Higgins in Hong Kong Flyer

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David Higgins holds a one shot lead after a six under par first round 64 at the Hong Kong Open.

Higgins, who lost his European Tour card by less than €20,000 last year, fired an impressive nine birdies alongside three bogeys in Fanling.

Italy’s Challenge Tour winner Andrea Pavan is a shot further back after a five under par 65, with seven players sharing third on a congested leaderboard.

“It was great,” said 39 year old Higgins. “I just played solid tee to green holed some lovely putts and had a chip in. 

“If you’re going to have a score like that you have to do some good stuff. You’ve got to use your imagination; let it run out a little bit, maybe use a slope here and there, so it’s good for me. It’s a great test of golf.

“I played quite well on Tour at the end of last season, so I’ve come here in decent form and I’ve been working hard. 

“You get on a course and hole some putts and you’re going to have a good score and I did that, so it’s time to push on and have a decent week here.”

With Andrew Dodt and Prom Meesawat setting the clubhouse target at four under in the morning session, Higgins joined the leaders with a ten foot birdie putt at the third – his 11th.

The three-time Challenge Tour winner birdied the sixth and then knocked in a six footer at the next to reach six under, but a bogey at the ninth, where he chipped across the green into a bunker on the other side, threatened to spoil his round.

But he bounced back well with a birdie on the tenth, whereas Pavan was unable to atone for a dropped shot on the same hole – the Italian’s only bogey of the day.

Dodt and Meesawat were joined on four under by Singapore pair Lam Chih-bing and Mardan Mamat, India’s Sujian Singh and England’s Seve Benson and Adam Gee.

Defending champion Miguel Angel Jiménez, the highest ranked player in the field, opened with a level par 70.

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No Irish Challenge in Dubai Final

After 24 tournaments in 20 countries across the globe, the 2013 European Challenge Tour season will finally reach its climax at this week’s Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final hosted by Al Badia Golf Club. Alarmingly for the second successive year the Grand Final includes no Irish players. The last being Simon Thornton in 2011. 

On that occasion Thornton finished tied 6th after a final round 64 in Puglia. This season Thornton became a European Tour winner after securing the Najeti Hotels et Golfs Open presented by Neuflize OBC title in Saint Omer in June.

Colm Moriarty was a Grand Finalist in 20101 but finished 31st and outside the top fifteen who get European Tour playing cards.

This year the Challenge Tour finale enters a new era as it moves to the United Arab Emirates city for the first time, and the Al Badia Golf Club will provide a fitting backdrop for the drama that is sure to follow this week.

Italian Andrea Pavan, a former winner of the Grand Final, sits atop the Rankings heading into the season-ender, but he will not be sitting easy as a number of ambitious young guns and experienced older heads attempt to steal his thunder and finish top of the pile.

While the race for the prestigious title of Challenge Tour Number One might catch many an eye, there is a lot more at stake for the majority of the field at the Dubai Festival City venue this week.

At the beginning of the season, every Challenge Tour player tees it up with one dream in mind – claiming one of the prized 15 cards for The European Tour. Now, it all boils down to one week and who has the guts, the unyielding ambition and the game to seal the deal when it matters most.

Nacho Elvira, winner of The Foshan Open in China two weeks ago, lies in 15th place on €72,830 and with a winner’s prize of €56,650 on offer this week, every player down to 45th placed Julien Guerrier (currently on €36,110) knows a win would be enough to fulfil their European Tour dream.

Every man has a chance and that point was emphasised in dramatic fashion last season when Englishman James Busby arrived to the Grand Final as the last man in the field, in 45th spot.

He launched a late assault on the leaderboard and in one afternoon, his career was turned upside down as a tied runner-up finish earned him an unlikely rookie season on The European Tour.

The winner of last week’s National Bank of Oman Golf Classic, Rooke Kakko, also proved what can be achieved as his first victory as a first professional (his previous Challenge Tour win coming as an amateur) earned him a guaranteed place in the top 15 of the Rankings – moving to sixth from 17th - and a return to the top tier.

Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard was the only player to leap into the all-important top 45 at last week’s penultimate event in Oman, thanks to a runner-up finish, and the 22 year old will be hoping to complete an incredible two weeks by making another climb into the top 15 with a big performance in Dubai.

The inaugural Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final hosted by Al Badia Golf Club provides a fitting end to celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the Challenge Tour this year.

The tour has grown in strength and stature every year since its inception and to finish the 2013 campaign at such a spectacular venue as Dubai Festival City and Al Badia indicates how far it has come.

The event will also mark the beginning of a ‘Festival of Golf’ in the city as The European Tour’s DP World Tour Championship, Dubai hosts some of the world’s greatest players in two weeks’ time, before the emirate also hosts the final tournament of the Ladies European Tour season in December.

