Muscat: Young amateur Ben Alexander shot a career-best five-under 67 to join Stuart Archibald, Christofer Blomstrand and Cyril Suk atop the leaderboard after the opening day of the Muscat Hills Golf Citizen Championship here on Monday.
The 21-year-old Scottish prodigy rebounded from a bogey on the first with two birdies on the front nine and he picked up three more shots coming home, including an eagle on the par-5 13th, to introduce himself on the Mena Golf Tour after missing the cut in all his six previous outings.
England’s Archibald and Sweden’s Blomstrand went bogey-free, while Czech Republic’s Suk, who won the 2014 Shaikh Maktoum Dubai Open, reeled off four birdies in his last seven holes to join the four-way tie for the lead.
Sweden’s Per Barth, the winner of last month’s Shaikh Maktoum Dubai Open, was alone in fifth a further shot adrift, with Scotland’s Clarke Lutton, who won last week at The Els Club, heading a 10-man group at three-under.
On a hot and humid day when 30 players broke par, Alexander made his presence felt with a tidy round, but he was not too excited. “I should have been a lot lower ... missed many short putts,” said Alexander, who is playing in his first season on the tour.
“I was feeling mentally much stronger and that was the key,” said the Scotsman, who started playing competitive golf only a year ago.
Of his eagle on the 13th, he added: “I missed the fairway off the tee, but hit my four-iron from 221 years to within two feet of the pin. It certainly lifted my round and my spirits.”
England’s Archibald, who finished in solo third at last week’s event at The Els Club, was very pleased with his day’s work.
“I really didn’t know what to expect when I teed off, but things fell into place as the round wore on. I drove the ball well and hit my approaches close to the pin,” said Archibald, who made the turn at one under.
“I chipped in on the 18th for a birdie, which was quite nice. In fact, I played the last three well, but missed out on a five-footer for a birdie on the 16th, which was a shame.
“The course is very well designed. It’s just that the greens are a bit tough to read,” said the 31-year-old from Hampshire.
Morocco’s Younes Al Hassani and Mustapha Al Maouas carded matching three-under 69s for a share of the lead in the Mena Division, one shot clear of their compatriots Mohammad Belaroussia and Mahdi Saissi.
Elsewhere, England’s Joshua White, who won the Mena Golf Tour Order of Merit title last year, carded a 71 and India’s Rayhan Thomas returned a two-under 70, highlighted by an eagle on the 13th, to occupy solo second in the amateur division behind Alexander.
