On Wednesday at the Greg Norman-designed Ayla Golf Club, the London-based Lumsden made a double bogey six on the tough 18^th hole, but he had done enough good work before that to post a two-under par 70 final round. That took his tally to eight-under par 208 for the tournament, one better than Knipes, who closed with a four-under par 68 for a seven-under par total.

There was a five-way tie for the third place with Sweden’s Ake Nilsson (69) reaching six-under par 210 alongside the English quartet of Jamie Rutherford (65), Mitch Waite (68), Tom Sloman (70) and Benjamin David (70).

England’s David Langley secured himself a start at the Trophee Hassan II on the European Tour by topping the Journey to Jordan at the halfway stage. He shot a two-under par 70 in the final round to finish in tied 35^th place. David Hague, the only other player who could have overtaken Langley this week, was tied 30^th and could not surmount the difference in earning between the two.

However, the star of the day was the 23-year-old Lumsden, who is expected to move to inside the top-1000 of the OWGR with his triumph.

The Northwestern University star, who will start in the AT&T Byron Nelson Classic in May on the PGA Tour for winning the Byron Nelson Award in US collegiate golf last year, was fast off the blocks with birdies on the first, fourth, fifth and sixth holes. He then missed birdie chances on the seventh, eight and ninth holes to make the turn at four-under par and ahead by three shots over Sloman.

His first bogey of the day came from the greenside bunker on the par-3 12^th hole, and he was lucky not to get wet on the par-3 13^th when he hooked his tee shot way off the mark. Lumsden made a crucial par save from 20 feet on the 15^thbefore a clutch birdie from the bunker on the 17^th gave him the necessary cushion going down the 18^th hole with Knipes having already finished on seven-under par.

Curtis Knipes (Photo by Joy Chakravarty)

Lumsden found the fairway bunker on the 18^th, took three shots to get to the green and three-putted for a six on the final hole.

“Don’t ask me about the 18^th, but I am delighted to get the win,” said Lumsden.

“I felt really good about my game the whole day. Got off to a good start and was four-under through six holes. I then made great putts that barely missed on the next two holes. On the ninth, I hit a wonderful drive and had just about 200 yards, but it was at the bottom of a divot and I could not risk the water on the left so had to lay up and the birdie putt lipped out.

“Went through a little bit of a rough patch on the back nine, but I was able to make some good swings after that. I will think back about the 18^th hole and process what I did wrong there, but very happy to get the job done and hopefully, we can carry it on from here.

“There wasn’t one defining or key moment today. The par save on the 15^th was great, but so was the up-and-down for birdie on the 17^th. I just played solid golf throughout.”

The 19-year-old Knipes, who turned professional this year, recorded his best ever finish on the MENA Tour by Arena. The 68 included just one bogey, which came on the fifth hole when he chunked a wedge shot from the middle of the fairway, but that was the only mistake he made.

“I played pretty well today. The conditions were very fair and I did have a number in mind for the final round. I wanted to get to 10-under par, so a 65. That was not to be, but I am very happy with the runner-up finish,” said Knipes, who qualified for the Open Championship last year as an amateur.

“Very happy with the way I have started as a professional. I had four top-10s in five starts and even though I felt I let go a couple of chances to win, I know my time will come. I just have to be patient.”

The post Ryan Lumsden wins his maiden MENA Tour title in Journey to Jordan #2 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But forget the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, all his past amateur exploits or even the $8.1 million AT&T Byron Nelson coming up at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Texas from May 7-10. For now, the London-born and based Scot is focused on turning a two-stroke 36-hole lead at the Journey to Jordan #2 Championship into a MENA Tour by Arena breakthrough and his maiden professional title on Wednesday.

A superb, bogey-free 69 in brutally windy conditions at Ayla Golf Club in Aqaba saw the 23-year-old move to -6, 138 on Tuesday, two clear of England’s Tom Sloman (70) and Benjamin David (71).

Just setting up the scene for Journey to Jordan #2, Round 2. The predicted 10mph wind has turned into a 25-30mph gale in the morning at @AylaOasis Golf Club. pic.twitter.com/3IdP3K2GVH

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) March 3, 2020

Englishman Curtis Knipes, playing in his first season as a professional, stayed in contention after an even-par 72 round which tied him for the fourth place at -3 alongside American Ben Schlottman (68), two-time MENA Tour winner Luke Joy (70) and the Swedish pair of Filip Lundell (70) and Ake Nilsson (71).

The trick for Lumsden in the final round will be getting across the line after three near misses on the regional circuit already this season, two of them at Ayla G.C.

He played the last two holes to one-over and lost in the play-off for medallist honours at Q-School in Aqaba in January. In the Journey to Jordan #1 Championship, he was one shot off the lead but signed for a closing 76 to drift out to 20th place. Last week in Bahrain, Lumsden was two-over for the last four holes to lose by two.

“I have been learning from those mistakes and trying to figure out how I can play the golf I have been playing when I am down the stretch and get over that hump and get my first win on the MENA Tour,” said Lumsden who earned his first Official World Golf Ranking points in Bahrain.

“I have been thinking about it lately. I did a much better job in Bahrain last week. My mistakes weren’t really mental out there, just a couple of good shots ending up in positions where I did not think they would. I just need to stick to the process of hitting one good shot after another.

“It’s really going to be a case of staying in the moment and not letting my head get in the way and thinking ahead. I just see it as another opportunity to figure out my stuff coming down the stretch and I see it only helping me down the line.”

For the record, Lumsden carded rounds of 82-76 at Shinnecock Hills to miss the cut by 10 shots in 2018. It was nothing to be sneezed at though – two time major champion and 2014 U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer also finished +18 that week.

