A frustrating second round 77 at Murcar Links on Tuesday will likely see the Dubai teen miss the 36-hole cut and resulting matchplay phase of The Amateur Championship for the second successive year.

The MENA Tour trailblazer had been T-22 after an opening 72 on the par 70 Royal Aberdeen on Monday and comfortably on track to make the top-64 at the 123rd edition of the British Am. But as was the case at the St Andrews Links Trophy at the Home of Golf the previous week, where Thomas went from contending after 27 holes to somehow missing the 36-hole cut, Tuesday wasn’t to be his day.

The world amateur No.26 started well at Murcar, rattling off three nerve-settling pars before a birdie on the par 5 4th got him back to one over for the championship. But a bogey-double bogey-par-bogey run upped the pressure and while he birdied the 9th, he went out in two over 38 and the cutline suddenly appeared on the horizon.

A triple bogey on the par-4 11th was a massive body blow and while he rebounded immediately with a birdie two, the damage was done as Thomas limped home with four more dropped shots against one gain in the final six holes.

He eventually finished +9 for the championship and was T-156th midway through the second round. The projected cut as at 5.30pm UAE time was +5.

More to follow…

Thomas well placed as The Amateur Championship cut looms
The matchplay phase of The (British) Amateur Championship is within Rayhan Thomas’ grasp but the Dubai teen will have to overcome the demons of last year, and last week, when he tees it up in the final round of qualifying on Tuesday.

Thomas carded a two-over 73 in his opening round of the 123rd edition of the R&A-organised event at Royal Aberdeen on Monday, overcoming breezy conditions for a share of 22nd place. The 18-year-old world amateur No.26 must finish among the top-64 players to advance to the matchplay knockout rounds (all to be played at Royal Aberdeen) and started his second round on the notoriously tricky Murcar Links at 8.50am (11.50am UAE time) Tuesday with a two shot buffer over those on the cut line.

Related: Thomas in a positive mood ahead of the 123rd Amateur Championship 

Thomas’ matchplay pedigree is without question – his historic run to the semifinals of the Junior U.S. Amateur ample proof of his one-on-one ability. But the MENA Tour star has struggled capitalising on strong strokeplay opportunities of late, notably slipping from contention through 27 holes at the St Andrews Links Trophy to missing the 36-hole cut.

He also has the heartache of last year’s British Am to erase from his mind as he prepares to tee it up at Murcar; the Dubai Creek player saw a four-footer burn the final hole at Royal St. George’s last summer as he missed the 36-hole cut by an agonising stroke.

South African 18-year-old Wilco Nienaber fired an four-under 66 on the par-70 Murcar Links to lead the way after the first day. The Bloemfontein teen, beaten in a playoff for the prestigious Brabazon Trophy earlier this month, took a two-shot lead into the second round of strokeplay qualifying over Australia’s David Micheluzzi and Canada’s Sam Meek. Micheluzz and Meek signed for 69s on Royal Aberdeen but face the tricker Murcar Links on Tuesday like Thomas.

Reigning MENA Tour amateur order of merit champion Todd Clements blew out to a 10-over 81 on Royal Aberdeen in his opening round. The Englishman was T-228 and needed a very low red number today for a chance to make the matchplay.

Dutch teen Pierre Junior Verlaar, just the second amateur after Thomas to win a MENA Tour title (the 2017 Royal Golf Mohammedia Open in Morocco) slumped to 83, 13 over, on Murcar in a further indication on Monday’s tough conditions.

Related: Dutch prodigy Pierre Junior Verlaar triumphs in Morocco 

For live second round scoring, visit the R&A leaderboard HERE

FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD – 123rd Amateur Championship

First round leaderboard from the 123rd Amateur Championship. Courtesy R&A.

The post UPDATED: Thomas suffers another second round reverse to (likely) miss Amateur Championship cut appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Dutch teen Pierre Junior Verlaar became just the second amateur to win on the developmental Pro-Am tour when he came from three shots back to capture the Royal Golf Mohammedia Open in style at Royal Golf D’Anfa Club Tuesday.

The 18-year-old got off to a fast start in the final round with six outward nine birdies en-route to a flawless 65 to reach nine-under, 204, for the tournament and finish two shots clear of Morocco’s Ahmed Marjan and England’s Andrew Marshall.

