CAIRO, 2 December 2005 — Saudi Arabia had another tough day out on the Dreamland golf course yesterday, as powerhouse Bahrain pulled clear by four shots after the second round in the 26th Pan Arab Golf Championship here.
The Kingdom team were looking to at least improve their ranking to keep alive their hopes of a top four finish. But as it turned out they would need to play their best golf in the last two rounds following an unflattering second day total of 237.
Bahrain had no such problems. Hamad Mubarak played like he is one of the best players in the region to shoot the low round of the day – a three-under par 69 – in an inspiring comeback from a horrendous first round of 76.
Defending individual champion Nasser Yacoub shot a 71 and Abdulla Sultan added 77 as the trio gave Bahrain a second round total of 217. Together with a fist round 223, Bahrain carded a two-day gross aggregate score of 440 for a four-stroke lead over Lebanon.
Lebanon were on 444 after a fluent 219 yesterday thanks to Rashid Akl, who signed for the only other sub-par card of 71, Adnan Hammoud and Ali Hamoud, who came through with 73 and 75.
Lebanon, easily the surprise package of the annual competition featuring the best Arab golfers, shared the lead with Tunis in the net team event on 429. They also are ahead in the net individual category as Adnan compiled 130 after two rounds for a one-stroke lead over Tunis’ Ayman Al Fergani.
Host Egypt were seven shots out of the lead at 447 after Said Farouk hobbled to an 82 to negate the pair of 75s by Teymor Abu Kheir and Memdouh El Sheikh and lead to a Day Two score of 222.
Othman Al-Mulla, still unable to settle and play to his full potential, and Ali Al Sahli matched cards of 78 with team captain Ali Belhareth contributing 81 in a 237 that gave Saudi Arabia a 36-hole total of 475 in a tie for seventh position with Morocco, who also had a 237 yesterday.
Sattam Al-Gosaibi had an 84 that did not count and it was to Al Sahli’s credit that he improved on his first round score of 82 as promised.
The 19-year old Al-Mulla, who was surprised by his parents who flew in from Dammam to lend moral support, said he cannot promise anything but will try to do his best in today’s third round.
Al-Mulla is a proud product of the Saudi Golf Committee’s junior golf program. He is now based in Phoenix, Arizona in the US where he plays college golf for Glendale Community College.
The SGC, according to its president Khaled Abunayyan, was keen to highlight the Saudi participation in the tournament in a bid to drum up interest in the hosting by the Kingdom of the 2007 championship besides the goal of promoting the game in the country.
Tunis scored 224 yesterday and along with a first round 229 tallied 453, six strokes back of Egypt, whose national junior golf team trail UAE by six.
Reigning Arab Under-18 champion Khaled Youssef made a 74, Faris Al Mazui contributed 82 and Abdullah Al Thani 83 to give UAE a 238 and a two-day total of 465.
Libya, with a second round 239, were six strokes behind Saudi Arabia and Morocco on 481 followed by Oman on 488 (243-245), Qatar on 492 (260-232), Kuwait on 515 (262-256), Palestine on 518 (262-256) and Jordan on 578 (283-295).
