MENA Tour’s Luke eyes more joy at Jo’burg City Masters

JOHANNESBURG: Buoyed by a strong finish at the South to East Challenge last week, MENA Tour’s Luke Joy will head to the Jo’burg City Masters with renewed confidence, hoping to crack the winner’s circle this time around when he tees it up at Country Club Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Displaying his fighting qualities, the 29-year-old Englishman fired a bogey-free 68 in the final round to post a creditable solo third in the first of a three-event MENA Tour swing in South Africa, co-sanctioned with the Sunshine big Easy Tour, to get things moving in the right direction.

“My game was far from pleasing at the start, but happy to get the most out the week, thanks to my short game,” said Joy, a two-time winner on the MENA Tour, ahead of the tournament that will be played for the first time at Woodmead, one of the two 18-hole courses at the Country Club Johannesburg.

Joy will join a strong 105-player field headlined by last week’s winner Breyten Meyer of South Africa and his fellow countryman Etienne Bond, who currently leads the Order of Merit standings on the Big Easy Tour, along with six other MENA Tour winners, including defending champion Craig Hinton, who all will be aiming to step on the pedal and add more sizzle to the competition.

Hinton shot a final round 68 to win the title by two shots over South Africa’s N.J. Arnoldi of South Africa last year, becoming the first MENA Tour player to taste success on the South African shores and he will be hoping to draw inspiration from those happy memories to shoot low and make amends for missing the cut last week.

Other notable MENA Tour players, who promise to ratchet up the level of competition, include England’s Chris Cannon, the winner of the Big Easy Sunshine event at Kempton Park event in May, English cricketer-turned-golfer Craig Kieswetter, Tyler Hogarty of South Africa, Sweden’s Fredrik From and Chile’s Antonio Costa.

Brazil’s Dubai-based Tiago Lobo, currently placed in second in the Order of Merit standings just three points shy of Switzerland’s Michael Harradine, will be the player to watch in the amateur division that has attracted six entries including Oman’s Sami Keating and India’s Arkesh Bhatia.