JEDDAH: It may be a battle at the top of the leaderboard between Abraham Ancer and Cameron Young, but two young Arabs also made their mark at the PIF Saudi International this week.

Amateurs Issa Abou El-Ela of Egypt and El Mehdi Fakori of Morocco both made the cut at the Asian Tour鈥檚 flagship event against some of the best golfers in the world.

鈥淔rom my perspective, it hasn鈥檛 sunk in, but I think it鈥檚 just a great thing for confidence,鈥� Abou El-Ela said.

鈥淎t the end of the day, it鈥檚 more about the whole Arab community. It鈥檚 not just me, it鈥檚 more of a sign that we can do it. We now have Faisal, Saud, Othman and Shergo who are all professionals competing out here too.

鈥淚鈥檓 obviously over the moon to make the cut but it just shows that as Arabs we have a chance to shine on the global stage and it doesn鈥檛 have to be at football.

鈥淣ow we have a chance to show it, and with the support of Golf Saudi and the Arab Golf Federation, I don鈥檛 see why in five to 10 years, even past me, we see one of our juniors in the Arab community winning one of these.鈥�

Fakori also finished the week on a high, shooting a four-under 66 in the final round on Sunday.

鈥淚 felt less pressure today and gave the course the proper respect that it deserved from the first hole. Unlike yesterday, I was playing for birdies,鈥� he said.

Both men said they were grateful to the International Series for the opportunity to play against some of the world鈥檚 best golfers, including Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith and Bryson Dechambeau.

鈥淚鈥檓 very happy to be playing with the world鈥檚 best players,鈥� Fakori said. 鈥淚鈥檓 playing with them and getting the firsthand experience to learn what I need. But when I鈥檓 in the field I am only focusing on myself and my own game.鈥�

Abou El-Ela, who birdied the last hole at Royal Greens to make the cut, said: 鈥淎 bunch of the guys on the Asian tour I鈥檝e known for a while since the International Series have been taking me under their wing, like Richard Lee and a lot of other guys, so I鈥檝e just started to feel more comfortable on this tour. I鈥檝e seen a lot of these players succeed before and it just made me thirstier to do better.鈥�

The 28-year-old Egyptian added: 鈥淚鈥檓 just trying to help build a way just to prove that nothing鈥檚 out of reach 鈥� obviously we have a lot of young talented juniors from all the countries around the Middle East, I鈥檝e seen it in Pan Arabs, I鈥檝e seen it day in and day out.鈥�

In a message to those aspiring to make the top grade, he said: 鈥淵ou have so many opportunities and I just think we have a chance, so don鈥檛 let any obstacles like not finding a college or you can鈥檛 find a coach get in your way. You are what you make yourself, so just keep fighting and one day we鈥檒l see one of these juniors here and I can't wait to watch myself.鈥�

Fakori added: 鈥淵ou need to respect the sport, you need to be disciplined and consistent. There鈥檚 no one better than the other, there鈥檚 just a player who鈥檚 more consistent.鈥�

The other Arab golfers in the field this week were Faisal Salhab, Saud Alsharif and Othman Almulla of 抖阴短视频 鈥� the first two of whom were making their professional debuts 鈥� Baha Boulakmine of Tunisia, Jamal Allali and Adam Bresnu of Morocco, and Shergo Al-Kurdi of Jordan.

The next stop for Abou El-Ela and Fakori is the International Series Oman, which starts on Thursday, and where they will line up against the likes of Brooks Koepka, Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen, Eugenio Chacarra and Carlos Ortiz.