By Kent Gray
Justin Harding plodded patiently on moving day at the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic while all around him superstars were spluttering along. Those who weren’t inexplicably slamming their title hopes into reverse that was.

On a day when a perfect storm of tough pins and the Majlis’ freshly renovated and increasingly firm greens saw Shane Lowry’s 68 somehow emerge as the lowest score, Harding ground out a relatively stress-free 71.

It saw the 35-year-old South African start and end a dramatic Saturday at Emirates Golf Club with a two-stroke lead.

After a topsy-turvy 69, Rory McIlroy is ominously Harding’s closest pursuer heading into Sunday and perhaps now favoured to join Ernie Els’ as a three-time winner of the Dallah trophy.

Then again, Tommy Fleetwood (69) and Erik Van Rooyen (71) are just three back and among the few to survive the third round without too much mental scarring. Defending champion Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton are among a group in the mix at eight-under although both suffered third round setbacks.   

Hatton was among those to go backwards spectacularly. He got it to 12-under for solo possession of the lead by the 5th and with four Rolex Series gold stars already, looked the man to beat. But his five-star Saturday turned turtle with four dropped shots in a miserable four hole stretch from the 12th. 

The Englishman frustratingly parred in from there but at least he didn’t bleed late oil like Lee Westwood. So close so many times on the Majlis, the 48-year-old was just two shots out of the lead when he reached the 18th. But after driving left, barely escaping the hardpan, laying up in the hay, fluffing it in the water, wedging again and two putting, he signed for a snowman eight in the desert. Westwood will start Sunday at seven-under. And thoroughly deflated.

If Westwood can draw any inspiration, it will be from the fact he’s in the fourth from last group out with Padraig Harrington and Hatton, a dangerous position from which to set a tough clubhouse target. Fleetwood, winless since the Nov. 2019 Nedbank Golf Challenge, will tee it up in the final three-ball alongside Harding and McIlroy with visions of a Dallah to go with his two Abu Dhabi Falcons. 

Harding can become Dubai’s third South African champion after the late Wayne Westner and Els. It would be a first gold star, as it would be for McIlroy whose European résumé strangely includes a Rolex Series asterisk. With all those par 5s and his brilliant iron play from Saturday to draw on, McIlroy will take some beating. Mind you, Harding has already shown slow and steady might just win this race.

The post With McIlroy and Ryder Cup friends lurking, Justin Harding won’t rest easy on his Dubai lead appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray

Tyrrell’s a treat
Given his giddy run of form over the past 16 months – victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship triumph was his fourth in 20 starts – has Tyrrell Hatton surpassed Tommy Fleetwood as Europe’s chief major champion in waiting? Perhaps. The Englishman unquestionably crept above Rory McIlroy to fifth in the OWGR. The only European above him? Jon Rahm, also the owner of four Rolex Series gold stars. You’ve got to love the ball-striking, the icy-calmness closing out events and the honest self-assessments, both during rounds and afterwards.

“Definitely pinching myself. It’s just very surreal to be that high in the world rankings. I don’t look at myself or — I don’t know how to sort of word it. I guess I’m very — yeah, I’m struggling to find the words how to put it across but I’ll just say it is very cool to be where I am at the moment.”

“Hi, I’m Tyrrell…and I’m an angry golfer”
“If you’re feeling glum, pop up a thumb”. The European Tour’s social media team always seem on point but how about the timing of having eventual champion Tyrrell Hatton front their latest ditty, #AngryGolfers? “I’m not quite sure why they chose me,” Hatton drolly told on-course commentator Tim Barter a round after previewing the soon-to-be-released viral video with a double thumbs up to mock a rare wayward drive on the National layout. Classic stuff and a fun new go-to to help us all defuse potential on course meltdowns.

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What’s the story, Rory?
Rory McIlroy, welcomed back to the UAE capital for the first time since 2018, complied one of those uniquely Rory rounds on Thursday in Abu Dhabi that makes golf look easy. But almost inevitably after the 64 – “a lovely way to start the year” – and two further mostly stress-free rounds to snare the 54-hole lead, the Northern Irishman found a way to let the title slip. Again. A fourth third placing to go with four bridesmaid finishes means the Falcon remains almost as elusive as a certain green jacket for Rors. Here’s hoping he’ll be back next January.

