Veteran Ali chasing illusive first Mena Golf Tour win

Top players are bracing themselves for the heat of the competition when the fourth edition of the MENA Golf Tour gets under way with back-to-back events in Morocco later this month.

There is still time remaining for the deadline to expire, but many leading players which includes the likes of Welsh ace Stephen Dodd, 2013 MENA Golf Tour Order of Merit winner Zane Scotland, Asian Tour veteran Yasin Ali, Tyler Hogarty of South Africa, Fredrik Quicker of Sweden and Monaco’s Sandro Piaget have already signed up, looking to establish early dominance on the tour, which features 10 events spread across five countries in the region.
They will be joined by a growing army of professionals and amateurs from the host country when the tour hits Mohammedia, a port city on the west coast of Morocco, for the Royal D’Anfa Open, the opening event of the tour, starting on March 17, followed by Royal Dar Es Salaam Open in Rabat a week later.
While Dodd, a three-time winner on the European Tour, has already left an indelible imprint on the tour when he won the Order of the Merit title in 2012, all the hard work put in by England’s Yasin Ali has yet to come to fruition despite flirting with success on many occasions.
He had his best chance to wrap up a win at the Abu Dhabi GOLF CITIZEN Open, the inaugural event on the tour in 2011, but three-putted on the final green to hand the title to compatriot Zane Scotland, who since has become the most decorated player with five wins under his belt.
“I have been close, but not close enough to close the deal,” said Ali, who was born in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, before moving to England as a seven year old where he learnt to play golf.
“Golf can be a could-have, should-have done this or that sport. It’s all a question of getting that first win. When and where it will happen, I don’t know. All I know, I just want to progress with my golf after some difficult years,” said the 31-year-old Englishman,” who captained the England Boys team at 18, and just missed out on Rookie of the Year on the 2006 Asian Tour, but then injury struck him down.
“I injured my elbow in 2007 and that ruined my season,” he said. “I have been trying to get back to that level since then, but it’s taken me a while. I hope this edition of the MENA Golf Tour is the start of something,” he said.
“I have played a couple of the Challenge Tour events in Morocco, but that was a long time ago. It will be the first time I will be playing in Mohammedia and Rabat. I have heard a lot of good things about the courses there from fellow MENA Golf Tour and they say they are just fantastic. I am sure it will be fun to play there. I am looking forward to it,” he said.
After back-to-back events in Morocco, the schedule resumes in mid-September with the eight-week ‘Gulf Swing’ which includes four stops in the UAE and one each in Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia before returning to the UAE for the season-ending Tour championship in November at Al Ain Al Ain Equestrian Shooting and Golf Club.
With each event boasting a prize fund of $50,000 and the Tour Championship carrying $75,000 in prize money, a total of $ 525,000 will be up for grabs for members of the tour, which is being held under the auspices of the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation with support from Omega and Mercedes-Benz.