The new MENA Tour champion intends continuing to criss-cross the globe in pursuit of a solid foothold on one of golf’s major tours

By Kent Gray
Even Mathiam Keyser’s extremely well-travelled peers look at the South African’s hectic multi-tour, multi-continent schedule with awe. While others focus on one or possibly two circuits a season in a bid to make a living and slowly ascend golf’s international pecking order, the Dubai-domiciled 32-year-old hedged his bets last year by toiling away on the MENA, Asian and Challenge Tours. He even got a start on the European Tour, the ultimate destination, and intends adding the potentially lucrative Japan Tour to his travels in 2020.

It’s a good thing that Keyser, who answers to MG – as in Mathiam Gerhard – doesn’t mind business travel, the decidedly unglamorous side of professional golf.

Any idea how many air miles you accumulated last year, MG?

“I don’t think there is a number for that but I do know Emirates should probably give me a platinum card,” he says with a laugh.

What are we talking, 15, 20 flights? “I have no idea but it must be outrageous.” With a little more probing, Keyser settles for “well over 30” – 15 return flights from DXB to various Asian hubs, another five long haul journeys to Europe and too many shorter regional flights around both continents to remember.

Photo by Masam Ali

“It’s definitely not easy as it’s an expensive lifestyle getting from point A to B but still, I’d rather do that than sit in an office 9-5,” Keyser continues. “‘Wow’ is the reaction of most people [when he rattles off his schedule] but I enjoy playing 30 weeks a year. I’m very lucky I can do this for a living so I’m enjoying it.

“This game gives you so much, the chance to meet people and make friends all over the world so definitely worth the investment. And you’re always only one week away from making it and changing your life.”

Keyser is confident that one life-changing week is on the horizon. He’s just not entirely sure what part of that world that horizon is in.

After winning the MENA Tour’s Journey to Jordan last season, Keyser at least knows he’ll start 2020 at Emirates Golf Club in his maiden Omega Dubai Desert Classic. He’s also guaranteed a start in the Made in Denmark in May and the Diamond Cup, a co-sanctioned event on the Asian and Japan Tours. The Heidelberg native has also committed to Japan Q-School and all 11 MENA Tour events in 2020 but all roads ultimately lead to the European Tour, or at least Keyser hopes so.

After signing with Czech-based golf management company Relmost, Keyser was handed seven Challenge Tour starts and a maiden European Tour appearance at the D+D Real Czech Masters in Prague last August. Making the cut at Albatross Golf Resort before settling for a €3,700 share of 51st place with rounds of 71-70-71-71 (for a -5, 283 total, 14 shots adrift of eventual champion Thomas Pieters) has given Keyser hope for the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and beyond.

“It was tricky getting used to playing in Europe having plied away in Asia for so long but I had a good time learning and adapting to the different conditions and grass in Europe last year,” said Keyser.

“I felt like I belonged when I played Czech Masters so I’m definitely looking forward to it [his second European Tour start at Emirates Golf Club from Jan. 23-26]. Dubai is home for me and I have loads of friends and family here to support me. I enjoy playing here and definitely feel like I can have a good week around Emirates. It’s a dream for me to play with the best players in the world at home.”

Keyser is attached to Jumeriah Golf Estates and dreams of teeing it up in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai decider there one day soon. It’s not such a far-fetched scenario when you consider the journey of new European Tour Rookie-of-the-Year Robert MacIntyre who won just his second professional start at the MENA Tour’s Sahara Kuwait Championship in 2017. Frenchman Robin Roussel, who tuned up for last season’s Challenge Tour by winning the Bahrain Open in last March, has the opportunity to follow in MacIntyre’s soft spike marks after graduating to the European Tour by finishing seventh overall in last season’s Road to Mallorca.

It’s inspiration stuff for Keyser and co.

“I’ll probably end up getting around five European Tour starts this year thanks to Relmost so win one of them and its job done. I also have an opportunity on the Challenge Tour to play well enough to keep my card there and get a full season to try and finish top 20 [in 2020] which would earn a European Tour card as well. So yeah, it’s going to be a busy 2020 but I’m very excited. The grind is definitely worth it.”