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What next for Abu Dhabi?
Speaking of the 17th Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, anyone else excited to see what the Desert Swing opener will be like co-sanctioned by the mighty PGA Tour? Yup, us too. Nothing’s official yet but it seems Abu Dhabi, the Scottish Open, BMW PGA Championship and DP World Tour Championship at JGE will get the full U.S. treatment in 2022. McIlroy might find it even tougher to snare the fabled Falcon.

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2021 Lev-ity
How good was Alexander Levy’s reaction to his ace (a 9 iron from 177 yards) on the 15th in the third round in Abu Dhabi? It was peak 2020 (rolling into 2021) as the Frenchman looked around for affirmation from the galleries to be greeted by near silence. Damn you COVID. As Levy rolls on into 2021 behind the wheel of a new BMW X850i, here’s hoping there will be even fewer gallery restrictions next year.

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Casey can
If Abu Dhabi champion Tyrrell Hatton is Europe’s new chief major champion in waiting, then countryman Paul Casey is firmly back in the conversation as the best player without a big, with all due respect to Lee Westwood. Casey’s effortless power and a smiling jaunt to the Dallah Trophy ensured the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic has another worthy name on its stellar roll call of champions and leaves us to wonder how he hasn’t landed a major. Yet.

“I think a lot of good stuff [is still to come], honestly I feel like I’ve regained my youth. I mean that sincerely and, yeah, I’m so happy.”

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Majlis makeover
You had to feel for the hard-working team at Emirates Golf Club as patchy pictures of the Majlis’ normally pristine greens were beamed around the globe during the Desert Classic. The great news is it won’t be long until those images are a distant memory with the course to close May 2 for a complete rebuild of the putting surfaces to USGA specifications. The greens had come to the end of their lifespan – roughly 20-25 years in the harsh desert environment – but will be rolling smoothly once more when the course is reopened in late September.

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No.1 for a very good reason
How good is Dustin Johnson, even when he’s not at his best. The most impressive aspect of the world No.1’s second Saudi International win in three years was his unflappable response to a catalogue of miss reads on the tricky Royal Greens putting surfaces. The only time the reigning Masters champion did get angry – if you could call a light slap on his own thigh after bogeying the 16th in the final round “angry” – Johnson responded by very nearly driving the next. A par 4. Job done.

“I’ve been playing some really good golf the last six months. Hopefully, I’m going to continue to play this kind of golf. I’m seeing a lot of the same things each and every week, and that’s what I do… I’ve got a great team around me that helps me kind of stay in that form so that I can perform at the highest level each and every week.”

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The dirty D word
With distance almost a dirty word in golf nowadays, Bryson DeChambeau finds himself the game’s new anti-hero, with all due respect to Patrick Reed. Thankfully, Saudi was another reminder that ridiculous length off the tee doesn’t guaranteed fairways in reg, much less trophies (Dustin Johnson’s victory notwithstanding). In the clamber to dial back the ball, we should remember that and the fact the next-gen love seeing athletes hit bombs. Are we trying to lure newcomers to the sport or tell them that improved athleticism isn’t really wanted? Remember too that Kevin Na contended. As DeChambeau (T-18) said himself, a distance advantage will always be a distance advantage no matter how long the course is or how far the ball flies. But that doesn’t mean the big boofers will always win. This is golf after all. The only guarantee is that you’ll never beat this maddeningly brilliant game.

The course Jack is building
The Kingdom might be home to the youngest of the Desert Swing events but boy, aren’t Golf Saudi in a hurry to make up for lost time. Even before one of this year’s strongest fields (it was only early Feb.) teed it up at Royal Greens, the governing body announced Jack Nicklaus has put his name to a new private course in the Qiddiya megaproject 40 minutes south-west of the capital Riyadh. And that Saudi Aramco was backing a four-event, $4 million series of Ladies European Tour events in New York, London, Singapore and KAEC. Talk about Kingdom come. It’s going to be fascinating to see what the golf landscape looks like in a decade’s time.

Enough already COVID
Just when we all thought the horrors of 2020 were behind us… Here’s hoping the cancelled Oman Open can be rescheduled for later in the year because Greg Norman’s Al Mouj Golf design in Muscat is one of the courses that give Middle East golf tourism a great name.

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Qatar Quality?
Anyone else surprised a year has passed since the European Tour put its 2020 season on ice following Jorge Campillo’s victory at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters? Yeah, it feels much longer than that to us too. With the coronavirus-enforced demise of the Oman Open a timely reminder to take nothing for granted, the return to Education City is our last chance to enjoy some top-level desert golf before the long haul to the Race to Dubai decider at JGE in late November. The quality of the field in Doha, now that a potential two-tourney Middle East detour has become a one event hit and run mission, will be telling. Whatever happens, at least it looks like we’ll all play on after Qatar. What a year – and a Desert Swing – it has been.

