PGA Professional Chris Gane showed his mettle in the final round of the 2016 OnCourse Golf Abu Dhabi Pro-Am, carding a one-over par 73 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club for a massive 13-shot winning margin at six-under par 210.
“It’s always great to win, and it’s nice to win over three days,” said Great Britain & Ireland Professional Gane. “The team struggled a little bit today…we were all pretty exhausted but we’ve had a great week and it’s been a great Pro-Am and I’m looking forward to coming back next year.”
Gane began the day with a comfortable 10-shot lead, but with hot conditions at the event supported by Fine & Country Golf and temperatures reaching 39 degrees, it was always going to be a tough battle.
A birdie at the first hole was a dream start, but with two bogeys and a further birdie, he finished at level par for the front nine.
A single bogey on the back nine at the 13th hole gave Gane his only over-par round of the tournament – after rounds of 66 at Yas Links on Thursday and opening-round 71 at Saadiyat Beach, was still more than enough to secure victory.
A PGAs of Europe sanctioned event win will also see Gane receive an invite to the 2016 UniCredit PGA Professional Championship of Europe later this year.
“I got into Pravets two years ago and it’s a great event,” Gane added. “A chance to go and play the PGAs of Europe Club Pros, well…I can’t wait – it’s nice to win here and that’s a real added bonus.”
In second place was Simon Lily, another PGA of GB&I Professional. Lily got off to a good start with a birdie at the second, but bogeys at three and nine, and further three bogeys on the back nine resulted in a four-over par 76 and a seven-over par 223 finish to grab the second place by two strokes.
PGA of Spain’s Adam Sagar shot the lowest round of the final round – an even-par 72 – to finish third on 225. His one-under par front nine and one-over back nine was a consistent finish to the tournament.
The Team Pro-Am honours went to wire-to-wire leaders Team Makszin – PGA of Hungary pro Aron Makszin and his amateurs Csaba Nagy, Zsolt Bohacs and Adam Osztovits finished on 85 points (-13) to take their overall total to an outstanding 269 points (-53).
PGA of UAE Professional, Ross Bain, and amateurs Stephen Rutter, Scott Horne and David Minchin, took second place with a 252 point (-36) total, whilst Gane and his amateurs Neil Foulkes, Andrew Doswell and Stuart Munro were third with 243 points (-27).
