Timothy Andrea O'Neal wins the Open Mogador

He has already won just under half a million dollars prize money during his career. On Wednesday afternoon he added another amount to this: Timothy Andrea O’Neal, a US American from Savannah, Georgia, took the first victory of his career on the EPD Tour at the Open Mogador in Morocco. After three rounds with stormy winds and a total 3 over par he was two strokes ahead of the Frenchman Jerome Lando-Casanova. 3rd place is shared by local hero Faycal Serghini and the two Germans Marcel Haremza and Benjamin Miarka.

By Matthias Lettenbichler

Essaouira/Morocco – The opening tournament in the EPD Tour's Morocco Series 2012 will be remembered by the competitors: "They were probably the most difficult playing conditions that I have ever experienced", said winner Tim O’Neal after three rounds of 70, 76 and 73. "I have never played in such strong winds and I have never won a tournament with 3 over par!" The players in Essaouira battled their way across the course with storms up to wind force seven. It is always noticeably fresher after midday in the wind and kite surfing paradise on Morocco's west coast. Anyone who teed off in the afternoon had to keep the ball low and try "not to make any stupid mistakes", according to O’Neal. The man from Georgia managed this thanks to his excellent short game. Frenchman Jerome Lando-Casanova (74, 70, 77) also survived the rounds relatively unharmed in second place with 5 over par. The two Germans, Marcel Haremza and Benjamin Miarka and the local hero Faycal Serghini shared 3^rd place finishing the tournament with 6 over par.

38 year old Tim O'Neal already has eight wins under his belt during his career, one of them also in Morocco in 2011. He has been a professional since 1998 and played on the Nationwide Tour until 2009. The best result in his career is a respectable second place in the America's 2^nd golf league. He then took a break and has been attempting a comeback on the eGolf Professional Tour, a tournament series based in North Carolina since 2011. It sends several of its players to Morocco every year, where they enter events as part of Atlas Pro Tour, EPD Tour's partner with tournaments in Morocco. O’Neal now wants to play all six Moroccan tournaments in the EPD Tour 2012, as what his colleagues told him a year ago has now been confirmed: "I had only heard good things about the EPD Tour and was sure that I would experience a very well organised, highly professional tournament here and that was exactly the case."

The Open Mogador was the first of six tournaments in Morocco. Round 1 of the Al Maaden Classic (26^th to 28^th February) is already on the programme on Sunday, then the professionals tee off at the Amelkis Classic from 1^st to 3^rd March. Both tournaments take place just before the gates to Marrakech.

Stormy winds blow through the field in Mogador

Essaouira/Morocco (mat) – He had opened the tournament with a great score 68 on Monday. But when Christoph Günther came back to the clubhouse on Tuesday after the 2nd round of the 2012 Open Mogador, he had to sum up 82 strokes on his score card - and it was not because of a poor performance: Stormy winds of up to 5 beaufort made it extremely difficult to perform well especially in the afternoon. Whilst the German was blown back to 12th place, Nuno Henriques from Portugal took pole position with rounds of 71 and 72 which make him the only player in the field remaining under par after 36 holes. Also still in contention: local hero Faycal Serghini (picture above) who played rounds of 69 and 78 so far and is ranked 6th at the moment.

42 players made the cut and play for 30,000 euro prize money on Wednesday. The leaders will tee off at 9:30 a.m.

Open Mogador: Christoph Günther takes the lead

He is back on tour and he really is in good contention: In his first appearance in 2012 German Christoph Günther has immediately jumped on top of the leaderboard. The 36 year old professional from Oberammergau is in the lead after day one of the Open Mogador in Morocco. He played seven birdies on the Gary Player course in Essaouira on Monday.

Essaouira/Morocco (tki) – After the first round Christoph Günther entered the clubhouse with 68 strokes (-4). "Maybe I can earn some money in Morocco", he had said before he left to North Africa. At the beginning of 2012 he kept himself in shape by practicing in Thailand and by cross-country-skiing in the Alps.

Behind Günther 26 year old Maximilian Glauert from Düsseldorf and local hero Faycal Serghini, like Günther 36 years old, share second place. The two pursuers each needed 69 shots (-3) on day one. US-American Timothy O'Neal (70/-2) is ranked fourth. The first groups tee off at 7.40 a.m. on Tuesday. After the cut the best 40 players will reach out for the overall prize money of 30.000 Euro in the finale on Wednesday.