Exactly three years to the day after turning professional, Konig came from nowhere to capture the MENA Tour by Arena’s season-ending Journey to Jordan Tour Championship on Thursday.

Konig had birdied five of the last six holes in a second-round 65 and very nearly repeated the dose in his closing 69, four birdies in his last five holes taking him from out of contention to -11, 205 and eventually sealing a one-shot victory over the English trio of Joshua Grenville-Wood, Todd Clements, Jamie Rutherford and 2017 Tour Championship winner Henric Sturehed (Sweden).

Konig’s first win as a professional has seen him earn a start at the $750,000 Indonesian Masters on the Asian Tour next month for winning the season decider. He also gets a spot in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic for finishing second in the ‘Final Five’ Order of Merit. Overall Journey to Jordan winner Keyser won the mini money list for the last five tournaments of the season but the overall season title had already landed him a Desert Classic start, meaning an unbelievable bonus on an unbelievable anniversary for Konig.

“It’s quite a coincidence that I played my first tournament as a professional on 28th November 2016, in Spain on the Gecko Tour,” Konig said.

“it’s been three very difficult years. Professional golf is hard. I had spoken to my parents and was planning to give up playing competitive golf next year. And then this happens. I think I will continue playing.”

After struggling in the pro ranks for three years, @HarryKonig1 was on the verge of giving up competition golf.

And then, he won the Journey To Jordan Tour Championship!!@arenagroup_plc @AylaOasis @TGP_Dubai pic.twitter.com/kUAVjPZ2ak

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) November 28, 2019

Thursday’s dramatic final round It was particularly galling for Grenville-Wood who looked all set to secure his first professional win as he reached the par-5 17th hole at 12-under only to finish bogey-bogey, including a missed par putt from less than three feet on the last to force a play-off.

Konig, meanwhile, saved the best of his storming finish to last, flushing a brilliant four-iron shot from 193 yards to less than a foot for the all-important birdie on the into the wind 18th.

Champion Harry Konig receives his trophy from Mr Sahl Dudin (left), Managing Director, Ayla Oasia and Chris White, General Manager, Ayla Oasis.

“I just can’t believe it. It’s an experience that I have never felt before, so I am lost for words. I was never in touch of winning and then I had that finish,” said Konig, who dedicated the win to his late friend Charlie Watson, who passed away two years ago.

“I was playing so bad. And like yesterday, I just told myself to start playing aggressive again and start going for the flags.”

On the day of his greatest triumph, @HarryKonig1 did not forget his best friend. The Devon golfer dedicated his Journey To Jordan Tour Championship win to Charlie Watson, who passed away two years ago.@arenagroup_plc @AylaOasis @TGP_Dubai pic.twitter.com/Xnu9LjtDHH

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) November 28, 2019

Cant believe it. Thanks for all the messages! Excited to tee it up in my first European Tour event in Dubai in January ? https://t.co/HIr0dDa2l7

— Harry Konig (@HarryKonig1) November 28, 2019

The post Close to quitting, Konig now has chance to reinvigorate career with dream Asian and European Tour starts appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 15-year-old Dubai-based England Boys’ representative will take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the season on Thursday at deceptively picturesque Ayla Golf Club in Aqaba.

With a three-under second round 69, Hill emerged from a three-way tie atop the leaderboard following his opening 66 to lead alone by a stroke through 36-holes from a trio of English professionals, Harry Konig (65), Jamie Rutherford (67) and Joshua Grenville-Wood (70), and Swede Gabriel Axell (70).

For context, all four professionals are looking for their first win on the MENA Tour.

Hill now has a shot at becoming the first amateur with two MENA Tour by Arena wins after famously capturing the Al Ain Open to become the youngest player, at 15 years, six months and 27 days old, to win an Official World Golf Ranking-sanctioned event last month.

Hill believes his win in Al Ain Open, even though he started the final day three shots behind the leader, will help him as he dons the role of a front-runner.

“It will be a different challenge and I think what would definitely help is if I get off to a good start like I did in Al Ain,” said Hill. “But that win proved to me that I have what it takes to win a tournament at this level and that would be a good, positive thought in my mind.”

