Elson beats Joy in play-off as
Scotland’s
MacIntyre sets course record on pro debut
By VIREN VARMA
AQABA
(Jordan), Oct 7 — Jamie Elson won the inaugural Ayla Golf Championship in a
tense play-off on Saturday, holing a four-foot birdie putt on the second extra
hole to beat fellow Englishman Luke Joy in an exciting finish to the first
professional golf event in the country.
Elson,
the current MENA Tour Order of Merit leader, eagled the final hole in
regulation en route to a closing 68 to set the clubhouse target of a
seven-under-par 212 that Joy matched with a 72, birdieing the last after
producing a stunning hole-in-one on the 12th.
Both
birdied the first extra hole to extend the proceedings, but a wayward drive by
Joy opened the door for Elson to secure his breakthrough win on the MENA Tour
he first played last year.
Scotland’s
Robert MacIntyre fired a sizzling nine-under 64 to set a new course record,
eclipsing a 67 shot by Sweden’s Henric Sturehed in the second round to move
into a four-way tie for third on six-under after an action-packed day.
England’s
Joe Heraty, who carded a bogey-free 68, Italy’s Rocco Sanjust (67) and Sturehed (73) joined MacIntyre in
the group, four clear of the English duo Zane Scotland and Lee Corfield and
Sweden’s Fredrik From.
“Quite
surprised to win, to be honest. Struggled a bit on the front nine, but made a
nice birdie on the ninth to get to level-par for the day. Thereafter, I played
solid golf and holed putts when I needed to, to get into the playoff,” said
Elson after receiving the winner’s trophy from HE Nasser Sultan Shraideh, Chief
Commissioner, Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority.
“Playoff
could have gone either way, but I hit some great shots and made putts to get the
job done, finally,” said the 36-year-old Englishman, eagled the last in
regulation, hitting his eight-iron approach from 185 yards to with two feet.
Scotland’s
MacIntyre, pictured below, tied for 15th at the start, produced the round of the tournament to
make his professional debut an event to remember. He finished joint third on SIX-under 213 and earned $US 2,811
“I
was far off from the lead after a disappointing 78 in the opening round and
had nothing to lose. Played a bit aggressively and that approach paid off,”
said the man from Oban, who eagled the final hole after hitting his nine-iron
approach from 168 yards to within nine yards.
“I
can always take a lot of confidence out of the last two bogey-free rounds, a
lot of positives,” said the 21-year-old former Scottish champion and Walker Cup player as an amateur
England’s
Todd Clements, the first round joint leader with Joy, closed with a 72 to share
the honours with Michael Harradine of Swtizerland in the amateur division after
both finished on one-over-par 220, well ahead of Saudi Arabia’s Othman Almulla
and Jordan’s Shergo Al Kurdi who tallied matching 13-over for the tournament.
England’s
Mark Chamberlain also had something to cheer about as he aced the 179-yard,
par-3 16th with an eight-iron for his first hole-in-one since turning
professional in 2011 — and the fifth overall — as he finished tied 47th.
The
MENA Tour will travel to Kuwait for the Sahara Kuwait Golf Championship to be
held from October 16 to 18, the last event on this year’s schedule before the
field whittles down for the 72-hole Tour Championship hosted by Al Zorah Golf
Club in Ajman from October 23 to 26.
