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Dubai: Fourteen-year-old Matthew Turner finds himself leading the most prestigious amateur event in the region by two clear strokes after two different nines of golf yesterday. The Emirates Golf Club junior member, playing from a handicap of 3, played the front-9 of the Majlis Course without his caddie. His father missed the tee-time and reached the turn 4-over par after a potentially disastrous double-bogey on the 9th but an extraordinary back-9 of six birdies, two pars and a bogey saw him back in 32 for a gross score of 71 and one hand on the 2006 Emirates Amateur Open trophy.
With representatives from 14 different countries in the field and 31 players with a better handicap than the youngster, Matthew will face his sternest test in the final round today when he is joined by Vaqas Ahmad (Rawalpindi Golf Club, Pakistan) and Stephen Kelly (The Montgomerie Dubai) who both scored 73. Ahmad and Kelly scored identical nines, both of them 2-under par on the inward half and will both be looking to get out of the blocks quickly and put pressure on the young leader. Third place is held by little known Colin Fraser (Peebles Golf Club, Scotland) after a very steady day's work gave him a 74. Defending Champion Matthew Allen (Horne Park Golf Club, England) recovered from a poor front-9 to score 75. He will start the second round as favourite to mount a challenge along with the Bahraini trio of Diyab Al Noami, Hamad Afnan Mubarak and Nasser Yacoob who all scored 75. "There is no question that Friday will see some exciting golf and it is difficult to predict what might happen out there," said Emirates Golf Club Captain Mick Brett.
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