By Kent Gray
Fredrik From would dearly love to be the player to snap the MENA Tour’s streak of first-time winners when he tees it up in the Golf Citizen Classic at The Els Club, Dubai on Monday.

The 27-year-old Swede took full advantage of the absence of Jamie Elson and Luke Joy from last week’s Dubai Creek Open, leapfrogging the Englishmen all the way to the summit of the developmental circuit’s order-of-merit standings courtesy of a T-4 finish.

South African MG Keyser captured his maiden MENA Tour title following a tense battle with Junior Presidents Cup-bound teen Rayhan Thomas to become the 10th new winner in as many events this season.

From, who won the weather-shortened Pattana Golf Championship in May thanks to a closing 63, will be aware there is no better time to change that at The Els, especially with Joy against absent as he contests the multi-tournament first stage of European Tour Q-School in Austria.

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Elson, however, is back and certainly wouldn’t mind keeping the first-timers streak rolling.  The 36-year-old Englishmen brings form with him to Dubai having advanced to the second stage of European Q-school courtesy of rounds of 70-72-68-72 at Roxburghe Hotel and Golf Course in Kelso, Scotland last week to finish T-11 at -6 (the top 22 advanced).

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From can also anticipate a tough fight from Keyser who established the Creek course record of 61 last Monday (a -10 score emulated by Thomas the very next day). The South African is clearly comfortable going low, having recently looped The Els in 62 strokes in a friendly game.

MG Keyser arrives at The Els fresh from victory at last week’s Dubai Creek Open.

“I love this Els course and know what it takes to string together a low round. Hopefully, local knowledge will come in handy,” said Keyser, who considers the Els his “home club” and is playing the MENA Tour on a special Tour invitation.

“The confidence is there as I have been playing some good, solid golf for the last six months or so. I am really enjoying playing on the MENA Tour [but] there are a plenty of quality players who all can win on their day.”

Zane Scotland, handed the tour’s first and thus far only lifetime exemption during last season’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic, will play after withdrawing from the Creek last week with a reoccurrence of a back injury. The Englishman, who holds a record 10 MENA Tour titles, last won at the 2016 Royal Golf Mohammed Open in Morocco.

Also confirmed are 2016 OOM champion Craig Hinton and fellow Englishmen Andrew Marshall, Jake Shepherd and Lee Corfield, who all have all won a minimum of two MENA Tour titles previously.

England’s Todd Clements, T-2 with Thomas last week, will be the amateur to watch this week with Thomas headed for New Jersey for the Sept 25-26 Junior Presidents Cup. Saudi Arabia’s Othman Almulla, who emerged as the best amateur from the MENA region last week, and the UAE’s Ahmed Al Musharrekh will be the Arab players under the microscope in a event that attracted 130 entries (including 30 amateurs) from 26 countries.

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