The 30-year-old South African earned a place in the MENA Tour record books Wednesday when he captured the $30,000 Golf Citizen Classic in a sudden death playoff with Spaniard Victor Bertran, becoming just the second player to win back-to-back titles on the developmental circuit.

But a week after double-bogeying the penultimate hole at the Dubai Creek Open to make his victory over amateurs Rayhan Thomas and Todd Clements a little more nerve jangling than it needed to be, Keyser again needed to dig deep at The Els Club where he trains regularly.

The Dubai-based Pretorian’s two stroke overnight lead vanished when he double-bogeying the par 5 5th while Bertran, playing in the seventh to last group, went about setting the clubhouse target at -9 with a closing 66.

Keyser needed two birdies in his last three holes, including a gain on the 54th and last hole of regulation to force the playoff with a final round 73. He then repeated the two-putt birdie on The Els’18th in the first hole of overtime as Bertran tugged his second shot left en-route to a bogey.

“It was a pretty long day out there [in the heat], but luckily I managed to get the job done,” said Keyser.

“I didn’t play very good golf all day, but I know the course pretty well and that knowledge came in handy. I knew the 16th and 18th are birdiable holes and I did birdie them to stay in the hunt.”

Keyser collects his $5400 winner’s cheque from Troon International president Mark Chapleski (right), Els Club GM Karl Whitehead and tournament co-ordinator Thomas Nicholson.

Keyser emulated Zane Scotland who has two doubles among his 10 tour titles – the Shaikh Maktoum Dubai Open and RAK Classic in 2013 and the 2014 Ghala Valley Open and Golf Citizen Masters Al Ain. But he won’t have a shot at a hat-trick of titles at next week’s Golf Citizen Abu Dhabi Open at Yas Links as he has he returns to the Asian Development Tour.

“I would have loved to give it a go for a hat-trick of wins on the MENA Tour, but unfortunately I have to travel to Malaysia. But I really enjoyed playing on the MENA Tour.”

Keyser’s absence will be well and truly made up for by the return of 2011 Open champion and former Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke who will play his second MENA Tour event in three weeks.

Scotland’s bid for his first victory since 2016, meanwhile, fell short after he closed with a 74 that left the Englishman T-4 at -6, one behind countryman Adam Sagar.

Englishman Clements carded a flawless 69 to win the amateur division after week after sharing the spoils with Thomas. Clements leads the amateur order of merit with 181 points from countryman Sam Hobday (154 pts) and Dubai’s Michael Harradine (140 pts).

Keyser jumped to the top of the Pro OOM standings with 18,774 points. Swede Fredrik From (18,397) and Englishman Jamie Elson (17,453) round out the top three after finishing T-9 and T-21 at The Els.

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“I’m trying to compete more in the US and in Europe and in big amateur events around the world, which is essential for me to put myself in pressure situations and see how I react, get feedback from it, learn from it and move on and improve,” the 17-year-old told The National’s John McAuley at the time. 

It’s fair to surmise the MENA Tour member is ready to move on from the 115^th Western Amateur after missing the initial 36-hole cut at the prestigious event in Glencoe, Ilinois on Wednesday. There will be plenty of lessons to reflect upon too as he eyes a busy second half of 2017.

Starting his second round from the 10^th tee at Skokie Country Club in a share of 49th and just outside the top-44 and ties cut-line (following an opening even par 71), Thomas got to three under for the tournament with an eagle three on 13 and a birdie on 16.

RELATED CONTENT: Thomas walking a tightrope at Western Amateur

But from the relative comfort of his brief T17 position, Thomas bogeyed 18 and then mixed two birdies with four bogeys and two doubles in a homeward six-over score of 41. The Dubai-based teen eventually signed for a 75 to finish +4 for the championship, five shots shy of the cut and 16 shots adrift of Australian pace-setter Ruben Sondjaja (66-64 for a -12 aggregate of 130).

They say you learn more from losses and that will inevitably be the case for the level headed Thomas who moved up to 66th in the amateur world rankings following his Kansas bronze medal.

Awesome week at the #usjunioram this week at Flint Hills National, Kansas. Thanks to the club and the @usga for their warm hospitality and amazing golf course. Also huge thanks to everyone for all the support this week. #progress #dubaicreek #titleist #silverback

A post shared by Rayhan Thomas (@ray_jthomas) on Jul 22, 2017 at 9:37am PDT

Thomas certainly has plenty to look forward with the highlight being the Junior Presidents Cup, to be played on the eve of the senior event at Liberty National in Jesery City, New Jesery from September 26-October 1.

The Indian teen is a lock for Trevor Immelman’s International team for the Jnr event at nearby Plainfield Country Club on September 25-26. The 2008 Masters champion has enlisted nine-time major champion Gary Player as an honourary captain while U.S. captain David Toms, the 2001 US PGA Champion, will have Jack Nicklaus in a similar role, promising the likes of Thomas extraordinary insight into big time performance.

Beforehand, Thomas will be out to defend his home Dubai Creek Open MENA Tour title (September 11-13) and has indicated he will also have a tilt at the developmental tour’s Golf Citizen Classic at the Els Club, Dubai the following week.

There is also a chance Thomas could contest the 91st (British) Boys’ Amateur Championship with the under-18 event to be hosted at Nairn and Nairn Dunbar on the shores of the Moray Firth from August 15-20.

The post Thomas set to ‘learn from it and move on’ after missing Western Amateur cut by five strokes appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.