Dubai: Zane Scotland admitted to feeling the buzz again after hauling himself back into contention as Sweden’s Oscar Hertzberg produced one of the rarest shots in golf, an albatross, going into the final round of the Golf Citizen Classic at the Els Club here on Tuesday.
England’s Scotland, a 10-time winner on the Mena Tour, rediscovered some magic of old, following his solid opening 69 with a 67 to join Wales’ Toby Hunt and Hamza Amin of Pakistan in a three-way tie for second on eight-under, just two shots behind South Africa’s MG Keyser, who is chasing a second Mena Tour title on the trot.
Sweden’s Henric Sturehed and Max Smith were tied for fifth on eight-under, one clear of the English duo Stuart Archibald and Craig Hinton, the 2016 Mena Tour champion.
Overnight leader Abhishek Jha endured a tough day, shooting a disappointing seven-under 79, littered with eight dropped shots, including a triple bogey on the a par-4, 10th and a birdie, to slip down the leaderboard to level-par for a share of 23rd.
Despite continuing to suffer back pain, Scotland surprised himself with another tidy performance to stay in the mix.
“It was a pretty good day at work, made lots of birdies, which is great. I have not been playing golf for a long time due to a bad back. It’s still hurting, but it feels great just to give myself a chance this week. Feel that buzz again of getting into contention,” said Scotland.
Showing no intention of taking his foot off the gas pedal, Keyser rebounded from a bogey-bogey start to light up the back nine with four birdies and an eagle as he bids to emulate Scotland, the only back-to-back winner on the Mena Tour.
Walsh ace Hunt, starting the day a good four shots back, carded a bogey-free 67 to climb up the leaderboard while Pakistan’s Hamza survived a mid-round meltdown to finish strongly, firing an eagle on the 16th before making another gain on the 18th en route to a second-round 69.
