England’s Ross McGowan ended a three-year winless drought to capture the MENA Tour’s Abu Dhabi Golf Citizen Open in brilliant manner on the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club course.
After ending the second and penultimate round with a double bogey, the affabel McGowan fired a solid final round of 67 to end 12 under 204, a staggering six shots ahead of second-placed Roland Steiner of Austria.
Nothing went right for overnight leader Stephen Dodd of Wales, who imploded finishing in fifth place on five under 212, one shot behind English amateur Tyler Hogarty and Singapore’s Mitchell Slorach.
Ross McGowan ends three year winless drought to capture Abu Dhabi Citizen Open. (Photo – thanks to MENA Tour)
It was McGowan, who held centre-stage with an inspired all-round performance.
McGowan recorded his first win since capturing the European Tour’s 2009 Madrid Masters.
The ISM client picked up early birdies on the second, sixth and eighth to take the outright lead and he kept the momentum rolling into the back nine to seal an emphatic win.
“Basically, I stuck to my game plan and making those early birdies kind of put me on the road to victory,” said McGown after receiving the winner’s trophy and a cheque for $9,000 from Khalfan Al Kaabi, a board member of the Emirates Golf Federation, in the company of Mohamed Juma Buamaim, chairman of the MENA Golf Tour.
“My swing is back on track, and that’s quite satisfying.
“This win will definitely add to my confidence going to the PGA Tour School next week.
“I have played this Saadiyat course about 30 to 40 times, and obviously ‘local knowledge’ helped in getting the distances right. Also, I was able to judge wind directions better,” he added.
Unlike McGowan, Dodd simply struggled. Whatever he did right was derailed once he got on the greens.
“I think I drove the ball well, but just couldn’t putt,” said the triple European Tour winner.
“I needed to make birdies which I didn’t and that made all the difference.”
If the pressure exposed wrinkles in Dodd’s composure and blemishes in his game, young English amateur Hogarty enjoyed what he called a “great day” on the course.
“My aim is to play all events on the tour and try and win at least one,” said Hogarty.
“I came pretty close to doing that today. There is always a next time,” said the Englishman, who closed with a 70.
The third event on the MENA Golf Tour, the American Express Dirab Golf Championship, will be played from October 8 to 10.
A new initiative of the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation, the tour is affiliated to R&A and the Arab Golf Federation.
The six-stop tour, which is backed by Omega and Mercedes-Benz, boasts a combined prize fund of $325,000.
Leading scores after the final round:
204 – Ross McGowan (England) 68 69 67
210 – Roland Steiner (Austria) 68 69 73
211 – Tyler Hogarty (AM – England) 68 72 71, Mitchell Slorach (Singapore) 72 69 70
212 – Stephen Dodd (Wales) 66 69 77
213 – William Harrold (England) 75 67 71; Fredrik Quicker (Sweden) 70 73 70
214 – Shafiq Masih (Pakistan) 74 72 68; Berni Reiter Austria) 71 70 73; Matloob Ahmed (Pakistan) 73 71 70; Duncan Stewart (Scotland) 78 67 69)
