Lee Corfield fired a bogey-free six-under 66 on Tuesday 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 Wednesday.
Starting the second day four shots off the pace, the Englishman strung together the tournament’s lowest score so far to reach seven under, two shots ahead of fellow Englishman Luke Joy and Sweden’s Ber Barth.
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Overnight joint leader Rayhan Thomas, the Dubai-based Indian teenager, slipped to tied fourth on four under after carding a total of 73. A triple bogey on the 10th hole spoiled Thomas’s otherwise solid round.
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.
“I played some good, solid golf. I made six birdies and five bogeys in the first round, but today I kept bogeys off my card which was the key to going low,” said Corfield, who is a four-time winner on the Mena Golf Tour. “You never know what tomorrow holds, but I feel like I am playing nicely. I will see how things pan out.”
In-form Thomas, who won the Dubai Creek Open earlier this month to become the first amateur to win on the tour, started strong, making three birdies in his first four holes, but hit a roadblock on the 10th hole when a wayward drive resulted in three dropped shots.
“I was cruising along nicely having got off to another great start, but one bad hole changed the whole look of the card,” Thomas said.
“Take that away and I think I played really well. I am just shots off the pace and very much in with chance.”
Morocco’s Faycal Serghini shot a 71 to return to the top of the leaderboard in the Mena Division on one under, two shots ahead of compatriot Ahmed Marjan who stumbled to a 77 after opening with a 68.
“I think I played really well. Things could have been even better, but made a bogey-bogey finish, which was a bit disappointing,” said Serghini, who is coming off a tendon injury in his left hand that kept him out of competitive golf for two months.
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