Former European Tour member Ross McGowan rode on another strong finish to fire back-to-back 71s and take a two-shot lead as overnight leader Faycal Serghini of Morocco slipped to tied seventh after a five-over 78, going into the final round of the MENA Golf Tour’s Royal Golf Dar Es Salam Open on Wednesday.
The Englishman made the turn at one over, but left the best for last as he picked up three birdies in his last six holes to move atop the leaderboard at four-under 142 with France’s Edouard Espana occupying solo second on 144 and Germany’s Sebastian Heisele, who shot a 67 — the best round of the tournament thus far — and Spain’s Carlos Balmaseda sitting a further shot back.
“I played much better than I did in the first round and it was less scrappy,” said McGowan, who won the MENA Golf Tour’s 2012 Abu Dhabi GOLF CITIZEN Open by a record six-shot margin.
England’s Ross McGowan leads by two shots with a round to play in Rabat. (Photo – MENA Tour).
“I may have left some shots out there, but I hit lots of good putts on the line I wanted to hit them, some of them went in, some didn’t. So I had a couple of close ones,” said 31-year-old from Basildon, Essex.
“I finished well again, making three birdies on the last six holes which was encouraging,” said McGowan who birdied the last three holes in the first round. “Hopefully, I can make a strong start (in the final round) and keep the momentum going all the way through,” said the Englishman, the winner of the Madrid Masters on the European Tour in 2009.
Unlike McGowan’s round, a bogey-double bogey finish prevented defending champion Zane Scotland from making a charge up the leaderboard. A second round three-over 76 meant he finished the day at two-over 148 and in a tie for 10th, which includes Morocco’s Younes El Hassani, who returned a 74 for the second day in a row.
“I just didn’t finish well. I have not been striking the ball well and it’s reflecting in the scores,” said Scotland, whose second round contained four birdies, three bogeys and two double bogeys.
Overnight leader Serghini was disappointed with his efforts on a cloudy, windy day when only 11 players broke par.
“I just played terrible golf, simple as that. I three putted four times, which was quite bad and made just two birdies, including one the last,” said the experienced Moroccan who finished runner-up to England’s Joshua White last week in the Royal Golf D’Anfa Open in Mohammedia.
Ayoub Lguirati gave the home crowd something to cheer about when he moved clear at the top of the amateur division thanks to a superb second round of 70 took him to level par for the tournament, a good six shots ahead of England’s James Yeomans but also in with a chance of overall glory.
Elsewhere, Stephen Dodd of Wales settled for a 76 to move into a tie for the14th, but it was Dubai-based Heisele, who lit up the course on Wednesday, reeling off six birdies, one eagle and just two bogeys to make a big move up the leaderboard after opening with a 78.
The cut was made at 11-over par 157 with 56 players, including 10 amateurs, making it to the final round.
