Young amateur Ben Alexander shot a career-best five-under 67 to join Stuart Archibald, Christofer Blomstrand and Cyril Suk at the top of the leaderboard after the opening day of the Muscat Hills Golf Citizen Championship.
The 21-year-old Scot rebounded from an early bogey on the first with two birdies on the front nine and picked up three more shots coming home, including an eagle on the par-5 13th.
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England’s Archibald and Sweden’s Blomstrand went bogey-free while Czech player Suk, who won the 2014 Sheikh Maktoum Dubai Open, reeled off four birdies in his last seven to move into a four-way tie for the lead.
“I should have been a lot lower missed many short putts,” said Alexander, who had missed the cut on his six previous MENA Tour outings. “I was feeling mentally much stronger and that was the key.”
Of his eagle on the 13th, he said: “I missed the fairway off the tee, but hit my four-iron from 221 years to within two feet of the pin.
“It certainly lifted my round and my spirits.”
Edinburgh man Ben Alexander, an amateur member at Renaissance Club, fires 67 (-5) to share lead in @MENAGolfTour event in Muscat @ts_sport
— Martin Dempster (@DempsterMartin) October 19, 2015
England’s Archibald, who finished third at last week’s event at The Els Club, sounded very pleased with his day’s work.
“I really didn’t know what to expect when I teed off, but things fell into place as the round wore on.
“I drove the ball well and hit my approaches close to the pin.
“I chipped in on the 18th for a birdie which was quite nice.
“In fact, I played the last three well, but missed out on a five-footer for a birdie on the 16th, which was a shame.” Morocco’s Younes El Hassani and Mustapha El Maouas carded matching three-under 69s for a share of the lead in the MENA Division, one shot clear of their compatriots Mohamed Belaroussia and Mehdi Saissi.
Elsewhere, England’s Joshua White, who won the MENA Golf Tour Order of Merit title last year, carded a 71, while India’s Rayhan Thomas returned a two-under 70, highlighted by an eagle on the 13th, to occupy solo second place in the amateur division behind Alexander.
