By Joy Chakravarty
Sweden’s Niclas Weiland, in his first season as a professional, made the most of his invite from the MENA Tour by Arena to win the Ras Al Khaimah Open after making an eagle on the first playoff hole against close friend and roommate Gabriel Axell on Wednesday.

At Tower Links Golf Club, the 24-year-old Weiland was solid throughout the round playing in the leader group for a five-under par 67, which helped him match the 17-under par 199 clubhouse lead set by Axell after a storming final round of eight-under par 64.

Two European Challenge Tour stars, Scotland’s Scott Henry (70) and Switzerland’s Marco Iten (69) were tied for the third place at 15-under par 201.

England’s 20-year-old Ben Jones was the Leading Amateur at eight-under par, while Saudi Arabia’s Othman Almulla continued his fine work from last evening (three birdies in last three holes to make his first cut as a professional) to shoot the lowest round of his career – a seven-under par 65 – and finished as the highest placed MENA player at 207.

MENA Tour

In the beginning, it looked like a romp for Henry, who was five-under par through 10 holes and leading by four shots at that point. But just like the second round, the 32-year-old Scotsman faltered on the back nine and three bogeys coming in killed his chances.

Weiland was two-under par through 12 holes, but the big swing came his way when he birdied the par-5 13th and the par-4 14th holes, while Henry parred the 13th and dropped shots on the 14th and 15th holes.

Axell was off to a hot start, making birdies on six of his first seven holes, before a bogey on the ninth. He then dropped another shot on the par-3 16th, but finished strong with two birdies in the final two holes.

In the play-off, Weiland hit his second shot to 20 feet on the par-5 18th, while Axell stuffed his to eight feet. But Weiland calmly rolled in his eagle putt, while Axell’s slipped past.

After winning the RAK Open by Arena earlier today, @NiclasWeiland spoke to us on the eventful day. pic.twitter.com/P2ManLmRW9

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) October 30, 2019

“It just feels amazing to be able to get the win so early in my professional career. Having studied in Florida (Barry University), I loved the weather here in the UAE the moment I landed and I just kept a very positive attitude throughout the three events I played in the MENA Tour,” said Weiland, who finished tied second in Abu Dhabi and then tied eighth in Al Ain.

“I have been playing very well and I was confident of doing well again this week. However, the way Henry played the front nine, I thought I was playing for the second prize. He was a bit unlucky on the back nine, while I kept hitting some good shots and made some putts.

“It was amazing to go up in the play-off against Gabriel. We are very good friends and we travel together. We had decided before the play-off that we will split the prize fund no matter who wins, and I am OK with that. Just that he has already started to ask me about the money transfer!”

Axell, one of the most unique players in the world of golf who swings right-handed and putts left-handed, was disappointed not to win, but felt satisfied with his effort.

Gabriel Axell played his 'heart out' on the final day of the RAK Open by Arena to shoot an 8-under par 64. It was good enough to get him into a play-off, which he lost to his close friend @NiclasWeiland.

Axell spoke on his day after the round… @RAKTourism @TowerlinksGolf pic.twitter.com/saIAnrw9Z3

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) October 30, 2019

“I played great golf and actually thought after the two closing birdies that I would end up one short. So, to get into the playoff was a bonus. I made a birdie on the extra hole, but Niclas made an eagle, so I can’t complain,” said Axell, who had last won on the Nordic Tour four years ago and lost a tournament on the same Tour earlier this year in a play-off.

Iten, who is heading to the second stage of the European Tour Qualifying School next week, was counting the positives after finishing tied third.

“It was important that I got off to a good start, but I did not. I was one-over after 12 holes, so to make four birdies after that was good. Nothing can beat a victory, but this has been an excellent week for me ahead of the Q School and I hope to return and play a few events next year on the MENA Tour.”

The Tour now has a break before it returns for the season-ending Journey To Jordan Final, which will feature the top-60 players from the Order of Merit. The tournament will be played at Ayla Golf Club in Aqaba, Jordan, from November 25-29.

