Dubai: German teenager Dominic Foos returns to the Mena Golf Tour for this week’s Golf Citizen Classic at the Els Club from Monday.
Foos, now 19, hit global headlines last year when he became the youngest winner of a European Challenge Tour event at the age of 17 years and 347 days.
He eclipsed Spaniard Francis Valera’s record that had stood since 1993 by more than a year and drew comparisons between himself and fellow German Martin Kaymer who won his first Challenge Tour event at the age of 21.
Along with Foos, round 12 of the 16-stage Mena Tour will also be headlined by 15 former winners on tour including last week’s Dubai Open winner Andrew Marshall.
With two firsts and a second under his belt, Marshall will be seeking to overtake fellow Englishman Zane Scotland, the current leader of Order of Merit, as just $2,856 (Dh10,500) separate the top two in the standings.
A mainstay on the European Tour for many years, Marshall, however, will be wary of the challenge coming from the likes of Foos — who is playing in his third Mena Tour event in two years — Scotland, Lee Corfield and Luke Joy – who are all multiple winners on the tour — and defending champion Clarke Lutton of Scotland.
India’s Rayhan Thomas, who has been on a roll this season, highlighted by his victory Dubai Creek Open two weeks ago in addition to a string of top-10 finishes, will also be hoping to keep up the good work and further improve his world ranking, which currently stands at 852.
Other notables in the field includes Younus Al Hassani of Morocco, who will be leading the challenge in the Mena Division along with his compatriots Faycal Serghini and Ahmad Marjan while Saudi Arabia’s Othman Al Mullah who be targeting the leading Mena region amateur award for the second time in a row.
In total, the Golf Citizen Classic, will see 95 professionals and 26 amateurs from 28 countries battle it out for honours.
