Dubai: Defending champion Jake Shepherd is looking to retain next week’s Dubai Creek Open in round 10 of the 18-stage Mena Golf Tour.
The 25-year-old Englishman beat India’s Rayhan Thomas and Austria’s Florian Praegant in a three-way playoff at this stage last year for only his second victory on Tour.
“Even though I haven’t played a lot this season, I feel like my game is in good shape technically,” said the 2011 Order of Merit winner. “It’s a just question of sharpening everything up like shaping the ball and distance control.
“I have really good memories from the Creek last year and it would be great to give myself another chance at winning come Wednesday afternoon,” said Shepherd, who topped the tour’s Order of Merit in 2011.
“I really feel like my game is in good shape, and it’s a just question of everything clicking at the right time, but I am trying not to think too much about the week and will take things as they come.”
Shepherd will have his work cut out for him against the likes of fellow Englishmen Zane Scotland, Lee Corfield and Luke Joy — who are all multiple winners of the tour — as well as Danny Poulter, the brother of Ryder Cup hero Ian, who will be making his first appearance on tour.
The entries for the event, which can accommodate a maximum of 120 golfers, once again wear a global look with golfers from 23 countries represented in the field. The English players top the chart with 37 entries, followed by Sweden (10) and South Africa (eight).
Of the 49 events played so far on the MENA Golf Tour since its inception in 2011, the English players have been most successful, winning 29 times, with Zane Scotland alone claiming 11 of those titles.
The fifth edition of the tournament has also attracted the celebrated Moroccan trio of Ahmad Marjane - the first Arab winner on the tour - Faycal Serghini and Younus Al Hassani, as well as the UAE’s Ahmed Al Musharrakh, who returns to the tour after successfully completing his military service.
Local amateurs
Elsewhere, the UAE’s No.1 amateur Rayhan Thomas will spearhead the amateur division, which has attracted multiple entries from Morocco, Oman and Saudi Arabia, adding a distinct Arab flavour to the event. A two-time runner-up on tour, Thomas, 16, will be aiming to go all the way on his home course in order to become the first amateur to win an event on tour.
The tour was formed in 2011 to give local players a stepping stone towards professionalism. Players can earn world rankings points, while Order of Merit winners at the end of the season can earn invites to European Tour events, full playing privileges on the Sunshine Tour and exemptions to the final stage of Asian Tour qualifying school.
Mena Golf Tour Order of Merit standings:
Professionals:
1. Zane Scotland (England) $25,734 (Dh94,500)
2. Andrew Marshall (England) $16,172
3. Antonio Costa (Chile) $15,296
4. Craig Hinton (England) $13,896
5. Wolmer Murillo (Venezuela) #11,400
Amateurs:
1. Rayhan Thomas (India) 133 points
2. Benjamin David (England) 75
3. Ben Alexander (Scotland) 53
4. Yassine Touhami (Morocco) 52
5. Darin De Smidt (South Africa) 50