The post That’s (almost) a wrap! A dozen reasons why the 2021 Desert Swing was (and still is) a doozy appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
An Englishman with proven desert pedigree, effortless power and a game as sharp as it’s ever been so early in the season. A Scot high on confidence, striking it as sweetly as ever and learning to accept when he occasionally doesn’t.

There are no guarantees either Paul Casey or Robert MacIntyre will win the 32nd OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic but the way the duo stole the narrative on moving day at Emirates Golf Club, it will be a surprise if one of them doesn’t hoist the fabled Dallah.

Casey leads the way, a sensational birdie-eagle finish capping an equal best of the week 64 that he was reluctant to call flawless but kind of did anyway. Few would dare argue as the 14-time European Tour winner eased to 15-under, a shot clear of MacIntyre who snared an eagle of his own early on Saturday before recovering from a potential title-ending blip to sign for a 67. The Scottish lefty described his third round as “eventful”, others tenacious and ultimately terrific.

At 13-under, South African Brandon Stone shapes as the most likely plot spoiler on Sunday although 2017 champion Sergio Garcia and Englishman Laurie Canter won’t have given up yet at five adrift.

But as statements of intent go, Casey’s bogey-free romp and MacIntyre’s gritty third round fightback are hard to ignore.

READ MORE: Sunday’s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ is FREE here

“Same as always: Go for it. I’m not going to hang about,” MacIntyre said of his final round game-plan. “I’m going to put it all on the line whether it’s good or bad. Hopefully it’s going to be good and I’ve just got to enjoy it again. It’s another experience that I want to get, you know what I mean. It’s something that not many people get the chance at my age to do, and it’s just…I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”

A second European Tour title to go with his Cyprus Showdown breakthrough 10 weeks ago will take all of MacIntyre’s aggression and newfound acceptance of inevitable mis-hits.

“Yeah, I feel like I’m starting to appreciate that there’s nothing I can do once [the ball] has left the club,” he said “That’s something I struggled with last year. But this year, it’s been drilled into me by many people: Accept what comes. Just control what you can control. And it’s working well.”

Equally, a 15th European Tour title sure sounds sweet to Casey, twice a winner in Abu Dhabi and the champion of the Volvo Golf Championship when it was held in Bahrain in 2011.

“Behind you, I can see the very impressive list of winners, those photos of them behind the 18th green. It’s cool. Iconic trophy. Iconic event. Dubai has given so much to golf, especially European Tour, so yeah, that would be very, very cool,” Casey said.

Like MacIntyre, Casey has new clubs in his bag, a driver and 3-wood. His game feels sharper than normal to the courtesy of less range time and more off-season money games with the likes of Jon Rahm and Chez Reavie back home in Arizona.

RELATED: Caddie Confidential: Helen Storey takes us inside the ropes with Lee Westwood

“Like I’ve said many times it seems so far this week, I’m enjoying my golf, and that was an example of it today,” Casey continued.

“Today, I mean, really good. You can never say flawless, can you, because there’s always errors but it was very controlled. Really enjoyable round of golf; challenging yet at the same time with a little bit of wind here and there, I mean, it’s good stuff. “

It got better as it went on as well. After committing the cardinal sin of missing the fairway after taking an iron off the 17th tee, and then leaving his wedged approach short, Casey promptly chipped in for an unlikely birdie. A 296-yard drive and 3-iron flushed from 238-yards to 10 feet then set up the closing eagle, Saturday’s pivotal play.

“Yeah, it was the perfect club. It’s a glorious finish. I said to Johnny [caddie John McLaren] on the fairway there, that was a cool-looking shot when Monty hit a driver off the deck without the skyline you get now, and it might be cooler now with the skyline. It’s one of the iconic shots in golf, isn’t it? To have a perfect 3-iron in there and finish off with an eagle is pretty cool.”

After his opening 67 Thursday, Casey seem bemused to learn that his T-8 start to the year at the American Express didn’t warrant any Ryder Cup points as the PGA Tour event was played opposite Abu Dhabi, one of the European Tour’s gold-star events. Winning the ‘Major of the Middle East’ would be swift retort, just as a victory for MacIntyre would advance the former MENA Tour winner into the world’s top 50 with all those major championship sand WGC privileges. Whatever transpires, both men have become much larger targets on Padraig Harrington’s radar for the 43rd Ryder Cup matches at Whistling Straits. But that is for September. For now, enjoy the final round of January. It shapes as a doozy, perhaps even a Ryder Cup warm-up match of sorts. If the drama is anything like Saturday, the Desert Classic is poised to celebrate another very worthy British champion.

