By Kent Gray
Egypt will become the 12th country to host an official MENA Tour event in the regional circuit’s eight and a bit season history when the $75,000 NEWGIZA Open begins on Tuesday morning. It also serves as a refreshing start to MG Keyser’s defence of the circuit’s season-long Journey to Jordan title.

After sitting out the first event of the season in Aqaba last week, the 32-year-old South African is raring to go at NEWGIZA Golf Club, a 7,351-yard, par-72, Thomson Perrett & Lobb-design that opened to rave reviews last year.

RELATED: MENA Tour champion MG Keyser to continue winging it

Keyser was resting while Englishman David Langley and Jordanian amateur Shergo Al Kurdi stole the headlines at Ayla Golf Club but returns to action on the outskirts of Cairo after an encouraging T-66 finish at last month’s brutally tough OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic. The €6,031 payday was the Dubai-domiciled pro’s reward after earning the start at Emirates Golf Club courtesy of his MENA Tour Order-of-Merit win last season.

“I feel like I had a nice break and playing the Omega Dubai Desert Classic was a nice way to start the year. I am focused, prepared and ready to go,” said Keyser who is 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, as the reigning Journey to Jordan OOM champion.

“Having loads of opportunities in Europe and Asia is definitely a bonus for me this year, thanks to the MENA Tour and my management company. It is going to be fun and getting a good start on the MENA Tour in Egypt will obviously help build a lot with confidence going into the rest of the year.”

The challenge for Keyser and co. in Cairo might be keeping their mind on the golf with the Great Pyramids of Giza, the oldest of the seven ancient wonders of the world, serving as a stunning backdrop this week. The subtle intricacies of the course, which meanders through an old quarry, will be no cinch either with no rough but dramatic changes in elevation, lakes and gnarly desert waste areas to contend with.

“I played the course for the first time yesterday and really enjoyed the challenge,” said Keyser, a three-time MENA Tour winner. “It’s a fun course to play and in excellent condition. All 18 holes were really nice and very challenging in the wind, but the par 3s are especially good.”

RELATED: NEWGIZA is a new, aesthetically pleasing test for MENA Tour’s best

They were playing a mutual appreciation game on the eve of the tournament with NEWGIZA Director of Golf Ali Mohamed hinting at an increased Egyptian presence on the developmental circuit soon.

“It really is a matter of great pride for us that we will be hosting our first MENA Tour event on our golf course,” said Mohamed. “We have received some very good reviews since our launch and we are confident that the professional players will find it challenging.

“We have had some very good talks with the MENA Tour and we’d like to help them extend their presence here in Egypt. We have another golf course in Sokhna by the Red Sea and we are looking at having another tournament there.”

Former European Tour winners Richard Finch (ENG) and Romain Wattel have bolstered the 86-strong field this week.

The post Keyser eyes fast start at NEWGIZA as Egypt becomes 12th MENA Tour host country appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joy Chakravaty
Romain Wattel was the last of the six MENA Tour by Arena players to qualify for this week’s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic. By the end of the opening round, the Frenchman was first among those proudly flying the regional developmental circuit’s flag at the $3.25 million event.

A round of two-under-par 70 in Thursday’s extremely testy conditions left the 29-year-old just three strokes off the lead, held by his playing partner Thomas’ Pieters, and dreaming of a second European Tour win.

MG Keyser, the 2019 Professional ‘Journey to Jordan’ champion, was also inside the cutline after the first round with a two-over-par 74. It could have been a much better result for the South African but for an unfortunate triple-bogey seven on the 9th hole after making an excellent start.

Josh Hill, the reigning amateur MENA Tour champion, struggled with his driving and the brutal rough took a toll on his scorecard with six bogeys against a solitary birdie in a 77. At five-over-par, the 15-year-old world record holder for being the youngest player to win an OWGR recognised event was in tied 101st place. Elsewhere, Australian Daniel Gaunt shot a 78, England’s Harry Konig 80 and Saudi Arabia’s Othman Almulla 83.

Wattel is no stranger to Emirates Golf Club or the ODDC, having finished tied third here alongside now world No.1 Brooks Koepka in the 2014 edition. He’s also won on the European Tour before, at the 2017 KLM Open, but needed to win last week’s 36-hole Arena ShootOut at Al Hamra Golf Club to punch his return ticket to the Majlis.

So far, he’s making the most of a big opportunity, draining a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-4th 9th to close out a round where many others faltered. Playing at .56 of a stroke over par, the lengthened 9th was the toughest hole on Thursday.

“I love Dubai and this tournament,” Wattel said afterwards. “I made Dubai my home for four years and I have a good idea of this golf course. However, the conditions were really tough out there today with the wind and the rough. I am very happy with the way I played.

“I drove the ball really well, and when I needed to make some putts, I made them.”

At one point, Keyser was one of only two players from the morning groups to be in red numbers for the front nine, which was playing decidedly tougher. That was until that triple-bogey disaster on the aforementioned 9th.

“I just pulled my drive and was in the rough. I thought I could muscle it out and just aim for the grandstand to avoid the water and I could have taken a drop and tried to save a par. But the club just closed on me and I found the hazard,” said Keyser, who is making his Desert Classic debut. “I definitely played much better than what my score suggests. I am actually satisfied with a two-over-par card because the conditions were very tough.”

Hill plays his second shot on the par-4 2nd under the watchful eye of caddie Steven Kelbrick. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

Hill missed a four-foot par putt on the second for his first bogey of the day, but most of his mistakes happened when he missed fairways off the tee.

“I really had a poor day with my driving. I found only three fairways and it was very difficult to hit out of the rough,” said Hill, winner of the Al Ain Open by Arena last October. “It was another good learning experience, but I hope I can sort out my driving tomorrow. I know I can score much better than this.”

Meanwhile, there were two wins in two weeks for the Jimenez family with Miguel Angel Jimenez Junior winning the MENA Tour by Arena Qualifying School A in Jordan.

Dad Miguel Angel Jimenez, winner of last week’s Mitsubishi Electric Championship on the PGA Tour Champions, is at the Desert Classic and was delighted to learn about his son after carding an impressive even-par round himself.

Jimenez Jr made two eagles in the third and final round at Ayla Golf Club for a six-under-par 66 to clinch medallist honours by three shots on nine-under-par 207.

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