The vastly experienced Ross McGowan, a former winner on the European Tour, made the most of his brilliant form in the Moroccan leg as he took the top spot in the Order of Merit after the opening two events on the 2015 MENA Golf Tour schedule.
The 32-year-old Englishman overturned a record-equalling sixshot deficit on the final day to win the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam Open in Rabat by three shots and kept the momentum rolling with a solo third at the Royal D’Anfa Open in Mohammedia, which was just three shots off the pace.
With $13,000 (Dh47,710) in earnings from the first two events, McGowan has a comfortable lead on top of the Order of Merit standings, ahead of Scotland’s Paul Doherty, who broke through for his maiden win on the MENA Golf Tour at Mohammedia.
For McGowan, the victory in Rabat was his second on the tour following the 2012 Abu Dhabi Golf Citizen.
In the process, McGowan matched the largest final-day comeback on the MENA Golf Tour, earlier held by compatriot Ross Canavan at the 2011 RAK Classic.
One of the most experienced players in the field, having won the European Tour’s 2009 Madrid Masters, McGowan will be the player to beat when the tour resumes after the summer break in September.
Doherty, playing in his second full season on the tour, produced a bogey-free 69 for a well-deserved win in Mohammedia.
Adjudged the best professional in the region in 2014, Morocco’s Faycal Serghini wasted no time in seizing the early lead in the MENA Division for the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation Award, which recognises the region’s top-three professional and amateur performances, ahead of compatriots Ahmed Marjane and Amine Joudar.
The Order of Merit for amateurs wore a familiar look with defending champion James Allan of England finding his groove early into the season with a second (Rabat)
and first-place finish (Mohammedia) while Saudi Arabia’s rising star Khaled Attieh showed signs of his precocious talent, taking an early lead in the MENA Division ahead of Morocco’s Karim El Hali.
Attieh, who plays off a plus two handicap, said: “My biggest takeaway from these two tournaments is an increased confidence in my ability to play golf at any level. I am improving with every tournament and that makes me feel proud.”