The Challenge Tour Grand Final has proven a real breeding ground for some of the world’s best golfers, with Thomas Björn, Nicolas Colsaerts, Martin Kaymer, Edoardo Molinari, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson having all played in the event before going on to worldwide fame.

Indeed, current Race to Dubai leader and World Number Four Stenson is a former winner of the event, his victory in Cuba in 2000 proving enough to secure the title of Challenge Tour Number One that season.

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Dunbar Plays Oman Challenge

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Alan Dunbar plays the penultimate tournament of the European Challenge Tour season in the maiden visit to Oman for the National Bank of Oman Golf Classic. 

Dunbar finished second at Stage 1 of European Tour Qualifying School at Wychwood Park last month and will head to Spain next month in search of playing rights for the European Tour next season.  In early September Alan claimed fourth place at the Open Blue Green Côtes d'Armor Bretagne

Appropriately enough, with just the top 45 players in the Rankings progressing to the season-ending Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final hosted by Al Badia Golf Club next week, Oman will this week become the 45th country to have hosted a Challenge Tour event. 

With so much at stake it is little wonder that the tournament has attracted such a strong field, with second placed Brooks Koepka and 22nd ranked Seve Benson – both of whom are now plying their trade predominantly on The European Tour – the only players from the top 30 not teeing up at the superb Almouj Golf, The Wave.

Italian Andrea Pavan is still the man to catch at the top of the Rankings, but much of the attention in Muscat will focus on those players desperately bidding to secure their berths in next week’s finale. 

For the likes of Julien Guerrier, who climbed to 45th place on the back of his top ten finish in China last week, nerves will be frayed as the Frenchman strives to cling on to the last remaining ticket to the €330,000 showpiece in Dubai. 

Just €445 separates Guerrier from Englishman Daniel Brooks in 46th place and, with a prize fund of US$300,000 on offer to the 114-man field, there are likely to be several twists and turns throughout the week. 

One player who will arrive in Oman full of confidence is Nacho Elvira, who won last week’s Foshan Open to climb to 13th place in the Rankings. Another strong performance from the Spaniard this week would effectively seal his graduation to The European Tour alongside his close friend and former college room-mate Pavan. 

Elvira, who saw off India’s Shiva Kapur and the English duo of Tyrrell Hatton and Sam Walker in Foshan City last week, will bid to become the first player this season to secure back to back titles.

He said: “Before China my only thoughts were just to qualify for the Grand Final in Dubai, but after my win I’m obviously thinking of the top 15. There’s still a long way to go and a lot of prize money to play for, so a lot can happen but at least I’ve given myself a chance. 

“I’ve never won before so I don’t know how hard it is to play well the week after, but hopefully I can keep this feeling going for two more weeks and finish it off.” 

The 7,342-yard, par 72 championship course at Almouj Golf, The Wave, which was designed by Australian Major Champion Greg Norman, follows the natural lines of Muscat’s pristine coastline.

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Shaw Ready for Galgorm Challenge

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Gareth Shaw is hoping to take full advantage of his home track at Galgorm Castle Golf Club as he leads a 27-strong Irish contingent into the €170,000 Northern Ireland Open Challenge, presented by Clannah and XJET.

Shaw, who grabbed some serious headlines in his homeland with a fifth place finish in the Irish Open back in June, will have an army of home support willing him to succeed this week with an estimated crowd of 30,000 expected to flock through Galgorm’s gates over the next four days. 

“I’m looking forward to competing at home and on a course I am familiar with. Hopefully the home support will feed in with family, friends and my coaches around this week. My game is very solid and it’s a great opportunity,” said Shaw.

“I won the Ulster Youths here in ’96, and then finished in a tie for third here a couple of years ago in the EuroPro event a couple of years ago, so I have a decent bit of experience.

“You’ve got to be able to hit the ball how you want it. It’s a good course, very fair. The fairways are pretty wide in spots but if you hit bad tee shots you get punished and the greens are excellent.”

The Northern Ireland Open will also host top European players such as Portugal’s José-Felipe Lima, who is second on the Challenge Tour Rankings with €91,842. 

Lima has been so consistent all season and, with no less than eight top 10 finishes, including tied third at last week’s Rolex Trophy, he has already secured his European Tour card for next season. 

Lima is closely pursued by Italy’s Andrea Pavan and the French duo of Victor Riu and François Calmels. 

Should Calmels triumph at Galgorm he would gain automatic promotion to the main tour with three wins this season. Australia’s Daniel Gaunt, who is familiar with Galgorm having finished runner-up in a previous EuroPro Tour event, is another man to watch over the coming days.

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