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The Mena Tour Might Be On Ice For Summer But Breakout Performances By Members New And Champions Past Elsewhere Around The Globe Ensures The Regional Developmental Circuit Is Never Far From The Headlines

- Kent Gray

PERHAPS ROBERT MACINTYRE KNEW SOMETHING when he spoke about the merits of the MENA Tour earlier this year. “There’s a few guys now on the European Tour that have come from the MENA Tour. They go out there to try and improve and it is a great tour to be a stepping stone to go to the European Tour and hopefully even major championships.” The 22-year-old Scotsman has certainly skipped on from winning the MENA Tour’s Sahara Kuwait Golf Championship in 2017, earning promotion to the European Tour by fi nishing 12th on the Challenge Tour last season. MacIntyre clearly hasn’t been daunted by the step up either; the left-hander was 15th in the Race to Dubai rankings as we went to press and looking forward to a maiden major championship start courtesy of his steady rookie season, including back-to-back runner-up fi nishes at the British Masters and Made to Denmark.

MacIntyre qualifi ed for this month’s 148th Open Championship courtesy of being one of the fi rst fi ve players in the top-20 Race to Dubai rankings who hadn’t already qualifi ed for Royal Portrush. He’ll be joined at the year’s fi nal major by another star MENA Tour alumnae, Thai Jazz Janewattananond, and the regional development circuit’s patron, 2011 Open champion Darren Clarke.

There could yet be even more MENA Tour members teeing it up at Royal Portrush on July 18: Pavan Sagoo, Nick Marshall, Tom Shadbolt, Rob Harrhy, Jamie Rutherford, Alasdair Plumb, Seve Benson, Conor O’Neil and current amateur order of merit leader Curtis Knipes where all through to fi nal qualifying on July 2.