience as he serves his amateur apprenticeship.

“I know his coach, Justin Parsons, really, really well and I know he’s really excited with that Rayhan is achieving as well but you know, with what he has achieved and the way he is going, it’s very easy to heap pressure on him, you’re going to do this and you’re going to do that.

“Rayhan is still a young man and has a huge future so if things don’t quite go as well for him for a week or two, he just has to go practice and keep working on what he’s doing.

“You’ve got some of the best facilities in the world here and Rayhan has made the most of them. His progress is what you’d expect from a man of his talent. I’m sure he’ll enjoy the Junior Presidents Cup, looking for bigger and better things and it’s a stepping-stone to the bigger Presidents Cup.”

Thomas, Clarke and From are off at 11.10am. With reigning order of merit leader Jamie Elson playing at the first stage of European Tour school in Scotland and second-placed Luke Joy teeing it up in the KLM Dutch Open, it is a big week for Englishman Andrew Marshall.

Related content: Elson has his eyes on the prize

Off at 11.40am alongside countryman Lee Corfield and Joshua White, Marshall is third on the OOM (just ahead of From) and will be looking to make up ground in the absence of Elson and Joy.

[divider] [/divider]

2017 MENA Tour – Post summer schedule
Sept 11-13: The Dubai Creek Open
Venue: at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club. Purse: US$50,000

Sept 18-20: The Golf Citizen Classic
Venue: Els Club Dubai. Purse: US$30,000

Sept 25-27: The Golf Citizen Abu Dhabi Open
Venue: Yas Links GC. Purse: US$50,000

Oct 5-7: Jordan’s Ayla Golf Championship
Venue: Ayla Golf Resort (Aqaba). Purse: US$50,000

Oct 16-18: The Sahara Kuwait Golf Championship
Venue: Sahara Golf & County Club. Purse: US$50,000

Oct 23-26: The MENA Tour Championship
Venue: Al Zorah GC (Ajman). Purse: $100,000

Completed events
March 6-9: 2017 Qualifying School, El Jadida Golf Club, Morocco
Winner – Jack Doherty (SCO)

March 14-16: Palmeraie Country Club Casablanca Open
Winner – Leo Lilja (SPN)

March 19-21: Royal Golf Mohammedia Open
Winner – Pierre Junior Verlaar (NED/Amateur)

April 24-26: Ras Al Khaimah Classic
Winner – Peter Stojanovski (AUS)

Thailand Swing
May 2-4: Mahasamutr Masters
Winner – Jazz Janewattananond (THAI)

May 8-10: Mountain Creek Open by Golf Citizen
Winner – Lionel Weber (FRA)

May 16-19: Pattana Golf Championship*
Winner – Fredrik From (SWE)

South African Swing
June 7-9: South to East Challenge
Winner – Breyten Meyer (RSA)

June 13-15: Jo’burg City Masters
Winner – Jaco Prinsloo (RSA)

June 20-22: The Roar
Winner – Daniel Hammond (RSA)

*72-hole event reduced to 36 holes due to inclement weather

The post Thomas is a “very special talent” but ease up on the pressure, says Darren Clarke appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 49-year-old European Tour star was joined at Sunday’s preview presser by defending champion Rayhan Thomas and will again have the Dubai-based amateur (as well as Swede Fredrik From) for company in the marque first round group of the $50,000, 54-holer on Monday.

Clarke admits he has “no idea” what his golf will be like when he heads off at 11.10am after putting his game on ice for the best part of two years to devote himself to the 2016 European Ryder Cup captaincy. But, as the tour’s official patron, he intends leaving a lasting legacy regardless of how he fares in his second start on the developmental circuit.

“Hopefully I’m here to play it [the tournament] pretty well but after the tournament is over, I have a Q&A with all the guys… hopefully a few will turn up and ask me some questions and if I can help them, I’m only too pleased to do so,” said the Northern Irishman.

“I’ve been on tour a very long time so I’ve probably made all the mistakes these young kids are about to make, so if I can help steer them away from those, maybe give them a couple of suggestions that will help their golf and make them better players, then I’m very, very pleased to do that.”

Clarke has a year to rekindle some of his old magic before teeing it up on the Champions Tour in the U.S. but admits a busy corporate schedule hasn’t helped lift his post Ryder Cup blues any.

Since Europe’s 17-11 loss at Hazeltine National GC last October, Clarke has missed the cut in all 12 European Tour events he’s started including Abu Dhabi, Dubai and The Open at Royal Birkdale. His stroke average is 75.57 – his best score in 23 rounds is 70 at the BMW SA Open in January – and he’s suffered the frustration of rounds of 84 and 80 at the Open de France and Scottish Open respectively, the latter leading to a premature Thursday withdrawal.

