Catch up on Bronte Law’s clutch victory in the final edition of our Dubai Moonlight Classic ‘Daily News’ for 2021.

Our wrap of Friday on the Faldo is available FREE here. Alternatively, or simply scroll through the ISSUU link below or download Saturday’s Daily News to your favourite device to read offline or keep for prosperity.

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By Kent Gray
Sometimes scores alone don’t do the full, momentous occasion justice.

That was the case for Chiara Noja after the Jumeirah Golf Estates-attached 15-year-old finished the 15th Dubai Moonlight Classic presented by EGA, her first event as a professional, T-47th.

Even though Noja finished above just eight other players, the German teen was comfortable with her week’s work.

“A journey,” was how Noja succinctly summed up her rounds of 73-72-75.

“I think I played a lot better than I scored over the last three days. I struggled a little bit converting those opportunities. I can’t walk off it too disappointed though, it was my first one.”

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It is understood Noja is headed to King Abdullah Economic City for the 2nd Saudi Ladies International this week. She’ll go armed with many lessons learned on the Faldo at Emirates Golf Club.

“The game changes from one day to another so I can’t expect to wake up and become Nelly Korda…” Noja said.

“But I am in a better place that I was previously. I do need to work on certain aspects of my game heading into the next few tournaments but I’m pretty positive. I can score and transitioning back into tournament golf especially back here on the LET, It is a little bit of added pressure, but I’ve dealt with that pretty well.”

“I’ve done a good job making sure I’m in the right headspace and keeping my cool out there. I handled some of the situations out there today really well.

“I’m flying out in two days and going to do some practice on course. It’s going to be a transition because it will be during the day and not night golf. A little bit of practice here and there and course strategy and see how the game develops.”

RELATED: Brilliant Bronte epitome of clutch as Dubai Moonlight Classic decided on final hole

The post Chiara Noja’s pro journey is off to a solid start appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The English legend explained that the trade came about because of an ongoing struggle to generate the required clubhead speed. She said: “The two iron was my favourite club so I was a bit disappointed when I decided to make the switch. I just felt my clubhead speed did not really come sufficiently enough, making it hard to get the ball on the proper flight path.

“It’s taken me a month to get used to the hybrid and I’m still not 100 percent comfortable with the new one but it’s getting there. You can hit it on the range all you like but you need to hit enough in tournament play to get really comfortable with any club – it’s a work but in progress but I think I’m just too old for a 2 iron now.” 

RELATED: Brilliant Bronte epitome of clutch as Dubai Moonlight Classic decided on final hole

The post Dame Laura Davies says goodbye to a trusty old friend appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Tournament Director Simon Corkill was delighted with this year’s edition. “The tournament’s been absolutely fantastic and it’s great to be able to host this event at such a great location. It’s been wonderful to see everyone out here enjoying themselves with fantastic golf.” 

In terms of all the different entertainment on-site, Simon said: “We’ve got world-class golf as well as Truckers UAE, the come and try sessions for ladies and everything else. It’s been really successful and I’m looking forward to the next one.”

RELATED: Brilliant Bronte epitome of clutch as Dubai Moonlight Classic decided on final hole

The post Simon Says: Tournament Director rates Dubai Moonlight Classic resounding success appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

We continue today with our third edition and the best part is that it is available FREE here. Get up to speed and in the mood for tonight’s final round by scrolling through the ISSUU link below or download Friday’s Daily News to your favourite device to read offline or keep for prosperity.

Enjoy and stay tuned for the DMC Daily News special review edition of the final round, out bright and early Saturday.

The post Friday’s Dubai Moonlight Classic Daily News is FREE here appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Maria Fassi is glad she still has a “target on her back” but isn’t half as relieved as Jessica Karlsson who is starting to believe she won’t have to rush back to school teaching anytime soon.

The Mexican LPGA Tour player and the sometimes math and science teacher from Sweden will begin the final round of the 15th Dubai Moonlight Classic presented by EGA in joint pole-position on Friday, albeit with their noses just ahead of a tightly bunched grid all plotting early overtaking manoeuvres.

Thailand’s highly decorated Jutanugarn sisters Ariya and Moriya and Spaniard Nuria Iturrioz, the 2018 champion here, are among 11 players within four shots heading into the final round of the 260,000 Ladies European Tour event on The Faldo.

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After a course-record equalling 63 in Wednesday’s opening round, Fassi emerged from a frustrating Thursday just one stroke better to par, a 71 getting her to -10. Karlsson, meanwhile, added a 68 to her opening 66 to surprisingly find herself co-leader.

“I didn’t know I was tied for the lead! The photographer told me when I was walking in from the last hole. That’s good news,” Karlsson said.

