Dubai: The decision to grab a practice round at The Montgomerie paid off handsomely for the brother-in-law pairing of Mohammad Khan and Raju Dayalan as they upstaged some seasoned golfers to win the 17th Gulf News Merchants Cup yesterday.
Khan and Dayalan, who are married to sisters, felt that the 18-holes that they sneaked on Wednesday helped sharpen their game that yielded some disciplined golf. The pair carded the day's best stableford score of 41 points to win from the pairing of Andrew Robinson and Shahriar Khodjasteh who returned a 39. Finishing third on a countback were Rabih Sfeila and Marwan Rizk.
Khan was winning the Merchants Cup for the second time having triumphed four years ago with playing partner Srinivas, while 60-year-old Dayalan flew in from Kuala Lumpur only to play the event.
"It was an expensive trip but worth every penny," said Dayalan, who describes himself as an active ‘social' golfer.
"This is such a wonderful tournament and is so much fun. We take our golf pretty seriously, particularly during events like this, and when you put your mind to the game you can do amazing things," he said.
"If all goes well I'll be back next year!," added Dayalan who says he has won more tournaments than he can remember back in his native Malaysia.
Khan was equally delighted to win the tournament and said that winning felt just as sweet, a second time around.
"I just love this tournament. It's well organised and Gulf News are great hosts," said Khan, a real estate businessman.
"I've been playing in it for over eight years and I have enjoyed every event. It was fantastic to win it with my good friend Srinivas previously and this win with Daya was equally enjoyable," he added.
Getting serious
"I play golf for leisure but when you compete in tournaments like this you need to get a little serious," Khan added.
"So when Daya arrived in Dubai we decided to get in a practice round, which we did, and I think that's what made the difference. There were some solid players out today, so it felt good to win this tournament," he said.
"I want to thank Gulf News for their support of this event for so many years, and I might add that a lot of us leisure golfers look forward to returning to play in it each year."
A total of 76 players teed-off yesterday to compete in the tournament which was first held back in 1996 and is staged every year for ardent golfers from within the business fraternity and beyond.
Results
- Winners: Mohammad Khan/ R Dayalan 41 points
- Runners-up: Andrew Robinson/ Shahriar Kodjasteh 39
- Third place: Rabih Sfeila/ Marwan Rizk 39
- Fourth place: Jonathan Watts/ Clark Williams 37
- Fifth place: Ishwar Jodha/ Ramesh Prabhakar 37.
Other prizes
- Longest Drive 10th Hole Rita Walker
- Nearest the Pin 17th Hole Pete Loakman
- Straightest Drive on Hole 1 Rina Roy
- Most valuable player Bayer Khan
- Most birdies Clark Williams
- Most Balls lost on Hole 18