Hill holds a six-stroke lead over Claude Harmon 3 Performance Golf Academy pal Arjun Gupta on the amateur leaderboard after Gupta ascended five places up to T-16 with a solid second round 70. Perhaps more importantly, Hill leads countryman and current amateur Journey to Jordan order of merit leader Curtis Knipes by a mammoth 18-strokes after Knipes slipped to 58th position after an 80 on Wednesday. Knipes’ round included a catastrophic 12 on the par-5 9th and was followed by a double bogey on the next hole. Given their respective positions at opposite ends of the leaderboard, Hill is now projected to win the overall amateur title and earn a start in January’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

South Africa’s MG Keyser, the professional Journey to Jordan leader, was at four-under 140 after a 71. However, with his nearest challengers, Australia’s Daniel Gaunt (73) and England’s James Allan (72), not making any significant inroads, Keyser looks on course to win the season title and starts in the  Desert Classic and Made in Denmark.

Hill got off to a hot start and was four-under through seven and managed to make enough birdies to offset a bumpy back nine.

“I was doing everything so well for the first seven holes and then made a stupid bogey on the ninth,’ said Hill, who made seven birdies and ended with a bogey on 18th.

“Struggled a bit after that but delighted to finish at three-under on a tough day. I made a three-putt bogey on the 12th hole, but apart from that, I putted really well today and that really saved the day.”

Konig said he was ‘plodding’ along and making some good up-and-downs until he decided to get aggressive on the back nine. The move paid rich dividends as he finished with five birdies in his last six holes for the low round of the day.

“I missed making a birdie on the par-5 17th hole, where I missed a putt from five feet. That was slightly disappointing, but I did make a birdie on the 18th which was playing very tough in this wind. I think it is the first time I have made a birdie on that hole,” said Konig.

The 27-year-old Rutherford came to Jordan having missed getting into the final stage of the European Tour Qualifying School by just one shot.

“I did not putt well at all that day in Spain and it was very disappointing. I went back home and mostly did putting for two weeks before coming here. In a sense, it is good that I had this tournament to play and an opportunity to bounce right back,” said Rutherford.

Axell, who lost in a play-off at the Ras Al Khaimah Open by Arena, will try and make amends in Thursday’s final round.

“It’s never good to finish with a bogey, but it wasn’t easy out there. However, I am playing some good golf and there is no reason why I should not finish one better than what I did at Ras Al Khaimah,” said Axell, who made three birdies in a row before making the turn.

Grenville-Wood, who finished second in Bahrain earlier this year, said: “It was a grind out there, especially on the back nine. I am pretty pleased with the way I kept it going and kept hitting steady shots. I made a pretty good par on the 18th. So, one shot back, I will take it.”

The post Amateur Josh Hill on cusp of more MENA Tour history, Dubai Desert Classic start appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

While professional Joshua Grenville-Wood was booming 405-yard drives and “flicking” 170-yard wedge shots and Miguel Angel Jimenez’s son made a hole-in-one, it was the Dubai amateur who stole the headlines again in Aqaba

By Kent Gray
MENA Tour pin-up boy Josh Hill is at it again.

The 15-year-old took advantage of unusually benign conditions early on Tuesday then showed his class as a strange wind whipped across Ayla Golf Club to grab a share of the first-round lead at the $100,000 Journey To Jordan Tour Championship.

Professionals Joshua Grenville-Wood (England) and Gabriel Axell (Sweden) later matched Hills opening 66 but it was the Trump International Golf Club Dubai amateur’s six-under circuit that inevitably grabbed the early headlines.

Hill, who became the youngest winner of an OWGR-sanctioned event and the MENA Tour by Arena’s fourth amateur champion when he captured the Al Ain Open by Arena last month, was in the second group out and enjoyed the abnormality calm conditions for his opening four holes.

RELATED: Meet the MENA Tour’s new Boy Wonder

He was still only one under through four after birdieing the par-5 1st and gave it back with a three-putt bogey on the par-3 6th. But the England Boys’ representative then kicked into gear with five birdies in his next eight holes before another gain on 17 to set the early clubhouse target.

The breeze picked up by the time Hill reached the 5th tee but it helped the unfamiliar wind direction made three of Ayla G.C.s four par-5s play downwind.

“I was lucky with the wind for the first four holes and then it picked up. It was strong and from a different direction. But I played pretty solid and kept hitting some very good iron shots,” said Hill who has been nominated for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.

“Most of my birdies were from inside 10 feet. Just that three-putt on 6th was the only bad part of a good day.”

RELATED: Prodigy Power – The Driver swing that helped Josh Hill wow the golfing world

Hill outscored playing partners Curtis Knipes (73) and Jack Floydd (75) by seven and nine shots respectively, a huge boost in his bid to overtake Knipes atop the amateur Journey to Jordan standings and grab the rich reward of a start in January’s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic.