Jessica Karlsson
(Photo Tristan Jones)

So too is Karlsson’s welcome return to form after her return to the game via the COVID-19 didn’t quite go to plan.

“It was a little bit tough at the start of the year. I played some really bad golf because it had been one-and-a-half years since I had played tournament golf. I was a maths and science teacher last autumn, which was really good.

“It was hard to readjust. I have had a lot of time with my mental coach, and he has really helped me with that part of my game and my readjustment.

“I’m just going to enjoy it and have fun. I have my brother on the bag, so I’m just going to have a lot of fun!”

Afyer the fireworks of Wednesday, Fassi just simply pleased to get it into the clubhouse without any damaged done.   

“It was a bit of a struggle out there today; I couldn’t get anything going and had to save pars every three or four holes so it was hard to build momentum that I had yesterday.

“[But] I went out with a target on my back today and I still have it at the end of the day so that’s good, and hopefully some more putts drop tomorrow.

“I hit it splendid yesterday and it was average today, and I couldn’t get the few opportunities I had for birdie to go in, so if I clean up with the irons and get a couple more putts to drop, I’ll be in good shape tomorrow.”

The post Fassi, Karlsson co-lead as Dubai Moonlight Classic set for cliffhanger conclusion appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Lee-Anne Pace is delighted to be so close after a topsy-turvy second round at the Dubai Moonlight Classic presented by EGA.

The 40-year-old South African watched a six-foot birdie putt slide by on the 18th and with it a chance to make it a three-way lead at -10 on Thursday. But Pace’s eventual 71 could have been worse, especially after a run-in with a cart path on the 16th which sent a chip scuttling deeper into the undergrowth.

“It was entertaining, up and down, and pretty much all over the show,” Pace said of her second round where she mixed five birdies with four bogeys.

“I started a bit cold with the putter but then it got hot in the middle, then I hit it in the bush and nearly hit my head, so it was a bit all over the place, but one-under at the end of the day means I still have a chance. 

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“My caddie really helped me out there because I wanted to play it into the bunker which could easily have been a seven, and he pointed in the other direction and we made an up and down [bogey six], so that was a great call.”

Pace secured her 10th LET title at the SA Open in May and is happy to be plying her trade in “Europe” after an LPGA Tour focus in recent years.

“I’m happy, I’m happy in my life and I’m happy in my golf so I’m really enjoying it, it’s great to be back in Europe and really nice to be around my friends. 

“I’m going to play the same game [on Friday] and try to get into the lead, and if not, try to chase the lead.”

Fassi and Karlsson can’t say they haven’t been warned.

RELATED: Fassi, Karlsson co-lead as Dubai Moonlight Classic set for cliffhanger conclusion

The post Lee-Anne Pace, a 10-time LET winner, is the closest challenger despite near cart-path calamity appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

“I’m here practising tonight but I’ll definitely be watching the action this weekend. I can see the players go by from my apartment window, so I’m very lucky the tournament is quite literally in my neck of the woods, we all are. It’s always good to have the Ladies European Tour back at Emirates Golf Club, it’s a special venue, one of the best and a great home for the Dubai Moonlight Classic,” said Yorke, who won three consecutive English Premier League championships with Manchester United between 1999-2001, as well as the UEFA Champion’s League during the Red Devils’ historic treble season in 1999.

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Yorke reserved special praise for the Dubai Moonlight Classic’s unique evening format: “The tournament’s night-time setting is fantastic, being played in the moonlight under the floodlights, it’s great to see and I am sure everybody will come out to support the girls this weekend,” said the former Trinidad and Tobago striker, who captained his country at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

After retiring from football in 2009, Yorke confessed that golf is a key avenue to maintain his competitive spirit. “I’m a big fan of the game, I love it. After my retirement from football, I have more time and this game brings a little bit of everything in terms of competitiveness. It’s obviously not a team sport, it’s all about you. My work ethic is if you put the effort in you get the rewards out, and I’m certainly hitting it well tonight – although maybe not as well as the girls out on the course,” he added.

RELATED: Fassi, Karlsson co-lead as Dubai Moonlight Classic set for cliffhanger conclusion

The post Former Man United striker Dwight Yorke is a big fan of Dubai’s annual LET stop appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Maria Fassi’s first circuit of the Faldo produced a scorecard that will be hung up in the clubhouse at Emirates Golf Club for prosperity. Now to the job of defending her first round lead.

By Kent Gray
With 10 missed cuts in her first 11 starts on the LPGA Tour this season, you wouldn’t have been alone in giving Maria Fassi’s name little more than a cursory glance when surveying the field for potential winners of this week’s Dubai Moonlight Classic.

