Dubai: Lee Corfield fired a bogey-free six-under 66 to break free from the chasing pack going into the final round of the Mena Golf Tour’s Golf Citizen Classic at the Els Club Dubai on Tuesday.
Starting the day a good four shots off the pace, Corfield strung together the lowest score so far to reach seven-under for the tournament, a good two shots ahead of his fellow Englishman Luke Joy and Sweden’s Ber Barth
Overnight joint leader Rayhan Thomas of India slipped to tied fourth on four-under after carding a 73, a triple bogey on the 10th spoiling his otherwise an impressive card.
Spain’s Carlos Balmaseda, Oscar Hertzberg of Sweden and England’s Max Williams completed the group on four-under as seven players, including Shahid Javed of Pakistan and Craig Hinton, who shared the overnight lead, moved into a tie for eighth a further shot adrift on three under.
Morocco’s Faycal Serghini shot a 71 to return to the top of the leaderboard in the Mena Division on one under, a good two shots ahead of compatriot Ahmed Marjan who stumbled to a 77 after opening with a 68.
And playing in his first season on the Mena Golf Tour, Australia’s Ryan Laird provided the highlight of the day when he aced the par-3, 17th for the first hole-in-one of his career. The 22-year-old from Melbourne smashed his six-iron from 221 yards to achieve the feat as he returned a second round 72 to move to tied 33rd from overnight 44th spot.
Among the notables, England’s Andrew Marshall, who won last week’s Shaikh Maktoum Dubai Open, carded back-to-back 71s for a share of 15th along with his compatriot Zane Scotland, an 11-time winner on the Mena Golf Tour. The cut was made at three-over 147 with 47 professionals and 13 amateurs making it to the final round.
