Peter Stojanovski has created history, becoming the first Australian to win on the MENA Tour.
The 22-year-old Sydneysider muscled his way from five shots behind before the final round to shoot a 66 and win, amazingly by three strokes, the Ras Al Khaimah Classic in Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven Emirates that comprise the United Arab Emirates.
Stojanovski lit up the back nine with six birdies and just one bogey after making the turn at one under to finish at 13 under as the English duo of Andrew Marshall and Jamie Elson shared second on an eventful day at Tower Links Golf Club.
Stojanovski, who has competed on the Asian Tour and the secondary European Challenge Tour and teed up as the No.1895 in the world rankings, becomes the 40th different winner from 18 countries in the 59-tournament history of the Middle East and North Africa-based Tour.
In contrast, it was a horror final day for England’s and overnight leader Daniel Owen who carded a head-scratching 10-over-par 82 that left him in a tie for 23rd at two under.
But the day belonged to Stojanovski, a member of the Cabramatta Golf Club in western Sydney.
"I am really delighted to win for the first time on the MENA Tour," Stojanovski said.
"I played some solid golf and really pleased to get the job done.
"I started off OK, but finished strongly. My short game was quite good and I holed some nice putts when I needed to.
"Overall, just kind of everything fell together.
"I just played my own game and didn’t think about what others were doing around me.
"I focused on every golf shot that I hit and that helped,” said the Australian, whose previous best finish on the MENA Tour was a top six at the 2014 Ras Al Khaimah Classic.