Al Musharrekh gains from meeting DWC winner Quiros

The Emirati had his best round, a five-over 77, yesterday since turning professional last month.

Ahmed Al Musharrekh turned professional last month.

DUBAI // Ahmed Al Musharrekh, the Emirati who turned professional last month, has set himself a target of "two or three-under" par today to make the cut at the Sheikh Maktoum Dubai Open after opening with his best round of the Mena Tour.

The 22 year old has failed to contest the final round in his three previous events, but carded a 77 at Al Badia Golf Club yesterday to finish five-over par.

Al Musharrekh did acknowledge he was not overly happy with his first round performance, yet he still believes it leaves him enough of an opportunity to extend his stay this week to a third day.

"I'm still adapting to professional life but this round was an improvement," he said. "I came here determined to make the cut and I'm looking now to shoot two or three-under par to get myself through [to tomorrow]."

Al Musharrekh took heart from a conversation shared with Alvaro Quiros, last year's winner of the Dubai World Championship, at a special golf clinic conducted on Sunday at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

"It was really good being around Alvaro just to see how a top professional golfer carries himself," Al Musharrekh said. "He talked about the need to devote so much time to practice and that's something I'll really take from that."

Meanwhile, Al Musharrekh's compatriot, Saif Thabet, attributed his eight-over par to struggles with his short approach shots. "I couldn't quite maintain my accuracy from within 60 yards to the pin, so it means more time needed on the driving range," the amateur said. "But this is all still a learning curve for me and I'm enjoying it."

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