GOLF – TOM Sloman of Britain climbed to the top of the leaderboard yesterday after the second and penultimate round of the 16th King Hamad Trophy golf championship, being played at The Royal Golf Club at Riffa Views.
Sloman, the winner of the tournament’s 2022 edition, put himself in prime position to secure his second crown after carding an impressive four-under-par 68 yesterday to go to five-under after two days.
He heads into today’s final round with a two-shot lead over three other title hopefuls, including Italian Michele Ortolani, fellow-Briton Zane Scotland, and Moroccan amateur golfer Hugo Trommetter.
A cut of the top 45 players and ties was made yesterday for today’s concluding 18 holes.
Following the final round of action, the awards presentation and closing ceremony will be held at the club, scheduled for around 3pm. All are welcome to watch the last day of play. Entrance to the venue is free of charge for spectators.
The three-day, 54-hole event is being organised and run by the Bahrain Golf Association (BGA). It is being held under the royal patronage of His Majesty King Hamad.
The winner of this year’s King Hamad Trophy, plus the best-ranked Bahraini amateur, will receive invitations to be a part of the star-studded field in next year’s Bahrain Championship, scheduled for January 30 to February 2 as part of the 2025 DP World Tour calendar.
The leading 10 professionals will also be receiving cash prizes today, with the champion taking home $10,000. The runner-up will pocket $6,800 and the third-placer $4,600.
Sloman enjoyed a strong start on the front nine yesterday, carding four birdies to go four-under-par after nine holes. He maintained that score over the back nine to secure his two-day total and the overnight lead. Sloman had earlier played a one-under 71 in the first round on Thursday.
Ortolani was fortunate yesterday to finish in tied-second but could have been even closer to the leader if not for a double bogey on the 18th hole that earned him an even-par 72 for the day. That added to his strong start of three-under 69 from day one.
Scotland banked on a three-under front nine to finish yesterday’s play with a 69 score to go with his 72 from the first round, while Trommetter did enough to finish the day on even par to keep his ranking with the leaders.
Behind them in tied fifth were Briton Matthew Gauntlett and Spaniard Adri Arnaus. They both boasted one-under-par totals after two days to go four shots behind Sloman, while in tied-seventh were the quartet of amateurs Luke Jenkins and Cameron Mukherjee of Britain and Ayoub Ssouadi of Morocco, along with American pro Ahmed Ali. They head into the finale on even par.
Day one leader Paul Kinnear, also from Britain, had a disappointing second round yesterday that saw him drop to tied-18th. He carded a seven-over-par 79, which included a pair of costly triple bogeys in the first five holes, to add to his first day’s best of 68.
Yaseen Le Falher stayed as Bahrain’s top-ranked competitor but dropped from sixth to tied-12th, where he is joined by countryman Ali Al Kowari. Le Falher played a 76 yesterday to go with his round one score of 70, while Al Kowari had the same totals in the two days but in reverse order, helping him move up the rankings.
Last year’s champion Cole Madey of the US carded a three-over 75 for the second straight day as he went to tied-32nd in the field.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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