MacIntyre tees off pro career with a 78 in Jordan


Oban left-hander Robert MacIntyre had a five-over-par 78 on his professional debut in the MENA Tour's 54-hole Ayla Championship at Ayla Golf Club, Aqaba in Jordan today.
The former Walker Cup player and past Scottish amateur champion had two double bogey 7s and only one birdie in halves of 39 and 38 in windy conditions.
Ranked No 14 among the world's amateurs last week, MacIntyre is joint 25th in a field of 58 behind joint leaders Luke Joy and amateur Todd Clement, both Englishmen, who both shot four-under-par 69s.

Zane Scotland, a 10-time winner on the tour, carded a solid a 70 that left him alone on third, one shot clear of Lee Corfield as MENA Tour patron Darren Clarke settled for tied 15^th after returning a three-over 76.

“It’s quite windy out there and it’s difficult (to score). You have to keep your emotions in check. Controlling the flight of the ball is quite important here,” said Clements, who is now 29 under for the last 10 rounds he has played on the MENA Tour.

“I got off to a nice start and managed to keep the momentum going. I am enjoying my golf and very happy with my efforts. We still have two more rounds to go and we will see how things pan out,” said Clements, the winner of the 2017 English Amateur Championship at The Berkshire in August.

A two-time winner on the tour, Joy was equally pleased with his day’s work. “Holed some nice putts and also left a few, but overall, it was a pretty good round. The course is just awesome and the wind makes it even more challenging,” said Joy who is attached to Yas Links, Abu Dhabi.

“The greens are quite tricky and you are going to miss some, but you have to stay patient. You also need a bit of luck if you aim to score well here,” said Joy, who holed a 54-degree wedge from 97 yards for an eagle two after his tee shot drifted into the rough.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
par 73

1		Luke Joy	-4	F	69	-	-	69
1		Todd Clements [Am]	-4	F	69	-	-	69
3		Zane Scotland	-3	F	70	-	-	70
4		Lee Corfield	-2	F	71	-	-	71
5		Lindsay Renolds	L	F	73	-	-	73
5		Louis Campbell	L	F	73	-	-	73
5		Fredrik From	L	F	73	-	-	73
5		Henric Sturehed	L	F	73	-	-	73
9		Rocco Sanjust	1	F	74	-	-	74
9		Jesper Alm	1	F	74	-	-	74
9		Jamie Elson	1	F	74	-	-	74
9		Matt Killen	1	0	74	-	-	-
13		Joe Heraty	2	F	75	-	-	75
13		Fredrik Lindblom	2	F	75	-	-	75
15		Michael Harradine [Am]	3	F	76	-	-	76
15		Tom Boys	3	F	76	-	-	76
15		Arkesh Bhatia [Am]	3	F	76	-	-	76
15		Darren Clarke	3	F	76	-	-	76
15		Kevin Esteve	3	F	76	-	-	76
15		Paul Dwyer	3	F	76	-	-	76
21		Wayne Stroebel	4	F	77	-	-	77
21		Othman Almulla [Am]	4	F	77	-	-	77
21		Andrew Burmester	4	F	77	-	-	77
21		Leon Acikalin [Am]	4	F	77	-	-	77
25		Petr Dedek	5	F	78	-	-	78
25		Peter Stojanovski	5	F	78	-	-	78
25		Daniel Scourfield	5	F	78	-	-	78
25		Eddy Holland	5	F	78	-	-	78
25		Sam Hobday [Am]	5	F	78	-	-	78
25		Elliot Bradley	5	F	78	-	-	78
25		Leo Lilja	5	F	78	-	-	78
25		Shergo Al Kurdi [Am]	5	F	78	-	-	78
25		Taylor Carter [Am]	5	F	78	-	-	78
25		Joshua Grenville-Wood	5	F	78	-	-	78
25		Robert MacIntyre	5	F	78	-	-	78
36		Jake Shepherd	6	F	79	-	-	79
36		Elliott Oxlade	6	F	79	-	-	79
36		Salvador Paya Vila	6	F	79	-	-	79
36		Dylan Docherty	6	F	79	-	-	79
36		Matt Carroll	6	F	79	-	-	79
41		Jonathan Fransson	7	F	80	-	-	80
41		James Ashman	7	F	80	-	-	80
41		Jordan Garnish	7	F	80	-	-	80
41		Ahmed Skaik [Am]	7	F	80	-	-	80
45		Mark Chamberlain	8	F	81	-	-	81
45		Ahmed Almusharrekh	8	F	81	-	-	81
45		Aaron Leitmannstetter	8	F	81	-	-	81
45		Benjamin David	8	F	81	-	-	81
45		Philip Geerts	8	F	81	-	-	81
50		Lakshya Mudgil	9	F	82	-	-	82
Provisional Cut Line
51		Khalid Yousuf [Am]	10	F	83	-	-	83
51		Azaan Al Rumhy [Am]	10	F	83	-	-	83
53		Rachid Akl [Am]	11	F	84	-	-	84
53		Amer Radee [Am]	11	0	84	-	-	-
55		Edward Kent	13	F	86	-	-	86
55		Aryavir Kumar	13	F	86	-	-	86
57		Phumlani Maluka [Am] 2281	14	F	87	-	-	87
58		Tareq Alghababasheh [Am]	24	F	97	-	-	97