Photo by Masam Ali

While previous MENA Tour champions have gone on to bigger tours full time, Keyser is looking forward to defending his title in the new 11 (regular season) event schedule which has been condensed into three months, from the season-opening Journey to Jordan 1 in early Feb. to the $125,000 Arena [Tour] Championship from April 20-23. Moving the tour into the early part of 2020 is a perfect launch pad for the Challenge, Asian and Japan Tour’s which ramp up from April.

“Winning the Journey to Jordan means a lot to me, especially being based in the UAE for the past five years. I’ve been working hard to be consistent, playing loads of golf all over, Asian Tour, Challenge Tour and the Mena Tour. It’s nice to see the hard work is paying off.

“The Mena Tour has been amazing and the opportunities, not only for me but for everyone playing it, are potentially life-changing. It’s becoming a strong, competitive tour.”

Keyser will be joined at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic by 15-year-old amateur Journey to Jordan champion Josh Hill, 2019 Tour Championship winner Harry Konig (England) and the winner of a just-announced 2020 Arena Shootout, a 36-hole strokeplay event to be played at Al Hamra Golf Club on Jan. 13-14.

The Arena ShootOut is one of 14 tournaments announced for 2020 including a two-stage Q-School, again at Ayala Golf Club in Aqaba, the tour’s official destination partner. A total of $860,000 in prize money and the usual array of European, Asian and Challenge Tour starts will again be up for grabs. Keyser will be chasing those opportunities hard but don’t be surprised if his globe-trotting is exclusively European Tour focused before long.

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MENA Tour by Arena 2020 Schedule

JANUARY

2020 Arena ShootOut
Jan 14-15
Al Hamra Golf Club, RAK
Purse: $10,000

Qualifying School A
Jan. 21-23
Ayla Golf Club, Aqaba
Purse: $6,000

Qualifying School A
Jan. 27-29
Ayla Golf Club, Aqaba, Jordan
Purse: $6,000

FEBRUARY

Journey to Jordan 1
Feb. 3-5
Ayla Golf Club, Aqaba, Jordan
Purse: $75,000

NEWGIZA Open
Feb. 11-13
NEWGIZA Golf Club, Cairo, Egypt
Purse: $75,000

The Ghala Open
Feb. 17-19
Ghala GC, Muscat, Oman
Purse: $75,000

Royal Golf Club Bahrain Open
Feb. 24-26
Royal GC, Bahrain
Purse: $75,000

MARCH

Journey to Jordan 2
March 2-4
Ayla Golf Club, Aqaba, Jordan
Purse: $75,000

The Abu Dhabi Triple Crown
March 16-18
Yas Links, Abu Dhabi GC, Saadiyat Beach GC, Abu Dhabi
Purse: $75,000

Troon International Pro-Am
March 22-25
Al Hamra GC, RAK Al Zorah GC, Ajman
Purse: $60,000

Ras Al Khaimah Open
March 30-April 1
Tower Links, RAK
Purse: $75,000

APRIL

Northern Emirates Open
April 6-8
Al Hamra GC, RAK & Al Zorah GC, Ajman
Purse: $75,000

The Al Ain Classic
April 13-15
Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club, Abu Dhabi
Purse: $75,000

The Arena Championship
April 20-23
Ayla GC, Aqaba, Jordan
Purse: $125,000

The post MENA Tour champion MG Keyser to continue winging it appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Just 24-hours after Parisian Antoine Schwartz fired a 62 at Dubai Hills Golf Club to tie Keyser and Dubai amateur Rayhan Thomas for the MENA Tour’s lowest round – 10-under – in relation to par, Keyser snatched it right back.

A new course-record 11-under 61 on Wednesday not only righted the record books but earned the Dubai-based South African a two stroke lead over Schwartz and Journey to Jordan money-list leader Matthew Baldwin heading into Thursday’s final round of the Troon Series – Dubai Open presented by Turkish Airlines.

Not even a sudden hail storm could cool Keyser in his sizzling second round; the 32-year-old returned after the brief delay to play his final seven holes in seven under en-route to the record.

Keyser with his historic scorecard at Dubai Hills G.C. The 61 was the lowest score in relation to par in the eight-year history of the MENA Tour

Baldwin fired a 63 and Schwartz a 69 to move to 13-under par for the championship. Given the low scoring thus far, Keyser knows he’ll have to go low Thursday if he is to make the most of his two-shot buffer and secure a third MENA Tour title, the $13,500 winner’s cheque and the invite to the Challenge Tour’s Slovakia Challenge (July 4-7) that would go with it.

