Hill holds strong in Abu Dhabi Amateur Championship at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club

Dubai-based Josh Hill of Trump International Golf Club shot a second-round three-under 69 to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Abu Dhabi Amateur Championship held at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club.

Hill shot a front nine of two-under for the second day in a row, and made further birdies on holes 10 and 11, before completing his round with all pars and a solitary dropped shot on the final hole, completing his back nine in 35.

Danish amateur Victor Svendsen, currently 886 in the amateur rankings and with a previous high ranking of 348, shot the round of the day on 67, to make up ground on leader Hill with three birdies on each half and a bogey 6 on hole 9.

Next on the leader board, a further three shots back, is another Dane, Frederik Birkelund who has managed three wins on the Danish amateur circuit in 2021, stands at five under par following a second round of 68.

The biggest improvement from round one was from Hugo Garcia (Spain) who followed up yesterday’s round of 92 with a 22 shot improvement for a 70, and was one of 13 players to break par in round 2.

The leading Arab national in the field is still Elyes Barhoumi (Tunisia) who shot a round of 72 to add to his first round 70 to lie in tied 8th place on two under par.

All is set for an exciting final round on Thursday over the Gary Player-designed course, with it looking a two-horse race between Hill and Svendsen, with perhaps no more than four in the mix with fifth place six shots off the leader with the leading two continuing to show their talents at the top of the leader board.

Tomorrow’s final round sees the leaders out last at 10.20am with 63 players still in the field.

Leaderboard

J Hill (Eng) -9
V Svendsen (Den) -8
F Birkelund (Den) -5
K Egan (Ire) -5
Z Chegwidden (UK) -3
T Bishop (Wales) -3
A Balala (Kenya) -3