Lumsden secured his place on the Bryson Nelson by becoming the first player from Great Britain and Ireland the Bryson Nelson Award last April following a memorable stint at Northwestern University in Illinois. The coveted prize, granted by the Golf Coaches Association of America, recognised the strength of Lumsden’s entire collegiate academic (he majored in economics) and golf career. The selection panel also considered “good citizenship”, something that Nelson, a five-time major winner and sixth on the all-time PGA Tour list with 52 triumphs, was renowned for over the course of his life and golf career.

Ryan Lumsden is a Scotsman and spent 4 years playing college golf in the Windy City at @NUGolf_Live.

No wonder then that the 23-year-old battled well against the high wind at Ayla to post a bogey-free 69 and take a two-shot lead in the J2J #2.

Report…https://t.co/Rw8VAcuaMu pic.twitter.com/RLdrsMkTip

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) March 3, 2020

Overnight leader Mitch Waite, meanwhile, started in sensational fashion by making an eagle on the par-4 10th hole after driving the green, but four subsequent bogeys dropped him to solo ninth place at two-under-par.

The race for the Trophee Hassan II start on the European Tour is still on between Journey to Jordan Order of Merit leader David Langley and second-placed David Hague. Langley made the cut on the number, while Hague was tied 34th and would need to finish inside the top-10 depending on his rival’s finish.

The cut was applied at nine-over par with 49 professionals and one amateur, Dubai-based Indian Arjun Gupta, proceeding to the final round.

The post PGA Tour-bound Ryan Lumsden has unfinished MENA Tour business to take care of first appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
It looks like reigning amateur ‘Journey to Jordan’ champion Josh Hill will have some serious competition during this season’s condensed MENA Tour by Arena season.

U.S.-based Swedish amateur Filip Lundell raised that tantalising prospect after claiming medallist honours in the second stage of the regional developmental circuit’s two-leg Q-School in Aqaba, Jordan, on Wednesday.

The 185cm (6ft 1in), 81kg lefty edged Scottish professional Ryan Lumsden and Irish pro Paul McBride with a first playoff hole eagle at Ayla Golf Club after the trio had finished the 54-hole qualifier on -7, 209, a shot ahead of Scotland’s Calum Fyfe.

Lundell’s scores of 70-68-71 won’t have gone unnoticed by Hill, who qualified for last week’s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic via his Journey to Jordan title last season. After winning the Al Ain Open to become the youngest winner of an Official World Golf Ranking event last October, the Dubai-based England Boys’ representative is clearly focused on winning tournaments this season but the increased amateur competition isn’t a bad subplot.

Lundell clearly has an affinity with desert golf after a stellar senior year for the Grand Canyon University golf team in Phoenix, Arizona last season, highlighted by victory in the UC Irvine Invitational at Santa Ana Country Club (California) in October.

Amateurs continue to excel at Ayla Golf Club.
Sweden’s Filip Lundell has secured the Qualifying School B medalist honors after prevailing in a 3-way play-off at 7-under par.
Lundell made an eagle on the first extra hole to beat Scotland’s Ryan Lumsden and Ireland’s Paul McBride. pic.twitter.com/vF4BhRgxBD

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) January 29, 2020

After firing 10 rounds in the 60s, Lundell was named to the All-WAC (Western Athletic Conference) first team and is set to see his current World Amateur Gof Ranking (WAGR) of 656 soar after his Ayla triumph. His sister Sofia also plays collegiate golf for the University of California Golden Bears.

Filip Lundell is the second amateur to win an event at Ayla Golf Club.

Last year, @IAmRobinTiger won the Journey to Jordan #2.

And Josh Hill was the leader going into the final round of the Journey to Jordan Tour Championship.@AylaOasis @arenamiddleeast

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) January 29, 2020

A total of 35 players from the 52-strong ‘Q-School B’ earned cards for this season’s MENA Tour which will feature 11 tournaments, starting and finishing at Ayla at the Journey to Jordan 1 Championship next week (Feb 3-5) and the $125,000 Arena Championship (April 20-22) respectively.

Other amateurs to qualify were 6th placed Englishman David Haque (-4) and German Julian Ballmann who finished T-32nd on 11 over par.

Congratulations to all those who secured their MENA Tour cards for 2020 from the Qualifying School B stage today.

The Journey to Jordan begins in real earnest when our season-opening J2J#1 is held at Ayla Golf Club from Feb 3-5.@AylaOasis @arenamiddleeast pic.twitter.com/UMycq9KuTS

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) January 29, 2020

Lundell’s victory comes after a famous name captured Q-School A medallist honours last week. Miguel Jiménez Jnr, the son of 21-time European Tour winner and victorious Ryder Cupper Miguel Ángel Jiménez, won the first leg with a -9, 207 aggregate after struggling to 78th place in last season’s professional Journey to Jordan moneylist.

Among the total of 22 players (in a field of 33) to advance from Q-School A were Chinese amateur Ziang Xu (+6) and English professional Alfie Plant who sprung to prominence by claiming the Silver Medal for amateur honours at the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

There is something about the Ayla Golf Club that Miguel Angel Jimenez Junior absolutely loves.
He got a hole-in-one there last year and he now has a win as well.
No wonder he loves the place…his daughter is named Ayla as well!@Tengolf @arenamiddleeast @GolfDigestME pic.twitter.com/AyWOgpSnGO

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) January 24, 2020

Many congratulations to the 22 players who earned their cards for the 2020 MENA Tour by Arena season at the Qualifying School A at @AylaOasis in Jordan.

-9 – Miguel Angel Jimenez Jr
-6 – @NathanKimsey
– 5 – Billy Hemstock and @K_Esteve pic.twitter.com/OumBoJeB0L

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) January 23, 2020

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