LEADING SCORES (after the final round of Ras Al Khaimah Open by Arena):
199 – Niclas Weiland (SWE) 65-67-67, Gabriel Axell (SWE) 67-68-64
(Weiland won on the first extra hole with an eagle)
201 – Marco Iten (SUI) 64-68-69, Scott Hendry (SCO) 65-66-70
204 – MG Keyser (RSA) 70-69-65, Craig Ross (SCO) 69-68-67, Joshua Grenville-Wood (ENG) 65-71-68
205 – Erik Lindwall (SWE) 72-68-65, Mathias Weidermann (SWE) 68-71-66, Robbie Busher (ENG) 47-70-69, Kyson Lloyd (ENG) 68-65-72
206 – Harry Ellis (ENG) 69-68-69, Daniel Gaunt (AUS) 67-68-71

The post Young Weiland shows his class to win RAK Open by Arena appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

This time it was out of work European Challenge Tour player Marco Iten making waves, two back-nine eagles helping the Swiss pro come home in just 30 strokes in an opening round of eight-under 64 at Tower Links Golf Club.

The 29-year-old from Zurich, playing on a special exemption in an effort to gain some match sharpness ahead of the second stage of European Tour Qualifying School next week, leads the Ras Al Khaimah Open by Arena by a shot from Swede Niclas Weiland, Scot Scott Henry and Englishman Joshua Grenville-Wood.

Grenville-Wood continued a day of spectacular shot-making in the northern emirate, holing out from 139 yards on the par-4 15th for an eagle in his 65.

Daniel Gaunt, starting the final regular-season stop second behind MG Keyser in the season-long Journey To Jordan race, made an early move, opening with a five-under-par 67, three shots better than the South African leader who was T-19 overnight.

Josh Hill, who created worldwide headlines last week by becoming the youngest winner of an Official World Golf Ranking event, struggled on the greens and came home in 78 after missing more than half a dozen par putts from inside six-eight feet range. The leading amateur after a opening 69 was Hill’s playing partner and “Penultimate 4” leader Robin Tiger Williams who has made a handy start after his record romp at the Journey to Jordan #2 Championship late last month.

Iten started in bright fashion, hitting it to six feet on the first two par-4 holes. Another gain on the par-5 5th was erased by his only bogey of the day on the eighth and he made the turn at two-under.

On the back nine, Iten eagled the 13th hole when he smashed a three-wood downwind from 290 yards to 20 feet and on the 18th, where he converted a 15-footer. He also had birdies on the 10th and 15th.

“It was a good day. I got off to a fast start and managed to carry that momentum on to the back nine. I was able to hit both the par-5s in two and make my putts,” said Iten, who lost his card on the European Challenge Tour this year.

“It definitely is a great confidence booster ahead of the second stage of the Q School next week. I can do with a few tournament rounds ahead of that and was looking for a place to play and some of my friends told me how good the MENA Tour is. I am thankful for the opportunity and hopefully, we can take the momentum from this round to the next two days.”

After enjoying a superb start of 8-under par 64 and leading the RAK Open by Arena, Switzerland’s Marco Iten says it is a great confidence boost ahead of the 2nd stage of European Tour Q School, and that we can see more of him in 2020 season. pic.twitter.com/JIMNoxmI99

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) October 28, 2019

Switzerland’s Marco Iten showed no effects of coming from the cold climate of Zurich to the heat of Ras Al Khaimah!
Two eagles on the back nine helped him climb to the top of the leaderboard at 8-under par 64 on day one of the RAK Open by Arena. pic.twitter.com/EIeg1avktN

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) October 28, 2019

Henry was bogey-free in his 65, while Weiland made one bogey.

“It’s always easier when a guy in the group is making all the putts like Niclas did. We both played well and I think we fed off each other quite nicely,” said the affable Scotsman.

LEADING SCORES (after Round One of Ras Al Khaimah Open by Arena):

64 – Marco Iten (SUI)
65 – Niclas Weiland (SWE), Scott Hendry (SCO), Joshua Grenville-Wood (ENG)
67 – Daniel Gaunt (AUS), Benjamin David (ENG), Alessandro Tadini (ITA), Jake Ayers (ENG), Robbie Busher (ENG), Gabriel Axell (SWE)
68 – Erik Jonasson (SWE), Kyson Lloyd (ENG), Alex Belt (ENG), Matthias Weiderman
69 – Craig Ross (SCO), Robin ‘Tiger’ Williams (Am-ENG), Harry Ellis (ENG), Gustaf Kocken (SWE)

Playing in the second group out this morning in Round 1 of the RAK open by Arena, @NiclasWeiland and @ScottHenryGolf fed off each other and posted the marker at seven-under par 65. pic.twitter.com/mfqSN6NpJP

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) October 28, 2019

The post Swiss pro Iten flying high on two eagles at RAK Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Consistency. It’s golf’s rarest commodity and MG Keyser seems to have unearthed a handy supply of the stuff just at the right time on the MENA Tour.

