Al Ain: Faycal Serghini believes his big day might be around the corner as he seeks to snap a run of near-misses on the Mena Golf Tour, which reaches its climax with the season-ending championship at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Golf Club, starting on Monday.
A three-time runner-up on the tour, the 38-year-old Moroccan flirted with success at last week’s Ras Al Khaimah Classic, but slipped into a tie for eighth after starting the final day just one shot off the pace.
Serghini’s closing 74 was just a temporary glitch in an otherwise strong performance and he will be keen to put it behind him when he joins the exclusive field at the Tour Championship.
Presented by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, the championship will see leading 40 professionals and 15 leading amateurs from their respective Orders of Merit compete for honours.
“I am getting close, very close. I think it is just a matter of time before my time comes. The door will open sooner or later,” said Serghini, who also settled for second place in the 2013 Tour Championship in Al Ain after leading by five shots overnight.
“The goal is to eventually get into contention week in and week out and start winning golf tournaments. I feel like I am in the zone and I have the self-belief in my game which is the key,” said the experienced campaigner from Casablanca.
“I am pretty familiar with conditions in Al Ain, but still you have to execute your shots and play as well as you can since the standard of golf is very high,” said Serghini, who is also a ‘golf in Dubai’ ambassador.
“The [Mena Golf] Tour has provided the region’s players with a plenty of career-enhancing opportunities and it’s just a matter of time before we see an Arab player on one of the main tours, the Asian Tour or the European Tour.”
With two top-10s this season, the top-ranked Moroccan has already put himself firmly in the frame for the Leading Mena Professional Award ahead of his compatriot Amine Joudar, with rookie Mehdi Saissi trailing a distant third on the region’s Order of Merit table.
The region’s three highest-ranked professionals also stand to gain from a separate prize fund of $13,500 (Dh49,584), which incudes $8,500 (Dh31,220) bonus-pool money, while the leading three amateurs will be awarded gift vouchers worth $2,500 (Dh9,182).
The added cash incentives for the region’s top talent are part of the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation’s drive aimed at the overall development of the sport across the board.