Abu Dhabi: American amateur sensation Bryson DeChambeau continued to prove his mettle against golf’s elite by firing a round-of-the-day 65 in the Abu Dhabi Invitational at Yas Links on Sunday.
DeChambeau, who made headlines here just two weeks ago with an opening 64 in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, was not eligible to win the individual competition for professionals. His seven-under-par score at the charity event which featured leading names such as the world number two Rory McIlroy was, however, another reminder a star of the future has emerged.
Four professionals – Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, England’s Matthew Baldwin, Chile’s Felipe Aguilar and Frenchman Alexander Levy – shared the first prize of $25,000 (Dhs92,000) with five-under-par rounds of 67 on the seaside layout designed by Kyle Phillips.
Despite missing out on the main prize due to his amateur status, DeChambeau’s stellar scoring did help him get his hands on the pro-am team prize. He paired up with Emirati professional Ahmad Al Musharrekh to card an 11-under-par 61 under the betterball format.
“We had fun, we had a great time,” said the 22-year-old DeChambeau. “Ahmad was incredible and we both fed off each other all day. For me it was another one of those days when I just had everything going.”
He added: “I loved it out there. Kyle Philips is a great designer and Yas Links was enjoyable to play. I’d love to play in more European Tour events and it would be incredible to play more in the United Arab Emirates. They’ve been fantastic hosts and I’d love to play in this tournament again.”
Speaking on behalf of the four professional winners, Aguilar said: “We’d like to thank the Abu Dhabi Sports Council for making this event possible, as well as the founders Mohammad Al Farooq and Abdullah Al Naboodah. Yas Island has become a great place to play golf and Yas Links is really amazing.
“It’s a lot of fun to come here every year and support the event. Hopefully next time one of us can win one of those Bentleys for a hole-in-one.”
Several big names played in the tournament, which this year raised money for the Emirates Red Crescent charity, a volunteer humanitarian organisation, including West Indies cricket great Brian Lara and former football stars Andriy Shevchenko and Roberto Di Matteo.
Aref Hamad Al Awani, General Secretary of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC), was delighted with the latest edition of the event, commenting: “The Abu Dhabi Invitational has yet been another success this year, with a quality international field of professionals, celebrities and amateurs uniting to raise funds for Emirates Red Crescent whilst enjoying a world-class golf course. We would like to thank everyone who has supported this year’s tournament and are already looking forward to 2017.”
RESULTS
Individual professionals: 1st: Felipe Aguilar, Matthew Baldwin, Thongchai Jaidee, Alexander Levy 67
2nd: Eduardo de la Riva, Benjamin Hebert, Nacho Elvira 68
Betterball team Pro-am: 1st: Ahmad Al Musharrekh and Bryson DeChambeau (0 handicap) 61
2nd: Mike Lorenzo-Vera & Nigel Cann (9 handicap) 63
