Costa leads MahaSamutr Masters but Thomas is right on his tail

Joy Chakravarty 21:10 17/05/2016
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  • Route 66 to lead: Antonio Costa.

    The 16-year-old Thomas, who shot a six-under par 66 to finish second overall last week at the Mountain Creek Open, was just one shot behind the first-round leader Antonio Costa.

    The 27-year-old Chilean rattled off four birdies and an eagle in his flawless opening round, highlighted by impeccable approach shots, as England’s Stuart Archibald joined Thomas in tied second on five-under-par 67.

    American Barry Henson, who finished in a tie for 34th at last week’s Mauritius Open, and Englishman Craig Hinton were a further shot back on four-under par 68, one clear of a six-man group which included MENA Golf Tour’s Order of Merit leader Zane Scotland and fellow Englishman Miles Tunnicliff, a twotime winner on the European Tour.

    Thomas, who is currently leading the MENA Tour’s Order of Merit for amateurs, described his 67 as one of his best rounds on the Tour.

    “I don’t think I left any shot out there. I played just solid golf,” said Thomas who is now ranked 1244th among the professionals in the world courtesy the 1.8 world ranking points he earned last week.

    But it was Costa who took centre stage with his personal best score on the MENA Golf Tour which he joined earlier this year.

    “I struck the ball consistently well and felt very comfortable with my long game. All my approach shots were close, to within 10 or 12 feet, which was great,” said the Chilean, who eagled the par-5 eighth hole after smashing his hybrid from 220 yards to within 10 feet.

    “My score could have been a lot better had I putted well, but you can’t complain after a 66.”

    The English trio of Luke Joy, Fredrik Edmunds and Scott Campbell, and Swede Fredrik Lindblom completed the group sharing sixth place on 69. Last week’s winner Wolmer Murillo started with a 70.

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