READ MORE:
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ preview edition
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ round 1 edition

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The post Paul Casey and Robert MacIntyre primed for Dallah doozy appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joy Chakravarty
Sergio Garcia’s love of drivable par-4s deepened late on Saturday at the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic.

An eagle on the Majlis’ always pivotal 359-yard, par-4 17th hole could yet prove critical if he is to kick on to a second Dallah trophy.

The Spaniard, champion here in 2017 before going on to win the Masters that year, managed to narrow the gap with eventual leader Paul Casey to five shots with the eagle when he holed an exquisite flop wedge shot from 15 yards after smashing his drive into the left rough.

RELATED: Paul Casey and Robert MacIntyre primed for Dallah doozy

That helped him finish on five-under par 67 for the day and 10-under par after the third round, tying him for fourth place.

“I love hitting my driver on that hole. I hit a lovely one today, but just turned it a bit. I was left with a very tricky chip and the only thing that was helping me was that I was hitting it straight into the wind,” said the world No.45.

“I hit a flop and hoped it would land on the fringe and leave me no more than a six-seven feet putt for birdie. But it just took a couple of hops and went straight in. It was a bit of a bonus, really.

“I always love short par-4s. I think they all have lots of personality and the 17th here is no different. You can play them in so many different ways – you can be super aggressive and go for the green, or you can be conservative and lay up to the yardage you feel comfortable. These are holes that make you think a little bit and that’s what we want in the game.”

Garcia said it was not his best ball-striking day, but he managed to limit the damage to just one bogey.

“There was a little bit of everything, I guess. I hit some good iron shots. I didn’t feel like I drove it badly, but it was a little bit windier, a little bit trickier. Wasn’t able to hit as many fairways. But obviously a couple of good birdies on the back nine and then obviously the chip-in on 17. Yeah… happy with the score, but there’s some things that we need to improve.”

READ MORE:
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ preview edition
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ round 1 edition
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ round 2 edition

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The post Late eagle leaves Garcia clinging to Dallah double dream appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Australian Minjee Lee survived a nerve-jangling Friday night under The Faldo’s floodlights to add her name to the illustrious roll-call of champions engraved on the Dallah Trophy.

By Kent Gray
Many rate Minjee Lee the best player in the women’s game without a major. The way she bravely clung onto the emotional rollercoaster that unceremoniously shed joy seekers all over The Faldo on Friday night, it seems only a matter of time before that unofficial asterisk is passed on to another unwitting recipient.

The 24-year-old Australian came up clutch late in regulation play and again in overtime to claim the OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic at a club getting awfully good at unearthing major champions-in-waiting.

With a curling, uphill birdie putt centre-cupped from 20-feet, Lee edged French Solheim Cupper Celine Boutier at the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to tag a second LET win onto her five LPGA Tour titles and already exalted international reputation.

She mightn’t own any of women’s golf’s five bigs, yet, but Lee will now see her name on the Dallah Trophy alongside legendary Annika Sörenstam, Lexi Thompson and Shanshan Feng, major champions all. For a further confidence injection, she need only have surveyed the men’s honours board in the clubhouse foyer for more proof of Emirates Golf Club’s enviable status for anointing superstars ahead of time.

Indeed, after learning from a final round pairing with eventual champion Sophia Popov en-route a major championship best third place at September’s British Open, it seems there is little other than a little luck stopping Lee from emulating Messrs Willett, Garcia and DeChambeau soon.

The Perth pro has one last chance in this crazy old year and it helps that the rescheduled U.S. Women’s Open at the Champions Golf Club in Houston next month isn’t far from her Texas-base.

But that is for the future. For now, Lee can bask in the afterglow of a nerve-jangling Moonlight Classic where no fewer than five players still had a legitimate shot at glory with two holes to play. The 14th edition of Dubai’s history rich LET stop may have been sans fans due to the coronavirus but there was no lack of drama.

“I couldn’t really see the break too well on the last hole, but I thought it would be about two cups outside the right and luckily I hit it hard enough and it dropped,” Lee said of her playoff clincher to collect the champion’s €36,266 cheque.

