RIYADH, 19 April 2008 — At 11 years Bahrain could probably be overstaying their reign at the top but indications are that an extension is just a day away.
Bahrain handled the tough conditions better than anyone else on a day of soaring scores to secure the title with a massive lead of 21 strokes after the second round yesterday in the 12th GCC Golf Championship at Riyadh Golf Course here.
Bahrain’s coronation will all be a formality when the 54-hole competition ends with the third and final round today. But the hosts are not likely to allow all the silverware to go after Kingdom No. 1 Othman Almulla opened a three-stroke lead in the individual race going into the final round despite struggling with a 77 yesterday.
The veteran Nasser Yacoob and Sultan Abdullah both shot what turned out to be the day’s best with matching 76s and Sultan’s father, Abdullah Sultan, added 78 to give Bahrain a second round tally of 230.
After two days, Bahrain totaled 448 with Saudi Arabia, scoring 240 on the day, on 469 as Ali Al-Sahli returned a 78 and Mubarak Al-Ghamdi an 85 in addition to Othman’s 77. “We are very happy to be winning again. We are all the time looking forward to win,” said Bahrain’s non-playing captain Adel Ali Fayaz.
“We have a lot of good players. But we would like to send our strongest teams in competitions like the Pan-Arab and GCC. And besides our veterans keep qualifying for the national team,” said Fayaz referring to the trio of Hamad Mubarak, Abdullah and Yacoob.
Three-time national champion Khaled Yousuf suffered a meltdown in the last three holes and checked in with a 93 but the Mosharreck brothers Ahmed and Abdullah along with Saeed Malik save the day for UAE. Ahmed matched Malik’s score of 80 and Abdullah made 84 to give UAE a 244 and a 479 total for third place in the gross team event.
Qatar, struggling in the men’s championship to be next to last on 489, appeared to have the inaugural junior championship in the bag.
Ali Mufleh signed for an 82 to go with Sager Al-Noami’s 84 and Jeham Jasim’s 85 as Qatar tallied a second round 251 and a two-day gross total of 482.
That put the Qataris 14 strokes up on Saudi Arabia who totaled 496 after a second day effort of 251 that was built on Khaled Attieh’s 82, 84 from Abdullah Hussain and 85 from either Khaled Eddiweesh and Abdulrahman Al-Mansour. It was the second straight 82 by the top Saudi junior player Attieh who highlighted his round with three birdies. Tied for second in the men’s individual competition on 149 were cousins Yacoob and Abdullah whose son Sultan was a shot further back on 150. The promising Omani golfer Azaan Al-Romhy was on 151 after a 77 yesterday.
In addition to the strong winds that blew all day dusts hung heavy in the air as a result of a severe sandstorm overnight. The difficult pin positions added to the tough conditions.
The tournament major sponsor is Attieh Group with support from Al-Safi Danone. The awards ceremony follows immediately after the third round today.
