This week marked the Third Major of the season and the opening round ventured once again to Yas Links Abu Dhabi. Gary Hurley held the top spot in the Order of Merit as round 13 began, closely followed by Cole Madey in second position. Joining them and the rest of the field in Abu Dhabi were Dominic Foos and Gary Stal, holding down third and fourth positions in the Order of Merit.
On the magnificent DP World Championship layout, France’s Gary Stal delivered the low round of the day, recording a 5 under par 67 on the links course in the first round. Stal once again demonstrated his favoritism for the Abu Dhabi layout, as he had previously shot a 7 under par 65 in week 4 of the eGolf Tour, taking a four shot lead into round 2 of Week 4 and ultimately securing victory. Madey and Hurley carded rounds of 72 and 70 respectively, opening the door slightly in the race for the Order of Merit series as the field moved back to the Els Club Dubai for round two.
Tough scoring conditions defined the final round of the Third Major of the season, where the course was configured with challenging pins and slick greens on the stimp. France’s Alexander Levy posed an early challenge to his compatriot Stal, as their front nine scores placed them in close proximity heading into the back 9. Despite Order of Merit leader Hurley’s efforts, he couldn’t post a low enough score to catch Stal, ultimately finishing in 4th place and narrowly missing out on Order of Merit points.
In the end, it was Stal who held off Levy by one shot after a steady back 9 to take the honors in round 13 and pick up a valuable 6,500 Order of Merit points, catapulting him to the top of the Order of Merit series with 4 events to play.