Zane Scotland, the defending Ras Al Khaimah Classic champion, came back from the dead with a magnificent back nine to overcome a stuttering start in the opening round at Tower Links Golf Club yesterday.
The turnaround saw the defending champion make six birdies in his last seven holes for a card of even-par 72, but the Englishman was still four shots off the pace.
On a hot and humid day when 50 players shot par or better, Spaniard Toni Ferrer, England’s Ashley Rees and Kenyan Abdulrahman Sihag all shot four-under par 68 to lead the $50,000 tournament.
Morocco’s Ahmed Marjane heads an eight-man chasing group on three-under par 69 with nine players just a shot further back.
As many as seven Arab golfers, including the UAE’s Ahmed Al Musharrekh, put red numbers on the scorecard in a healthy sign of the growing standard of the game in the MENA region.
Marjane mixed four birdies, including three on the back nine, with a lone bogey on the seventh, to lead the race for the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Award as fellow countryman Amine El Malki hit the front in the amateur division with a par 70.
Making his debut on the MENA Golf Tour, England’s John Singleton, who earlier this year qualified for The Open Championship, settled for a level-par 72.
And Singleton, a factory employee in Birkenhead, said: “I really enjoyed my day out there. It was my first competitive round since The Open and I obviously felt a bit rusty.”
But it was Scotland’s stunning rally that was the talk of the golf course. The 32-year-old ignited his fightback after dropping five shots on two holes on the outward nine.
“It was a nightmare. On the fifth, I lost my ball off the tee and three putted for a triple bogey then on the sixth, my ball got stuck in a palm tree, resulting in a double-bogey,” said Scotland.
“Take those two holes away, I think I played well. If I continue to play the way I did on the back nine, in particular, I think I stand a chance come Wednesday.”
Luke Joy, the Order of Merit leader, and Cyril Suk, winner of the Shaikh Maktoum Dubai Open, both carded matching 72s, while Chris McDonnell, the dual winner of the 2014 British and Austrian PGA, slipped to four-over 76.
