Defending champion Thomas faded out of contention in the final round by shooting a seven-over par 79

A year after missing the chance to play the Qatar Masters by the narrowest of margins, Peirre Verlaar’s life as an amateur golfer has come a full circle.
Well, almost.
The 18-year-old from the Netherlands may not be ready yet to break away from the amateur ranks and become a fulltime pro, but having nailed his spot in the $2.5mn Commercial Bank Qatar Masters with a three-shot victory over Qatar’s Saleh al-Kaabi in the Qatar Open Amateur Championship, he may well be giving it a serious thought.
Verlaar was on the verge of winning the 2016 title when Indian teen Rayhan Thomas crashed his party with a last-hole birdie that took the tournament into the play-off.
As it turned out, Thomas birdied the play-off hole too to earn an amateur spot at the Qatar Masters and thereby chance his arm against some of the best players in the business.
This time, however, Thomas faded out of contention in the third and final round by shooting a seven-over par 79 to aggregate 223 and finish joint ninth along with three others.
Thomas, who will be playing in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic said a double bogey on the fourth hole cost him his momentum and concentration.
Thomas made just one birdie today. His putter also went cold and he had three three-putts for bogeys in the first six holes.
“I started well, but unfortunately, a four-putt double bogey on the fourth hole affected my momentum,” said the 17-year-old.
“I was even-par after nine, and was still confident on the back nine as I was just two behind the leader. But I dropped another shot on the 10th and then three-putted the 11th, which saw my chances fade away.
 “My driver let me down a little bit today as I missed some fairways and could not set up more birdie chances.”
Verlaar, on the other hand, was the only player in the 140-strong field to post sub-par scores in each of the three rounds. His aggregate of six-under par 210 – he shot a 70 in each round – gave him a comfortable win over al-Kaabi.
“Yeah after the heartbreak last year it was great to win the tournament this time and get a chance to play the Qatar Masters,” Verlaar said after his victory. “The conditions were good and I am happy with my two-under for the round but with some luck I could have had a better score,” said the Rory McIlroy fan.
“I thank my friends and my parents for supporting me and helping me chase my golf dreams,” added the teen, who “only plays golf” and does nothing else by his own admission and had flown down to Dubai to prepare for the Doha event.
Al-Kaabi, aiming to become the first Qatari to win the event, shot the best score of the day yesterday – a 67, but his second-round 75 meant he was playing catch-up after trailing Verlaar by six shots at the very outset.
“I was hoping to win the event but a six-shot lead was always going to be difficult to overcome,” said al-Kaabi.
“However, I am pleased with my effort of 67 today and a second-place finish too is not that bad,” al-Kaabi, who aggregated three-under 213, added.
Dubai-based Swde Cristofer Rahm, who had moved into contention with two eagles in the second round finished third a further two strokes behind on 215, while first round leader Markus Maukner of Austria ended up in fifth place after shooting a third-round 79.

Top 10 scores:
210: Pierre Verlaar (NDL) 70-70-70
213: Saleh al-Kaabi (QAT) 71-75-67
215: Cristofer Rahm (SWE) 75-67-73
217: Thomas Strandemo (USA) 74-71-72
220: Sam Hobday (ENG) 72-77-71
220: Markus Maukner (AUT) 68-73-79
221: Mikkel Mathiesen (DEN) 74-76-71
221: Lguirati Ayoub (MOR) 76-73-72
223: Tom Santa (FRA) 76-76-71
223: Lucas Becht (BEL) 75-76-72

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