With an utterly impressive seven-under 65 on his MENA Tour debut, Swede Niclas Weiland rightly stole the headlines on the opening day of the Abu Dhabi Open by Arena on Monday. There was also a birthday of all birthday’s 66 from England lefty James Allen who clearly won’t forget his 25th in a hurry, not to mention a trio of players – Mitchel Sarling (ENG), Alessandro Tadini (ITA) and Gabriel Axell (Swe) – on 67.

But lurking just three off the lead in a share of 6th place after an opening 68, Keyser is making all the right moves to protect his new lead atop the circuit’s season-long Journey to Jordan Order of Merit (OOM) race.

After winning twice last season – albeit 2017 – the Dubai-based South African collected his third MENA Tour by Arena title at the Troon Series Dubai Open at Dubai Hills in March. He then returned after the tour’s six-month summer hiatus with a tidy T-3 finish at last week’s Journey to Jordan-2 Championship to leapfrog two places – over now Challenge Tour focused Matthew Baldwin and Robin Roussel – to the summit of the OOM standings.

There’s still 36-holes to go this week and a long way yet before all the big European Tour invites are handed out to the professional Journey to Jordan champion at the end of the season come late November. But if Keyser can keep up his consistent run of scoring, it’s going to take something special to beat him.

The real beauty of his 68 on Monday was the fact he’s not overly enamoured with Kyle Phillips’ layout despite the Abu Dhabi course’s global respect. It was doubly impressive because he faced the full brunt of a windy day on the Arabian Gulf-fringed links.

MG Keyser

“I have never played well on this course. I tend to overthink here a bit, but it was so windy today that you just can’t do that,” Keyser revealed afterwards.

“I tried to play a little safe. And it also helped that we were in Ayla Golf Club last week, which was again very windy on all four days.”

Weiland, meanwhile, turned professional this year after finishing his college at Barry University in the US. The 24-year-old played a few events on the Nordic Golf League where his best finish was a T-6 in Landeryd Masters but when his mother took up a new job in Abu Dhabi recently, he made a beeline to the MENA Tour office.

On Monday, he made the most of his exemption, getting off to a hot start with three straight birdies and never let that momentum slip away. It even warranted a tweet from former Open champion and countryman Henrik Stenson.

Well done @NiclasWeiland !

— Henrik Stenson (@henrikstenson) October 7, 2019

“I played solid and made very few mistakes,” said Weiland.

“I made good putts on the first three holes. After that, I was able to recover well whenever I made any mistake. The conditions were pretty tough out there. The wind switched when we were on the back nine, so I think it was slightly tougher for us.”

James Allan (Photo: Joy Chakravarty/MENA Tour)

Allan, who qualified for the second stage of the European Tour Qualifying School last week, reached Abu Dhabi after a trek from Milan via London and was feeling the effects.

“I am very pleased with that,” the birthday boy said of his 66. “I started well with two birdies in the first two holes, but it was from the fourth hole to the 14th that we seemed to be playing continuously into the wind. I was feeling tired on the back nine, and that could be the reason why I made a bogey from the middle of the fairway on the 15th. But overall, I am chuffed with that round.

“I will spend the evening with some friends and celebrate, but I have a late tee time tomorrow, so I should be fresh. There will be no excuse about my round tomorrow.”

What a way to celebrate your birthday!!

England’s @jamesallangolf shoots a brilliant six-under par 66 on the opening day of Abu Dhabi Open by Arena to trail by one shot on a day when he turned 25. pic.twitter.com/k11cIU6faJ

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) October 7, 2019

After missing the cut in Aqaba last week, Dubai-based 15-year-old Josh Hill finally found a little co-operation from his driver Monday en-route to 69 that sees him lead the amateur race by a shot from Englishman Jack Floydd.

Josh Hills finally overcame a mini-slump – a period of couple of months when he seems to be struggling with a wayward driver.

In the Round 1 of the Abu Dhabi open by Arena, the 15-year-old hit 10 fairways in a 3-under 69, enough to lead the Amateur leaderboard by one shot. pic.twitter.com/0YOvbCgQ8e

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) October 7, 2019

Last week’s Journey To Jordan-2 champion Robin ‘Tiger’ Williams started his campaign with a 73.

The post Consistent Keyser lurks as Swede enjoys dream debut and Allan the happiest of 25th birthdays appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.