Verlaar follows Thomas who won his home Dubai Creek Open in September while his closing 65 equalled the lowest final round by a winner, matching Joe Heraty’s (England) title-clinching effort at the 2016 Sahara Kuwait Championship.

“I am really very, very happy with the way I finished against a strong field. I think I played some amazing golf on the front nine,” said Verlaar after receiving the winner’s trophy from Fouad Akasbi, president of Royal Golf D’Anfa and Vice President of the Royal Moroccan Golf Federation.

“I may not have picked up a shot on the back nine, but played very steady. The MENA Tour is doing a great job in providing a perfect platform for amateurs likes me to compete alongside professionals which is great,” said Verlaar, who joined the tour last year.

Marshall, who started the final round five shots adrift, matched Verlaar’s 65 to surge up the leaderboard as Marjan, the only Arab winner on the MENA Tour, topped the MENA Division, one shot ahead of his compatriot Mohamed Belaroussia.

Overnight leader Lee Corfield (England) slipped to tied eighth on four under after carding a final round 73 while Zane Scotland, a 10-time winner on the tour, moved into a six-way tie for 43rd after closing with a 75 along with Danny Poulter, the elder brother of European Ryder Cup hero Ian.

Elsewhere, former England cricketer Craig Kieswetter settled for 52nd on +10 after signing for a 77 as Craig Hinton, the winner of the 2016 MENA Tour Order of Merit title, settled for tied 50th on +7, six shots ahead of India’s Rayhan Thomas, who carded a final round 79.

Thomas, for the record, carded rounds of 74-73-79 to finish 56th on 226 and has work to do ahead of the prestigious Sage Valley Junior Invitational in the U.S. in April.

The next event on the MENA Tour schedule is the Ras Al Khaimah Classic at Tower Links Golf Club from April 24-26.

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The 24-year-old Spanish rookie, who had only qualified for the tour via Q-School the previous week, pipped Englishman Luke Joy on the sixth hole of extra time at the season-opening Palmeraie Country Club Casablanca Open with a two-putt birdie on the par 5 17th.

Lilja’s victory in the marathon playoff came after the Spaniard fired a bogey-free 68 to set a clubhouse target of eight-under, a number Joy matched with a closing 69 after three birdies on his homeward nine offset an early bogey.

He is the third Spaniard to win on the developmental Pro-Am tour after Gabriel Canizares and Carlos Balmaseda.

“I am really very, very happy. Just can’t believe that I have won my very first event on the tour. It feels so surreal,” said Lilja after receiving the winner’s trophy from Ali Ouaziz, director of operations at Palmeraie Country Club.

“I played really solid during the week and holed many good putts out there which was the key.”

Joy, a two-time winner on the tour, said in his blog that he planned to dull his disappointment with a “heavy night” out. “Coffee and Nutella crepe it is. Got to love Morocco!”

“I can’t say I’m not frustrated not to get the win this week but the game is progressing nicely and I need to keep pushing forward and keep improving,” Joy continued.

Overnight leader Lee Corfield finished solo third after the Englishman shot a closing one-over 72.

Morocco’s Younes El Hassani finished a creditable fourth alongside Scot Jack McDonald after posting a final round 70. On six-under-par 207, El Hassani comfortably won the MENA division by two shots over compatriot Faycal Serghini, who carded a final round 68. Ahmed-Reda Rhazali and Mohamed Belaroussia were a distant third in the Arab division at three over.

Dutchman Pierre Junior Verlaar led from start to finish to win the amateur division on one under, a seven shots ahead of England’s Todd Clements.

The MENA Tour travels to Mohammedia, a port city on the west coast of Morocco between Casablanca and Rabat, for the Royal Golf Mohammedia Open at Royal Golf D’Anfa, another $40,0000 event starting on March 19. The MENA Tour’s first amateur winner, Rayhan Thomas, is included in the field after playing the European Tour’s Hero Indian Open.

Leo Lilja is pictured receiving the trophy from Ali Ouaziz, director of operations at Palmeraie Country Club. Mohamed Juma Buamaim, chairman of the MENA Tour, Imad Bufarik, the club’s golf manager, and Majid Bennis of HLO, were also present.

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