Arjun Gupta, who trains alongside Hill on the Claude Harmon 3 Performance Golf Academy range at The Els Club Dubai, held second place in the amateur leaderboard after a one-under 71 for a share of 21st place.

Grenville-Wood ht one drive 405 yards!
Photo: Joy Chakravarty/MENA Tour

Grenville-Wood, meanwhile, took full advantage of the par-5s playing downwind, hitting massive tee shots and flicking wedges in for two eagles – on the 9th and 13th – on a bogey-free day. And Axell, who lost in a play-off at the recent Ras Al Khaimah Open by Arena, continued his good form in a round that featured a hole-out with his second shot from 90 yards for an eagle on the par-4 15th hole, mixed with five birdies and a solitary bogey.

Sweden’s Henric Sturehed, the 2017 Tour Championship winner, and the Yas Links Abu Dhabi-attached Englishman Luke Joy, a two-time MENA Tour winner, were tied for the fourth place at 67.

Grenville-Wood, who is hoping to better his second-place finish in Bahrain earlier this year, said: “It felt like a completely new golf course in that wind but what it also did was make the par-5s a lot easier. I hit a wedge second shot from 170 yards on the ninth, and then my drive went 405 yards on the 13th.”

Gabriel Axell. (Photo: Joy Chakravarty/MENA Tour)

Axell is clearly making the most of his decision to travel to Aqaba a week in advance to escape the freezing temperatures back home in Sweden and get some practice with some sun on his back. 

“I am really surprised that I have managed to play well despite the break after the Ras Al Khaimah Open. I went back to Sweden and it was like -4 and -5 degrees. So, I came here early with a couple of my Swedish mates and practiced for a week. That seems to have definitely helped,” said Axell.

South Africa’s MG Keyser, the Journey to Jordan professional leader, started with a three-under 69 to be in tied seventh place. His closest rival, Australia’s Daniel Gaunt, opened with an even-par 72.

Miguel Angel Jimenez Junior, son of the legendary Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, made a hole-in-one – his first in competitive play – when he aced the par-3 2nd from 194 yards with a 6-iron. The Senior Jimenez has a penchant of making aces and holds the European Tour record with 11.

The post Josh Hill, still just 15, nabs share of early Journey To Jordan Tour Championship lead appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Understandably lost in the global hullabaloo created by Josh Hill’s sensational Al Ain Open victory is the fact that Curtis Knipes has gone virtually the entire MENA Tour season atop the amateur order of merit standings.

The 18-year-old Englishman, who notably qualified for this year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush during the MENA Tour’s mid-season break, will look to seal the deal at Ayla Golf Club in Aqaba this week.

RELATED: Meet Josh Hill, the MENA Tour’s new boy wonder

While just three players are still in the running for the professional Journey to Jordan title, even Hill’s pal Arjun Gupta, down in fifth place, has an outside shot to win the amateur title at the $100,000 Journey To Jordan Tour Championship.

But it looks set to be a ding-dong battle between Knipes and Hill who eclipsed  Ryo Ishikawa as the youngest winner of an Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) event – at 15 years, six months and 27 days old – in Al Ain.

The win earned the MENA Tour precious global recognition and Hill a place among the 10 finalists for the 2019  BBC Young Sports Personality of Year award. All the while, Knipes has got on with preparing himself for the final 54-holes of the season in Jordan. There’s a lot riding on it too; the leading Journey to Jordan amateur earns a priceless European Tour start in January’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

“It would be nice to win the Journey To Jordan and play the Omega Dubai Desert Classic,” said Knipes who leads the way with 21,662 points, 1957 clear of Hill.

“I felt that the Open Championship at Royal Portrush [where he missed the cut after qualifying], was a bit of a wasted opportunity, so it would be nice to test myself again. You never know what can happen if I play well there.

“Having said that, I am just trying to compete against the pros as I have done in every other tournament this year. Try and focus on the winning score and see how well I can play.”

Knipes, Hill and fellow English contender Jack Floydd are in the second group off the 1st tee at Ayla on Tuesday at 7.40am Aqaba time (9.40am UAE time).

This is how it stands in the Journey to Jordan as we head into the season-ending Tour Championship.

And to find out how some of the leading players can win the MENA Tour by @TGP_Dubai No1 crown, here are the various permutations and combinations…https://t.co/Np7Rdt1Wqv pic.twitter.com/YrHMowz9k0

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) November 25, 2019

WHAT THEY NEED TO DO…
Here are the various permutations for the amateurs at Ayla Golf Club:

CURTIS KNIPES: Will become the Journey To Jordan amateur champion if Hill is not inside the top-seven and Floydd inside the top-four.

