Stojanovski first Aussie to win on MENA Tour

 

By VIREN VARMA

RAS AL KHAIMAH, United Arab Emirates — His short game nicely honed, Peter Stojanovski strung together a solid 66 to win the MENA Tour’s Ras Al Khaimah Classic by three shots as overnight leader Daniel Owen endured a dreadful final round today.

Five shots off the pace at the start, Stojanovski lit up the back nine with six birdies against a lone bogey after making the turn at one under to finish at 13-under as the English duo of Andrew Marshall and Jamie Elson shared second on an eventful day at Tower Links Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates.

Seeking his first win on the MENA Tour, Owen carded a head-scratching 10-over-par 82 that left him in a tie for 23^rd on two-under, bringing back memories of a similarly spectacular collapse by his fellow Englishman Jake Shepherd, who also blew a five-shot lead, incidentally in the same tournament in 2011. 

The day belonged to Stojanovski, a 22-year-old prodigy who left some better-known names trailing in his wake with a consistent performance all week, becoming the first Australian to win a MENA Tour event.

“I am really delighted to win for the first time on the MENA Tour. I played some solid golf and really pleased to get the job done,” said the Sydney native after receiving the winner’s trophy from Simon Payne, general manager of Tower Links Golf Club. 

“I started off okay, but finished strongly. My short game was quite good and I holed some nice putts when I needed to. Overall, just kind of everything fell together,” said Stojanovski, who turned professional at the 2014 Dubai Creek Open.

“I just played my own game and didn’t think about what others were doing around me. I focused on every golf shot that I hit and that helped,” said the Australian, whose previous best finish on the MENA Tour being a top-six at the 2014 Ras Al Khaimah Classic. 

Owen’s stunning meltdown notwithstanding, idyllic conditions at Tower Links Golf Club brought a raft of red-figure rounds with Golf’s Mr Nice Guy, Marshall, leading the way with a sparkling 65 that moved him up from overnight tied 17^th to second overall.

England’s Josh Walsh and Germany’s Georg Schultes matched Marshall’s best score of the tournament to climb up the leaderboard as Welsh ace Stephen Dodd, who started the day in a tie for second, settled for tied 13^th on five under after a final round 74.

England’s Todd Clements comfortably kept up his dominance in the amateur division, carding a tidy 68 to finish on seven-under to beat his nearest challenger Tiago Lobo of Brazil by five shots as Sam Hobday, who also returned a final round 68, settled for third a further shot back.

 

Next up on the MENA Tour is a three-event Thailand swing that gets under way with the MahaSamutr Masters, sponsored by MahaSamutr Country Club, Hua Hin, at Banyan Golf Club on May 2.

 

FINAL TOTALS

1		Peter Stojanovski	-13	68	69	66	203	7,200.00
2		Jamie Elson	-10	71	66	69	206	4,800.00
2		Andrew Marshall	-10	71	70	65	206	3,200.00
4		Max Williams	-9	66	71	70	207	1,932.00
4		Stuart Archibald	-9	68	70	69	207	1,932.00
4		Josh Walsh	-9	72	70	65	207	1,932.00
7		Fredrik Lindblom	-8	72	66	70	208	1,032.00
7		Georg Schultes	-8	76	67	65	208	1,032.00
7		Henric Sturehed	-8	69	71	68	208	1,032.00
10		Todd Clements [Am]	-7	72	69	68	209	-
10		Paul Dwyer	-7	66	72	71	209	800.00
12		Jordan Garnish	-6	68	69	73	210	736.00
13		Lindsay Renolds	-5	70	69	72	211	619.00
13		Stephen Dodd	-5	70	67	74	211	619.00
13		Lee Corfield	-5	68	71	72	211	619.00
13		MG Keyser	-5	70	75	66	211	619.00
13		Leo Lilja	-5	69	72	70	211	619.00
18		Jake Shepherd	-4	76	69	67	212	517.00
18		Tyler Hogarty	-4	68	74	70	212	517.00
18		Liam Crawford	-4	72	70	70	212	517.00
21		David Anderson	-3	75	69	69	213	472.00
21		Jesper Alm	-3	67	75	71	213	472.00
23		Daniel Owen	-2	66	66	82	214	416.00
23		Craig Hinton	-2	69	71	74	214	416.00
23		Wayne Stroebel	-2	70	73	71	214	416.00
23		Joe Heraty	-2	71	74	69	214	416.00
23		Tiago Lobo [Am]	-2	73	73	68	214	-
23		James Ashman	-2	71	69	74	214	416.00
23		Eddy Holland	-2	69	75	70	214	416.00
23		Tim Gornik	-2	71	71	72	214	416.00
31		Elliott Oxlade	-1	69	75	71	215	356.00
31		Sam Hobday [Am]	-1	78	69	68	215	-
31		Jack Doherty	-1	71	69	75	215	356.00
31		Ben Amor	-1	73	71	71	215	356.00
35		Mariano Ochoa	L	73	70	73	216	315.00
35		Robbie Busher	L	71	74	71	216	315.00
35		Henry Featherstone	L	68	75	73	216	315.00
35		Francisco Perez	L	66	73	77	216	315.00
39		Clarke Lutton	1	71	72	74	217	280.00
39		Michael Harradine [Am]	1	71	74	72	217	-
39		Cyril Suk	1	73	73	71	217	280.00
39		Andi Dill	1	74	72	71	217	280.00
39		Christofer Rahm [Am]	1	74	72	71	217	-
39		Matt Carroll	1	69	76	72	217	280.00
45		Benjamin David	2	68	77	73	218	248.00
45		Adam Sagar	2	71	72	75	218	248.00
45		Davide Albertini	2	74	72	72	218	248.00
45		Toby Hunt	2	69	75	74	218	248.00
49		Simon Payne	3	72	70	77	219	220.00
49		Max Smith	3	70	72	77	219	220.00
49		Ryan Hunter [Am]	3	76	70	73	219	-
49		Salvador Paya Vila	3	72	73	74	219	220.00
53		Jean-Luc Burnier	4	72	74	74	220	200.00
53		Matt Killen	4	73	71	76	220	200.00
55		Edward Barry-Walsh 1358	5	72	74	75	221	190.00
56		Taylor Carter [Am]	7	72	76	75	223	-
57		Saleh Al Kaabi [Am]	8	72	77	75	224	-
58		Robert Horridge [Am]	9	72	77	76	225	-
59		Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Mansour [Am]	14	81	70	79	230	-