Still, he is the joint course record holder with Lee Westwood and Australia’s Benjamin Eccles at DCGYC – even if he doesn’t remember much about the round of 63 – and was joint second in his previous MENA Tour start, the 2015 Ras Al Khaimah Classic where he fired rounds of 71-66-71 to finish -8 and four shots adrift of runaway South African winner Thriston Lawrence at Tower Links.

“My own golf was on hold for the most part during those two years [but] I turned 49 a couple of weeks ago so I have a year before the Champions Tour over in America and I want to play.

“To come out here and compete against all these young kids again, there’s not many playing with as much grey hair as I’ve got this week, so to compete against these kids is great and to see the talent coming through,” Clarke said.

A 12-time winner around the world, Clarke admits the loss in Hazeltine still smarts.

“Certainly the Ryder Cup last year was very, very disappointing, to be a losing captain, that’s not why I went into it, not what I wanted to do. I mean I was annoyed about it for quite some time after losing, probably still am, but at the end of the day, did I do my best, all I possibly could to help the guys to win? I think I did but unfortunately the American guys played a little bit better, and that’s professional sport.”

The post Clarke would love his golf to do the talking at Dubai Creek Open but promises a good yarn either way appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Cennydd Mills may carry the business card of a teaching professional nowadays rather than the touring pro equivalent he once coveted but he’s more than happy with his lot at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club.

And why not? Home will always be the Glamorgan township of Llantrisant (pop. 15,000), a good 20 minute drive west of the Welsh capital Cardiff, but what’s not to love about a job in year-round desert sunshine, the warmth of club members just as happy to escape chillier climes and an office manicured to tour standard?

“The Creek for me, it’s the best members club in the UAE and the best place to work at because everybody gets on. As far as facilities and climate, it’s just perfect,” said Mills, 35 this month, says.  “It’s just a nice environment to work in.”

As happy as his two years in Dubai have been, don’t confuse professional contentment with any dimming of the competitive fire that earned the former Welsh international the scalps of Shane Lowry, Ross Fisher and Gary Wolsterholme during Home Internationals duty in the early to mid 2000s.

Put a scorecard in his back pocket and you can almost guarantee the former European Challenge and EuroPro Tour player will split more fairways than not and rarely ruin a score with poor decision-making.

Five victories en-route to the 2016-17 UAE PGA order-of-merit (OOM) title are proof of just that with winning scores of 71-68-71-68 and 70 at Al Hamra, Al Badia, The Faldo, Sharjah and Tower Links illuminating his ability.

Still, he was made to sweat on the OOM win. Back in the U.K. for his brother Owain’s stag-do and wedding, Mills could have been piped to the title by Steven Munro had the UAE PGA chief finished fourth or better in decisive UAE PGA Championship. But after a solid start at Al Zorah in the season-finale, Munro faded to a share of 6th and Mills had redemption for narrowly missing out on the crown to Callum Nicoll (ADGC) the previous season.

“Teaching is my main goal now but I still enjoy competing. I don’t think I’ll ever stop playing tournaments because I enjoy it and I think it’s good from a coaching perspective to stay in touch with the game, to stay competitive.

“Even if I’m going for a [causal] knock I’m keeping count of what I am to par. I think that’s just always the competitive nature that I’ve had.

“There’s a good few guys [teaching pros] that can play out here so it was really satisfying to win it because it’s always nice to be OOM champion of your PGA. It’s something I’m proud of. “

Mills will defend the title over winter but not before teeing it up in this week’s Dubai Creek Open. As the world’s 50th ranked amateur, the club’s favourite son and the event’s defending champion, Rayhan Thomas will have his name up in lights at the September 11-13 MENA Tour event. But Mills is sure of strong support from Creek members, many his day-to-day clients.

Related content: Thomas a “very special talent” but ease up on the pressure, says Darren Clarke

“The last time I played MENA Tour was 2014 and the last event I played I finished second [to Moroccan Ahmed Marjan at the RAK Classic] so if I can try and get a bit of practice in and sharpen up the game a bit…,” said Mills before reining in the expectations by saying he would just look to enjoy the experience.

After the competitive scratch is itched, Mills (in the fourth group out at 7.30am on Monday) will be back on the range honing the amateur swings like he once did for former Ryder Cupper Phillip Price and Rhys Davies who earned his European Tour card back under the Welshman’s tutelage. So how about a top tip for free?

“Most amateurs, you give them drills to work on and then what you see them doing it going straight to the range and going into what I like to call machine gun mode and just rattling off shot after shot. It goes back to the old saying, practice makes permanent in golf, not perfect. I’d rather see them hit 20 balls with real purpose, practicing moves, rather than rattling off 80 balls without thinking about it reconfirming old habits.”

Related content: Clarke hopes his golf will do the talking but ready to share a good yarn either way

The post UAE PGA champion looking forward to teeing it up in home MENA Tour stop appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.