The 23-year-old Mexican’s relative anonymity lasted precisely 18 holes on Wednesday as she roared to the first-round lead of the €260,000 Ladies European Tour event at Emirates Golf Club.

With nine birdies and a chip-in eagle on her last hole of the night, the 16th, Fassi signed for an eight-under 63, matching the Faldo course record established by Kylie Henry in the final round of last year’s tournament. She leads by a stroke from South African Lee-Anne Pace with JA the Resort-attached Olivia Cowan alone in third place after a 65 heading into Thursday’s penultimate round.

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Cowan had hinted at the Faldo’s receptiveness with a stunning round of 60 in Tuesday’s Pro-Am and 31 of the 56 starters were in red numbers after the first round, including former world No.1 Ariya Jutanugarn who carded a four-under 68 to stay in touch with the leaders.

But the night belonged to Fassi who, astonishingly, could have lead by more but for blotting her card with two bogeys. Not that anyone was grumbling. It was sensational and surprising golf from a player whose only previous LET rounds – scores of 73-74 – saw her miss the cut at last year’s Australian Ladies Classic Bonville.

Wednesday’s round is even more impressive when you learn Fassi needed knee surgery in April.

“It is, of course, always good to be under par but it was pretty flawless out there today,” she said. “It is my first time playing in the dark but it was awesome. I was talking with the girls in my group today [and saying] that it’s a pretty cool experience. 

“It’s something that I wanted to experience [night golf] at least once in my lifetime. It is a lot of fun and it gives a more relaxed vibe to the tournament which helps my mindset and my game.”

Staying chill for the final 36 holes is the trick from here. It seems Fassi has a plan for that too.

“You always look back to a round like today and hope to do the same the next day and so on. It’s very important for me to just walk in tomorrow and have a clean slate and focus on the same things I was focusing on – we have a great game plan for the golf course, and it definitely paid off today, but I just need to keep doing what I have been doing and I should be in good shape after that.”

Olivia Cowan. Photo by Tristan Jones/LET

While others might have been surprised by the round, Fassi herself wasn’t. She’s been trending nicely since going under the knife with a 5th place finish at last month’s ShopRite LPGA Classic. It’s not like she is an unknown either; Fassi finished runner-up to Jennifer Kupcho at the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur and placed T-12 in her professional debut – impressively at the U.S. Open – later in 2019.

“I think it was a matter of time for me to be able to put a round like todays together. I have been working very hard to see something like this happen so it’s very motivating to see a round like today and have all that hard work pay off. 

“I think it is a good game plan. We are playing pretty aggressive especially on the back nine, there’s a few holes where my length really plays a big role so it’s using that and hoping that the putts keep dropping.”

For much of the opening round Pace was the aptly-named pace-setter. The South African didn’t put a, ahem, foot wrong, starting with a birdie on the 4th, her first hole, before adding six more and an eagle on the 10th to sign for a 64.

“To shoot bogey-free is always very nice, I nearly birdied the last hole as well. I played very solid and made all the fairways which makes it a lot easier into the greens,” said Pace, a 10-time LET winner. “It’s not a terribly long golf course so you can attack the pins and the greens are holding as well.”

Pace played in the same three-ball as Cowan, the 25-year-old German who is still searching for her LET breakthrough.

“We both played solid today and had a good day… it was really enjoyable,” Cowan said. “I love coming to Dubai – it feels like a second home with my sponsors JA the Resort here and I always play well here because of that. Great weather, great course, I can’t complain.” 

That’s a good thing for Cowan’s bag-carrying partner.

“My boyfriend is caddying for me this week. We weren’t quite sure how it was going to be because it was the first time – it could make or break the relationship. It’s going well so far though so he can keep the job.”

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The post With an opening 63, Mexican Maria Fassi is a joint owner of the Faldo course record and out alone at the Dubai Moonlight Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

A stunning, course record 63 from Mexico’s Maria Fassi was the standout on Wednesday but there was plenty of other storylines from the first round of the annual Ladies European Tour (LET) stop and you can read all about it here. 

Each day Golf Digest Middle East, as an official media partner, will produce the official Dubai Moonlight Classic ‘Daily News’ to help you stay up to date with all the action from The Faldo course at Emirates Golf Club.

We continue today with our preview edition and the best part is that it is available FREE here. Get up to speed and in the mood for tonight’s second round by scrolling through the ISSUU link below or download Thursday’s Daily News to your favourite device to read offline or keep for prosperity.

Enjoy and stay tuned for the DMC Daily News review of the second round, out bright and early Friday.

The post Thursday’s Dubai Moonlight Classic Daily News is FREE here appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.