JOSH HILL: Will have to finish inside the top-7 and then wait for Knipe’s result. If he is seventh, Knipes will have to be outside a tie for 39th place and Floydd outside the top-four.

JACK FLOYDD: Will have to finish inside the top-four to have any chance.

ARJUN GUPTA: Only a win will make it count for Gupta. If he wins, Knipes will have to finish outside the 37th place and Hill outside solo seventh.

The post Knipes looks to get over Hill as amateur Journey to Jordan race goes to wire appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
The prize money isn’t in the same stratosphere but the MENA Tour’s answer to the DP World Tour Championship has the potential to be life-changing like it proved for $5 million man Jon Rahm at the Race to Dubai decider.

If you dismiss that as hyperbole, consider the journey of Scot Robert MacIntyre who hailed the MENA Tour by Arena after becoming European Tour Rookie-of-the-Year at Jumeriah Golf Estates on Sunday.

The “I can only control what I can control” narrative on the eve of the $100,000 Journey to Jordan Tour Championship certainly sounds very similar to that at Jumeirah Golf Estates this time last week.

RELATED: Knipes looks to get over Hill as amateur Journey to Jordan race goes to wire

While five players went into the European Tour climax with a chance to be crowned European No.1, just three pros – South African pole-sitter MG Keyser, second-placed Aussie Daniel Gaunt and fourth-placed Englishman James Allan –  can finish the season as Journey to Jordan champion.

England’s Matthew Baldwin and Frenchman Robin Roussell, third and sixth in the J2J standings, have opted not to play at Ayla Golf Club this week as they continue to chase European Tour cards on the Challenge Tour.

Keyser won the Troon Series – Dubai Open presented by Turkish Airlines earlier in the season. (Photo Joy Chakravarty).

That leaves Keyser, Gaunt and Allan to battle it out for the $18,000 winner’s cheque., comparative loose change compared to the $3 million Rahm pocketed for winning his second DPWTC title in three years (there was also a $2 million bonus for claiming the Race to Dubai title). But the MENA Tour by Arena trio are chasing something money can’t buy – opportunities at the next level.

The eventual Journey to Jordan champion will earn starts in the European Tour’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic and Made in Denmark, plus the Diamond Cup, an event co-sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour and Asian Tour.

There are also Desert Classic starts at Emirates Golf Club (Jan. 23-26) for the runner-up, the leading player in the ‘Final Five’ Order of Merit and the top amateur. The overall Journey to Jordan runnerup will also be off to the Asian Tour’s Bank BRI Indonesian Open and the season-ending Indonesian Masters (Dec 12-15), while the bronze medallist can look forward to two Challenge Tour invites.

Keyser, who can make all the Journey to Jordan points permutations irrelevant by finishing solo second, sounded a lot like all the big-name contenders at JGE last week during Monday’s media call.

“It’s the same as any other week. I really can’t predict what others are going to do…I can only control myself,” said Keyser who won Dubai Open at Dubai Hills earlier in the season and leads the way with earnings of $44,361 – $7887 clear of Al Zorah Open champion Gaunt.

“I have had a couple of good weeks on the Asian Tour before coming here and I played well in the practice round. So, just go out there, have fun, and hopefully, at the end of the day, I am still at the top.”

The 54-hole Tour Championship begins Tuesday with Keyser, Gaunt and Allan forming the final group out at 11am Aqaba time (1pm UAE time).

On the eve of the Tour Championship, we asked our Professional Journey To Jordan leader @KeyserMG what would it mean for him to become the MENA Tour No1…@TGP_Dubai @JGEGolf @AylaOasis pic.twitter.com/nfxVKSZ5Cu

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) November 25, 2019

WHAT THEY NEED TO DO…
Here are the various permutations for the pros at Ayla Golf Club:

MG KEYSER: A win will seal it, but if Gaunt picks up the trophy on Sunday, the Jumeirah Golf Estates ambassador will have to finish solo second. If Gaunt finishes solo second, Keyser will have to be inside tied fourth with one other player.

DANIEL GAUNT: Even if he wins, Gaunt will have to depend on Keyser finishing outside the top-two.

JAMES ALLAN: Will have to win the tournament, and then hope that Keyser is outside 38th position and Gaunt doesn’t win or is tied second with one other player.

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