Sharjah: South Africa’s Chris Williams beat England’s Gary Marks in a play-off to claim his first title in six years at the inaugural Sharjah Golf Masters at Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club on Saturday.
The event marked the first time the European Senior Tour had ever visited the emirate of Sharjah.
Overnight leader James Kingston, got off to a slow start but Williams, who had broken the course record with a 65 in the opening round, caught fire again playing the front nine in just 32 blows, which included an impressive run of birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie from the fourth to the seventh.
As Kingston continued to struggle for momentum on the second circuit of the nine-hole track, it was Marks who seized the initiative, carding three birdies on the bounce from 13 to 15 to move into a share of the lead with Williams.
The pair remained locked together with matching pars over the remaining three holes before each signing for rounds of four under 68, 13 under par for the tournament, forcing a play-off, from which Williams parred and Marks bogeyed.
“Words fail me. After being eight years on the Tour and finally getting my second win after all these years is just amazing,” said Williams, 57, whose last win came at the Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters in 2011.
“I got off to a great start today,” he added. “I was five under through seven holes and then Gary came back with three birdies on the back nine. But nothing is easy out here, you’ve got to work hard for these wins no matter where they are.”
Marks said: “I suddenly caught up with about three or four holes to play and the prospect of getting into a play-off, or winning, became a reality. For two thirds of the round Chris had a good lead and was three or four shots clear of me at one point after his spurt on the front nine. We were just trying to hold on and hole some putts which wasn’t really happening. Then I made three birdies on the trot and Chris dropped one so the complexion completely changed.
“I was thrilled to get in the play-off — it was obviously a sad way for it to end for me, but it was much more than I could have hoped for coming to the tournament as I hadn’t played much recently.”