“It feels pretty special to be here playing at night-time and the course has been amazing. It’s been a really fun week and just an unreal experience for me.”

Starting the final round two strokes adrift of Swedish pole-sitter Caroline Hedwall, Lee complied a closing round of 67 to match Boutier’s clubhouse target of -10.

Both former amateur world No.1s and both now based in Texas, Lee and Boutier (68) were the only players among the six legitimate contenders starting Friday’s shotgun to break 70. But while the likes of Hedwall struggled early and finished strongly, Lee and Boutier went from cruise mode to late wobblers.

Boutier (pictured below) led by two for much of the final round but opened the door when she pushed a fairway wood well right and into the water on the par-5 16th en-route to a bogey.

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A hole behind, Lee inexplicably fatted her approach to the par-4 and left her par putt attempt in the jaws of the cup. But the Aussie rebounded immediately with an up and down birdie from the front left trap on the 16th after deliberately hooking her approach around a floodlight and into the bunker.

Kiwi Lydia Ko’s chances had long since evaporated courtesy of five pesky outward nine bogeys. Englishwoman Meghan MacLaren, second starting the final round, likewise never gave in but as much as she willed her icy cold putter, it wouldn’t listen. MacLaren finished T-6 on -8 but will long rue three missed tiddlers, all from inside two feet.

After three bogeys in an outward 39, Hedwall rallied to get it back to where she had started the day at -9 and had two decent birdie attempts on the 53rd and 54th holes to get into the playoff. She eventually had to settle for a share of third with the impressive German Laura Fuenfstueck and Spaniard Nuria Iturrioz whose title defence lasted till her final hole, the 16th, when an eagle try slid agonisingly by.

Lee had a chance to win on the 54th hole but undercooked her left-to-right downhiller. The putt she faced in the playoff was almost a mirror image and she ensured the grainy Faldo greens wouldn’t be a handbrake a second time.

“This year has been tough but this is a nice way to close it out. I’ve really enjoyed the format and everything about the week. My second time playing night golf was certainly memorable.”

A memorable week in a year not quite finished yet. Roll on the U.S. Women’s Open.

The post Minjee Lee’s epic Moonlight win comes at a venue awfully good at unearthing major champions-in-waiting appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Leader Caroline Hedwall has a criminology essay to submit before she joins the gaggle of big names eyeing the heist of the OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic’s coveted Dallah Trophy.

By Kent Gray
It would be fitting if evidence for the paper Caroline Hedwall had to submit overnight as part of her criminology degree was sourced from a suspenseful, real-life thriller. That certainly shapes as the genre of Friday when the Swede gets back to her day job, albeit after hours, at the OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic.

The 31-year-old, suddenly playing well after the mystery of eight missed cuts in her last nine starts, will take a one-stroke buffer over England’s Meghan MacLaren into the final round of the $285,000 LET Pro-Am at Emirates Golf Club.

With six LET titles on a résumé boasting 15 wins worldwide, and a 8 win-6 loss-1 half record in four Solheim Cup appearances, Hedwall is no stranger to winning, nor pressure. But the final round of the Moonlight, under The Faldo’s floodlights, is set up for a spine-tingling finish courtesy of a classy and tightly-packed leaderboard.

After a bogey-free second round 70 to move to -9, Hedwall will be out in the final three-ball alongside -8 MacLaren and -7 Minjee Lee. Lee’s presence, in particular, will likely give Hedwall the chills after the Aussie made Thursday’s biggest move with a 65. At No.9 in the world ranking, Lee owns the tag as the Moonlight’s highest-rated player and also has the experience of five LPGA Tour wins to bring to the 1st tee Friday.

The threesome immediately behind Hedwall and co., who will tee off five minutes ahead in group 1A in a quirk of the 5pm shotgun draw, won’t provide the 36-hole leader with much comfort either.

Also at -7 and just two strokes back is Laura Fuenfstueck (70). The German will be joined by former world No.1 Lydia Ko (70) and French Solheim Cupper Celine Boutier (71) who shared fifth place with the Kiwi star on -6. Ominously, the trio of Lee, Ko and Bouiter bring a total of 21 LPGA Tour and eight LET wins to Friday’s title fight.

Laura Fuenfstueck. Photo by Tristan Jones/LET

After a quick turnaround from her opening night 65 which included a slam dunk hole-in-one, Hedwall had to rise early for her ultimately flawless but slightly frustrating second round.

