Riyadh: Spaniard Gabriel Canizares won the American Express Dirab Championship in a play-off against Craig Hinton for his maiden success on the Mena Golf Tour here on Wednesday.
Canizares, the overnight co-leader with England’s Luke Joy, needed a birdie at the last to edge the Englishman but settled for a par en route to a closing 70 to extend the play as the two finished tied on 11-under in regulation.
Both players parred the first extra hole — the par-4 18th but Hinton missed the green on the second with an errant approach that resulted in a bogey while the Spaniard held his nerve to walk away with a par which was enough to seal the victory.
“I am really very excited to win this one. It wasn’t easy out there, but I am glad that I managed to get over the line,” said the Spaniard after receiving the winner’s trophy and a cheque for $9,000 (Dh33,056) from Shaikh Khalid Abunayyan, president of the Dirab Golf and Country Club, and Fahd Al Guthami, COO of American Express (Saudi Arabia) Ltd in the presence Mohammad Juma Bu Amim, chairman of the Mena Golf Tour.
“I was a bit nervous going into extra holes as my playoff record isn’t all that great. It’s 50-50. I think I got a bit lucky [on the second extra hole] when Craig failed to find the green,” said Canizares who, with this win, has proved that sporting prowess runs in the family.
“The competition on the [Mena] Tour is very stiff and one needs to shoot at least 10-under to be in contention and that speaks volumes of the standard of golf here,” said the 41-year-old Spaniard, whose father Jose Maria is a European Tour veteran while brother Alejandro plies his trade in Europe.
Morocco’s Mehdi Saissi continued his recent run of good form, winning the Mena Division for the second time in row. The 24-year-old, who turned professional earlier this year, reached four under for the tournament after carding a final round 70 to finish three shots ahead of his compatriot Ayoub Lguirati.
The Mena Golf Tour travels to Dubai next week for the Golf Citizen Classic at Els Club, starting on Monday.
