Dubai: The fourth round of the 10-stage Mena Tour tees off in Saudi Arabia on Monday with the $50,000 (Dh183,700) American Express Dirab Golf Championship at Dirab Golf and Country Club.
With two wins, a second and $23,000 in the bank from the first three events of this year’s Tour, England’s Zane Scotland will be the odds-on favourite, but he will have to watch out for Pakistan’s Shafiq Masih, last year’s winner in Saudi Arabia.
Shafiq may have missed the cut at last week’s Dubai Creek Open, but he is confident of making a comeback. “I am pretty familiar with the course where I have been a teaching professional for many years.
“Local knowledge and memories of last year’s win makes it feel great coming back to Dirab. It will be lot of fun if I can win here again. Anything can happen in golf, but my confidence is on a high,” he added.
Leading the home challenge will be Prince Khalid Bin Saud Al Faisal, along with five other Saudi golfers, including professional Ali Balhareth. They join an 85-strong playing field, 26 of whom are amateur. Despite the strength of field the Saudi players are confident they can compete as well as anyone, especially in the amateur division.
An avid golfer, Prince Khalid has brought his handicap down to scratch, and he will be competing in the amateur division which will also see a number of Arab players from Morocco, Bahrain and the UAE contest for honours in what could lead to a healthy regional rivalry.
The Moroccan duo of Ahmed Marjan (85 points) and Mustapha Al Maouas (81) are currently leading the Order of Merit race in the amateur division, but they have their work cut out with the likes of England’s Jean-Michel Hall and Max Williams making big moves at the recently-concluded Dubai Creek Open.
“We feel proud and privileged to have Prince Khalid in the field. His gesture to sign up for the event is a great advertisement for the overall development of the game in the Kingdom,” said Mohammad Juma Buamaim, chairman of the Mena Golf Tour.
“This is our second visit to Saudi Arabia, but the tournament has already created a buzz with a quality field going out to experience the golfing facilities at Dirab Golf and Country Club. The success of this event, I am sure, will encourage other countries in the region to have their own event on the Mena Tour.
“We want is to see Arab golfers play well on the tour. Hopefully, the presence of Prince Khalid will provide just the inspiration they need to excel on the stage,” he added.
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