But Keyser, who has been Dubai-domiciled for the past four years and now attached to Jumeirah Golf Estates, is clearly trending nicely after losing a playoff at the Troon Series – Al Zorah Open a fortnight ago.

His recent swing work with Englishman Zane Scotland, the MENA Tour’s most successful player with 10 titles, is clearly paying off. That said, Keyser thought he’d blown his chance at a low score on Wednesday when he bloked his drive on the par-5 8th hole into the water en-route to a bogey. 

“I made a silly bogey there and was really annoyed with it,” said Keyser, the world No. 342.

“We then had the brief rain delay and I just went back and played really well. I am going through some swing changes with Zane and it is difficult to trust them when it gets windy like it has been the last few tournaments. But after that rain, the conditions were just perfect and I was able to score coming in.”

Indeed.

The cut was applied at one-under par 143 and 52 professionals made it to Thursday’s final round.

England’s Ben Davies (68) leads the amateur race on five-under par 139, a shot ahead of compatriot Jack Floydd (70). Dubai-based 14-year-old Josh Hill also shot a 68 and lurks at three-under par.

The post MG Keyser snatches back MENA Tour record with 61 at Dubai Hills, on cusp of third title appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Dubai-resident Mathiam Keyser will look to extend his golden purple patch to an incredible four successive wins when he opens the defence of his PGM MNRB Championship title on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) Wednesday.

The 30-year-old South African soared to the summit of the MENA Tour courtesy of back-to-back wins at the Dubai Creek Open and The Golf Citizen Classic (Els Dubai) last month before winging his way to Malaysia to resume his bid for a return to the full Asian Tour. Keyser must finish in the top five of the ADT to achieve that goal and made the perfect start when he captured his second ADT title, the PGM Labuan Championship, last Saturday.

He’s now up to 11th on the ADT order-of-merit and while the $45,000 MNRB Championship will be played on a new course, Damai Golf and Country Club in Sarawak, he obviously takes good vibes from last year, not to mention the last three weeks, into the tournament.

“I am playing good at the moment and so I feel very confident coming into this week,” Keyser told the Asian Development Tour.

“The past three weeks have been amazing with three wins in-a-row. No matter what happens this week, I will have a good time out there.”

What an amazing 3 weeks. The hat trick is complete @mydubai @adt_golf @asiantour @europeantour @the_els_club_dubai @themenatour @bhsgdubai … pic.twitter.com/P4PLiMb1QW

— MG Keyser (@KeyserMG) October 2, 2017

The big-hitting Keyser, who trains out of the Butch Harmon School of Golf at The Els Club, Dubai, played the 2014 Asian Tour season after graduating via Q-School. However, he failed to keep his card and is now focused on the ADT even though topping the MENA Tour would have earned three 2018 European Tour starts and an invite to the PGA Tour’s Dean and Deluca Invitational.

He carded rounds of 73-68-71-70  at Labuan International Golf Club for a six-under-par 282 aggregate and a two shot victory over Thailand’s Sorachut Hansapiban last week.

He's on fire! ???

That's 3 wins in a row now for @KeyserMG as he takes the PGM Labuan Championship on the @ADT_golf by 2 shots. ??? pic.twitter.com/YUoeJ8HpWO

— Fenix XCell (@Fenix_XCell) September 30, 2017

“I came into the week with lots of confidence as I had won two back-to-back events on the Mena Tour in Dubai before coming over. This win has shown me that all the other aspects of my game is good,” Keyser said afterwards. “I’m enjoying my winning run and my golf and that’s what keeping me happy.”

For the record, Keyser has a mountain to climb to equal the longest streak of consecutive wins even if he does beat the odds and triumph again last week. In 1945, the legendary Byron Nelson won an astonishing 11 PGA Tour tournaments on the trot as part of 18 overall in a happy year that coincided with the end of WWII. His 11-straight wins were recorded at the Miami International Four-Ball, Charlotte Open, Greater Greensboro Open, Durham Open, Atlanta Open, Montreal Open, Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Victory National Open, PGA Championship, Tam O’Shanter Open and Canadian Open.

In 2006-07, Tiger Woods won seven straight titles including the Open Championship and PGA.

The post Riding MENA Tour form, red-hot MG Keyser eyes fourth successive pro title in Malaysia appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.