Yacoub and Al Afnan returned to the 18th hole for the playoff after both finished 36 holes on 145 gross total. Yacoub shot a 1-under 71 in the second round Friday and Al Afnan had the best round of 70, 2 under on the 6,905-yard parkland course.
A double bogey on 18 robbed Afnan of outright victory and this mistake seemed to haunt him in the playoff with Yacoub, one of the biggest names in golf in the region who is no stranger to Dirab having won the inaugural staging of the Saudi Amateur Golf Championship in the late 90s.
While Afnan had a disastrous finish Yacoub birdied two of the last four holes to give himself a chance at victory. In the playoff, Yacoub showed nerves of steel in pressure-packed situation as he rolled in his par-putt to seal victory, as Afnan fell short with a bogey.
It was a painful defeat for Afnan, who had built a comfortable lead after the first nine holes on the final day with consecutive birdies from No. 8 and another birdie on the fourth hole for a 33 going out.
Big Afnan again birdied No. 10, parred the rest of holes except for 18 where a bogey could have been enough to clinch victory.
Yacoub was level par at the turn. He bogeyed the par-3 11 but picked up shots after nailing two straight birdies from 15 for a 35 coming home.
Overnight leader Nasser Saad, another hopeful from the Bahraini contingent, skied to an 81 and missed out on the prizes with a 152 total.
Gerry Davis fired a second straight 74 to clinch third place with a total of 148, while Clark Windross, second at the start of the day, had a 77 Friday to claim fourth position on 149. One stroke back at 150 was another Bahraini veteran Abdullah Hussain who closed with a 78 after an opening round of 74.
Nasser Mohasni doubled the joy for the Bahrainis when he beat Saudi youngsgter Turki Hussain in a playoff for the Men’s Net title. Ralf Schiffer came in third, Khalid Jang fourth and Anjum Mullah fifth.
The Junior Net winners were Saudis Faisal Salhab and Abdulrahman Almansour. The Plate Division winners were decided on countback with Edward Oriely first, Lebanese Rabie Fares second and Craig Gordon third.
The Ladies Net title went to Indian Paromita Mukherjee with Korean Miki Park second and Canadian Ruby Klawikowski third.
Mark Campbell and M. S. Kim won the closest to pin prizes on holes 7 and 11, while the men’s and ladies longest drive awards went to Richard Gaas (No. 10) and Craig Mills (No. 1) and Mukherjee (No. 1).
In addition to the crystal trophies the winners were awarded golf merchandise during the awards ceremony. On hand to present the prizes were Saudi Golf Federation President and Dirab golf course owner Khaled Abunayyan and Mazen Fayed, Saudi Oger Corporate Communications Manager.
DGCC Golf Manager Bouchaib El Jadiani and Dirab Committee Chairman Nasser Udin Siddiqui thanked Saudi Oger Ltd. for sponsoring the event for the third straight year.
