James Bowring endured a roller-coaster two days at Al Hamra Golf Club to win the 2008 UAE PGA Championship, sponsored by RAK Ceramics.
Bowring shot a superb course-record 69 on the opening day for a two-shot lead, but saw that evaporate into a three-shot deficit on the first nine holes of day two as Stuart Fee (Jebel Ali) mounted a terrific charge, going out in 33, while Bowring ran up three bogeys on the spin at from the sixth to the eighth.
Bowring bounced back to birdie 14 and 15 while Fee ran into trouble around the treacherous back nine, dropping shots regularly. When he double-bogeyed 17 after an errant drive left him an impossible lie in the sand, it meant he would come home in 43 for a 76 and only third place.
Bowring's steady 73 for a two-under par 142 total gave him a two-shot victory over Simon Payne (Palm Resort Al Ain).
Payne's runner-up spot, however, was enough to secure his second UAE PGA Order of Merit title in a row.
Bowring picked up his largest ever purse of Dh4,050 for his victory, and said: “I have been working hard on my game for about six weeks now with new coach Mark Gregson-Walters and there were signs of my game coming together last week in the Black Tee Challenge when I took third spot. “Obviously shooting 69 on day one felt great to get the course record but coming back in 35 on day two was the best feeling knowing that I played solid.''
High fives
UAE PGA Championship
(Al Hamra Golf Links, RAK)
142 James Bowring (Al Naboodah) 69 73
146 Simon Payne (Palm Res, Al Ain) 74 72
147 Stuart Fee (Jebel Ali) 71 76
149 Ross McArthur (Al Hamra)) 76 73
151 Luke Cantelo (The Montgomerie) 77 74
UAE PGA Order of merit (points after 15 events)
1 Simon Payne (Palm Res, Al Ain) 795 (Payne retains Order of Merit Title)
2 Stephen Hubner (Dubai Creek) 645
3 Luke Cantelo (Montgomerie) 555
4 David Gray (Dubai Creek) 552.5
5 Nick Oakley (IGLS) 547.5
Now Bowring has eyes on the double
James Bowring has the chance to complete a unique strokeplay-matchplay “double'' on Saturday when he lines up in the finals of the Professional Golfers' Association Matchplay Championships at his home course, Four Seasons Golf Club, Al Badia, Dubai. Bowring goes head-to-head with Justin Parsons of the Montgomerie Golf Club, Dubai, in the first semi-final while Nick Oakley (IGLS) takes on David Gray (Dubai Creek) in the second.
Both semi-finals tee off in the morning and the winners will face off over 18 holes in the afternoon to decide who will be UAE Professional Matchplay champion for 2008.
