Lee takes Route 66

Sport360 staff 00:57 21/09/2016
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  • Man on a mission: Lee Corfield will be looking for his fifth title

    Starting the day four shots off the pace, Corfield strung together the tournament’s low score to reach seven-under for the tournament, two shots ahead of fellow Englishman Luke Joy and Sweden’s Per Barth.

    Overnight joint leader Rayhan Thomas of India slipped to tied fourth on four-under after carding a 73, a triple bogey on the 10th hole and two three-putt bogeys after that spoiling what was turning into an impressive card on a demanding golf course that played long and featured some tough pin positions.

    Spain’s Carlos Balmaseda, Oscar Hertzberg of Sweden and England’s Max Williams completed the group on four-under as seven players, including Shahid Javed of Pakistan and Craig Hinton, who shared the overnight lead, moved into a tie for eighth a further shot adrift on three-under.

    “I played some good, solid golf. I made six birdies and five bogeys in the first round, but today I kept the bogeys off my card, which is always the key to going low,” said Corfield, a four-time winner on the MENA Golf Tour, who has been struggling with back issues and played a limited schedule this year.

    “You never know what tomorrow holds, but I feel like I am playing nicely. Will see how things pan out.”

    In-form Thomas started strong, making three birdies in his first four holes, but hit the roadblock on the 10th when a wayward drive went right into the desert. He tried to hack it out from there but went deeper into the sand, and then had to declare his ball unplayable.

    “I was cruising along nicely having got off to another great start, but one bad hole changed the whole look of the card. Take that away and I think I played really well. I am just three shots off the pace and very much in with chance,” said the Dubai-based 16-year-old amateur.

    Morocco’s Faycal Serghini shot a 71 to return to the top of the leaderboard in the MENA Division on one-under, two shots ahead of compatriot Ahmed Marjan who stumbled to a 77 after opening with a 68.

    “I think I played really well. Things could have been even better, but made a bogey-bogey finish, which was a bit disappointing,” said Serghini, who is coming off a tendon injury in his left hand that kept him out of competitive golf for two months.

    Playing in his first season on the MENA Golf Tour, Australia’s Ryan Laird provided the highlight of the day when he aced the par-3, 17th for the first hole-in-one of his career.

    The 22-year-old from Melbourne smashed his six-iron from 221 yards to achieve the feat as he returned a second-round 72 to move to tied 33rd from overnight 44th spot.

    England’s Andrew Marshall, who won last week’s Shaikh Maktoum Dubai Open, carded back-to-back 71s for a share of 15th along with his compatriot Zane Scotland, an 11-time winner on the MENA Golf Tour.

    The cut was made at three-over 147 with 47 professionals and 13 amateurs making it to the final round.

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