“I have been playing very steady, hitting a lot of greens and I’ve been good within two metres of the hole. Today I had a lot of putts that didn’t drop so maybe five-under would have been a fair score. But I’m in a good position for tomorrow and I am happy with my game,” said Hedwall who finished T-5 in Dubai last year.

“Today was so different. It was quite hot but … the turnaround was probably the hardest part, falling asleep yesterday and then having to be back up, I only had 6½ hours sleep. I have plenty of time to rest for tomorrow. I am going to try and get my energy up, relax and chill.”

That was until Hedwall remembered her homework assignment waiting back in the players’ hotel.

“I am actually studying criminology at the moment to try and get a degree. It is nice to have something to focus on when you are back in the room. It is stressful at times with 100 percent of the course completed remotely. I’ve been doing lots of essays and I have one to do tonight as the deadline is tomorrow.”

The only crime on Friday then? Perhaps that you forget to tune in on TV – Dubai Sports Channel in the UAE – to find out if Hedwall was the one, ahem, whodunit.

It won’t be a surprise if MacLaren, Lee or Ko spoil Hedwall’s wire-to-wire attempt mind you.

Ko finished with two birdies, including a chip-in from a hanging lie on the 16th, in her final three holes to keep herself in the tournament. But the Kiwi, who owns five LET titles to go with her 15 LPGA Tour wins, is having to learn how to putt the grainy Faldo greens at night on the job.

“Ah, yes, my putting stats definitely agreed to that,” said Ko when asked if she was struggling on the greens.

“I really had trouble with my distance control. It’s difficult because you see the dark and the light and I think your depth perception is a little off, even just with the length of the holes. I had one hole yesterday where I felt like I could get close to the green [off the tee] on the par-4 and today it felt like a par-5, it just shows you how different it is.

“But it’s fun, it’s a unique format and definitely an interesting factor about this tournament.

“Hopefully I’ll be able to learn a few things from today but in some ways, because it is dark, I think it eliminates some of the things you see and it makes you focus on the shot you want to hit. In some ways it really dials in your targets which is nice, especially on tricky driving holes.”

Switzerland’s Kim Metraux is solo 7th on -5 while defending champion Nuria Iturrioz isn’t out of it in a quartet a shot further back. But Friday shapes as a battle between the final two three-balls. The scene of the great Dallah Trophy heist has been set.

The post Caroline Hedwall, pro golfer by day, amateur crime sleuth by night, scripts Moonlight thriller appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Meghan MacLaren isn’t sure she’s figured out all of The Faldo’s night-time nuances but has her putter cooperating sufficiently to believe Emirates Golf Club could be the scene of a third LET win.

A second-round 67 to go with an opening 69 propelled the 26-year-old Englishwoman into contention at the $285,000 OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic. At -8, MacLaren will start Friday’s final round in the company of world No.9 Minjee Lee (-7) and just a stroke adrift of Caroline Hedwall, the Swedish pole-sitter who rounds out the event’s final three-ball.

With Kiwi Lydia Ko also among those in hot pursuit, Friday won’t be easy. But Sir Nick Faldo’s desert re-design shapes as MacLaren’s toughest foe as she sets out in pursuit of the Dallah Trophy to go with her back-to-back Women’s NSW Open wins in 2018 and 2019.

“It’s a strange course because it doesn’t look like a course you can score on,” MacLaren said. “Level par is a good place to be but once you get your rhythm you can get going.”

MacLaren had just one bogey in her morning circuit on Wednesday.

“I thought I’d find the greens easier today but to be honest I didn’t. I don’t know if I am overthinking it now but on the whole, I’ve been rolling it well all week. It’s the biggest improvement of my game and I feel that I can take advantage of my good play and make more out of my rounds.“

MacLaren has enjoyed just one LET top-10 in 2020 at the SA Women’s Open in March but has been trending with a pair of top-20s at the Swiss Ladies and Open de France en-route to Dubai. She also captured a Rose Ladies Series title at Moor Park in Hertfordshire after lockdown and will take the experience of last year in Dubai, where she finished a lowly T-38 after rounds of 71-73-77, into Friday.

“I enjoy the conditions here, the good weather is a plus and it’s nice to come back somewhere you’ve been before. I’ve learnt from last year, it’s in great condition and you just have a look around, it’s a great place to be.”

It could be an even better place late on Friday if her game, and The Faldo, continue to play ball.

The post Englishwoman Meghan MacLaren, just a stroke back, has a good Faldo feeling rolling appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.