Sparkling White surges clear at MENA Golf Tour

Joshua White comes up with a five-under 66.

Joshua White shot a sparkling five-under 66 to surge to the top of the leaderboard as young Rayhan Thomas kept his hopes alive of becoming the first amateur to win a MENA Golf Tour event, going into the final round of the Dubai Creek Open on Tuesday.
Playing in the day's very first group, White took advantage of slightly more receptive conditions at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, going bogey-free to reach eight-under, one ahead of Austria's Florian Praegant and three off Englishman Jake Shepherd and overnight leader Thomas.
Defending champion Luke Joy, who carded a second-round 70, was a further shot adrift on four under as Spain's Xavier Puig and Scotland's Daniel Kay shared the sixth on three under.
Thomas, the 15-year-old Dubai-based prodigy from India, three-putted the 18th to return a level-par 71, but fancies his chances of going the full distance on Wednesday.
"I struck the ball really well, especially with my irons, and created many birdie opportunities, but didn't putt well as I did in the first round. And that made the difference," said Thomas, who opened with a 66.
"You never know what tomorrow holds, but the way I have played in the first two rounds has given my enough confidence. I think I can win," said Thomas, the current winner of the Emirates Golf Federation's Order of Merit title.
New pacesetter White was equally upbeat about his chances of winning of his second title on the tour following his success at the 2014 Royal D'Anfa Open in Morocco.
"Overall, I am very pleased with my efforts. I needed to avoid bogeys on my card to ensure every birdie is counted and I did exactly that. I gave myself plenty of scoring opportunities and, more importantly, converted them which was the key," said White, who reeled off three birdies in each half.
"The greens are just fantastic. I think the first 13 holes here offer good scoring chances, but coming down the stretch you need to have a good strategy to round off a good round.
"I feel like I'm in great position and look forward to playing the final round," said Joshua, the 2014 MENA Golf Tour champion.
"He made it look really easy," complimented Malcolm Mackenzie, White's playing partner. And this shows the tour has many good players.
"This is my first event on the tour and all I can is that it's geared for expansion," said the seasoned golfer.