FINAL TOTALS1 | ![]() | Jamie Elson (Playoff Winner) | -7 | F | 74 | 70 | 68 | 212 | 9,000.00 |
1 | ![]() | Luke Joy | -7 | F | 69 | 71 | 72 | 212 | 6,000.00 |
3 | ![]() | Joe Heraty | -6 | F | 75 | 70 | 68 | 213 | 2,811.00 |
3 | ![]() | Rocco Sanjust | -6 | F | 74 | 72 | 67 | 213 | 2,811.00 |
3 | ![]() | Henric Sturehed | -6 | F | 73 | 67 | 73 | 213 | 2,811.00 |
3 | ![]() | Robert MacIntyre | -6 | F | 78 | 71 | 64 | 213 | 2,811.00 |
7 | ![]() | Zane Scotland | -2 | F | 70 | 73 | 74 | 217 | 1,290.00 |
7 | ![]() | Lee Corfield | -2 | F | 71 | 74 | 72 | 217 | 1,290.00 |
7 | ![]() | Fredrik From | -2 | F | 73 | 73 | 71 | 217 | 1,290.00 |
10 | ![]() | Fredrik Lindblom | -1 | F | 75 | 72 | 71 | 218 | 1,000.00 |
11 | ![]() | Lindsay Renolds | L | F | 73 | 73 | 73 | 219 | 862.00 |
11 | ![]() | Matt Killen | L | F | 74 | 72 | 73 | 219 | 862.00 |
11 | ![]() | Leo Lilja | L | F | 78 | 70 | 71 | 219 | 862.00 |
14 | ![]() | Michael Harradine [Am] | 1 | F | 76 | 73 | 71 | 220 | - |
14 | ![]() | Todd Clements [Am] | 1 | F | 69 | 79 | 72 | 220 | - |
16 | ![]() | Salvador Paya Vila | 2 | F | 79 | 71 | 71 | 221 | 765.00 |
16 | ![]() | Leon Acikalin [Am] | 2 | F | 77 | 72 | 72 | 221 | - |
18 | ![]() | Arkesh Bhatia [Am] | 4 | F | 76 | 73 | 74 | 223 | - |
18 | ![]() | Darren Clarke | 4 | F | 76 | 76 | 71 | 223 | 705.00 |
18 | ![]() | Jordan Garnish | 4 | F | 80 | 69 | 74 | 223 | 705.00 |
18 | ![]() | Kevin Esteve | 4 | F | 76 | 74 | 73 | 223 | 705.00 |
18 | ![]() | Sam Hobday [Am] | 4 | F | 78 | 72 | 73 | 223 | - |
23 | ![]() | Tom Boys | 5 | F | 76 | 76 | 72 | 224 | 611.00 |
23 | ![]() | Wayne Stroebel | 5 | F | 77 | 77 | 70 | 224 | 611.00 |
23 | ![]() | Petr Dedek | 5 | F | 78 | 72 | 74 | 224 | 611.00 |
23 | ![]() | Daniel Scourfield | 5 | F | 78 | 77 | 69 | 224 | 611.00 |
27 | ![]() | Louis Campbell | 6 | F | 73 | 80 | 72 | 225 | 565.00 |
28 | ![]() | Peter Stojanovski | 7 | F | 78 | 70 | 78 | 226 | 543.00 |
28 | ![]() | James Ashman | 7 | F | 80 | 73 | 73 | 226 | 543.00 |
30 | ![]() | Elliott Oxlade | 8 | F | 79 | 73 | 75 | 227 | 512.00 |
30 | ![]() | Taylor Carter [Am] | 8 | F | 78 | 76 | 73 | 227 | - |
30 | ![]() | Philip Geerts | 8 | F | 81 | 73 | 73 | 227 | 512.00 |
33 | ![]() | Dylan Docherty | 9 | F | 79 | 74 | 75 | 228 | 490.00 |
34 | ![]() | Jesper Alm | 10 | F | 74 | 78 | 77 | 229 | 468.00 |
34 | ![]() | Paul Dwyer | 10 | F | 76 | 74 | 79 | 229 | 468.00 |
36 | ![]() | Jake Shepherd | 12 | F | 79 | 74 | 78 | 231 | 445.00 |
37 | ![]() | Othman Almulla [Am] | 13 | F | 77 | 79 | 76 | 232 | - |
37 | ![]() | Shergo Al Kurdi [Am] | 13 | F | 78 | 81 | 73 | 232 | - |
37 | ![]() | Matt Carroll | 13 | F | 79 | 75 | 78 | 232 | 430.00 |
40 | ![]() | Elliot Bradley | 14 | F | 78 | 77 | 78 | 233 | 415.00 |
41 | ![]() | Andrew Burmester | 15 | F | 77 | 76 | 81 | 234 | 400.00 |
42 | ![]() | Jonathan Fransson | 17 | F | 80 | 82 | 74 | 236 | 380.00 |
42 | ![]() | Joshua Grenville-Wood | 17 | F | 78 | 73 | 85 | 236 | 380.00 |
44 | ![]() | Aaron Leitmannstetter | 18 | F | 81 | 80 | 76 | 237 | 365.00 |
44 | ![]() | Ahmed Skaik [Am] | 18 | F | 80 | 81 | 76 | 237 | - |
46 | ![]() | Eddy Holland | 19 | F | 78 | 79 | 81 | 238 | 355.00 |
47 | ![]() | Mark Chamberlain | 20 | F | 81 | 78 | 80 | 239 | 345.00 |
47 | ![]() | Azaan Al Rumhy [Am] | 20 | F | 83 | 76 | 80 | 239 | - |
49 | ![]() | Ahmed Almusharrekh | 21 | F | 81 | 78 | 81 | 240 | 330.00 |
49 | ![]() | Lakshya Mudgil | 21 | F | 82 | 76 | 82 | 240 | 330.00 |
51 | ![]() | Khalid Yousuf [Am] | 22 | F | 83 | 79 | 79 | 241 | - |
Labels: MENA TOUR
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