JEDDAH, 7 January 2008 — Kingdom No. 1 golfer Othman Almulla won the Qatar Open, besting a field of 100 players from 26 countries including Britain, Australia and the United States on Saturday.
Almulla shot a closing 74 for a 2-under total of 146 and a three-stroke victory over Briton Alex Christie who tallied 149 after a 77 on Saturday.
Almulla and Christie were tied on even-par 72 on the first day of the prestigious competition organized by Qatar Golf Association and one of the major amateur golf tournaments in the Middle East.
With the victory Almulla earned an invite to the $2.5 million Commercial Bank Qatar Masters to be held later this month at Doha Golf Club, replicating a feat in the Dubai Desert Classic where he qualified as the amateur winner in its qualifying event last year.
Almulla told Arab News in a telephone interview from Dhahran he would be back to compete in the 2008 Dubai qualifying event. He said he would be traveling to Dubai on Wednesday.
“I am very happy and excited after winning this prestigious tournament that is one of the main amateur events around the Middle East and now with Qatar Open being an invite to the Qatar Masters it makes for a very strong field with top amateurs from Europe also coming for the event,” said the 20-year old Almulla of Aramco Rolling Hills Golf Club.
“I am very excited at the chance to represent my country in a world stage again and have learned a lot since my past experience in Dubai. The tournament was very difficult with stiff competition from Alex Christie from England and I am glad to have come out on top. I would like to thank the Saudi Golf Committee for the usual support. And this is a very positive result for Saudi Arabia. With the upcoming Pan Arab team championship me and my teammates are ready to finally stamp Saudi Arabia as one of the top contenders for the championship,” he said. Besides Almulla, the other members of the Saudi national team who saw action in the event were captain Ali Balhareth, Fahad Al-Mansour and Ali Al-Sahli.
Max Williams, another British player, came third on 153 (79-74) followed by South African Wesley Blackett, Scot Lutton Clarke and Erwan Vielledent of France. Blackett, Clarke and Vielledent matched Williams’s total and their order of finish was decided via the countback.
The low net honors went to Filipino Manny Obinque with a 148. A 4-handicap golfer Obinque shot rounds of 70-78 to win by two from Jordanian Hisham Al Rashid who returned a 150. American Eddie Lewis took the third position on 151.
Meantime, tragedy hit Saudi golf after the joy over Almulla’s victory with the shocking news of the death on Saturday of Mansour Al-Mansour, 18, a member of the Saudi national junior team who was killed in a car accident in Riyadh. The Saudi Golf Committee headed by its president Khaled Abunayyan would like to extend its condolence to the family of Mansour.
