By Kent Gray
The embattled Ladies European Tour (LET) may have decided to go it alone in 2018 but insist they remain open to future partnerships with either the LPGA Tour, the men’s European Tour or a combination thereof.

New executive chairman Mark Lictenhein says the decision to press ahead with the uncertain status quo after September crisis talks with LPGA boss Mike Whan, European Tour chief Keith Pelley, Senior European Tour leader David McLaren and the R&A was born out of necessity rather than any apprehension of combining forces.

“The main issue is the timing; that we needed to put all our efforts into getting 2018 in as good of shape as possible,” said Lictenhein during a “State of the Tour’ media roundtable at the LET’’s season-ending Omega Dubai Ladies Classic.

While a full schedule for 2018 is yet to be finalised, a new four-event Australia swing, co-sanctioned by the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Association (ALPG) and offering a combined purse of US$1 million, has been confirmed for February. Lictenhein also spoke of positive “tailwinds” and a potential schedule of 20 events after the 2017 calendar was reduced to 15 events (effectively 13 with the British Open, Evian Championship and a limited field team event in Japan) following the net loss of five tournaments.

Related: Aussie swing start of “great tailwind” building behind LET says chief

“If we had spent from September till now working on restructuring the Tour and all the legal implications thereof, I don’t think there wouldn’t have been enough time to do anything. Plus the fact that we’d been in that process would have made it impossible to bring on new sponsors or build confidence. They would have wanted to wait and see what the results of that process would be.”

Lictenhein, who was appointed chairman a year ago and took over the day-to-day running of the tour in August following the mutually agreed departure of CEO Ivan Khodabaksh, said the LET would continue to look at ways it could work more closely with the LPGA and European Tours.

The LET and LPGA are already partners in the Solheim Cup and the co-sanctioned Scottish Open which will be held back-to-back with the European Tour’s equivalent at Gullane G.C. in East Lothian in July. There is also the “co-located” Trophee Hassan II (men’s) and Lalla Meryem Cup (LET) in Morocco in April while golf will take part in a new multi-sport European Championships on the Centenary Course at Gleneagles, Scotland, in August where there will me a mixed foursomes event as well as individual men’s and women’s competitions.

“We haven’t closed the door by any means to the LPGA and The European Tour…  I speak regularly with Mike Whan, so does [LET Player President] Helen Alfredsson. It’s not like we are some kind of strangers waiting for some kind of merger and acquisition discussion to take place,” Lictenhein said.

“But you know, I think it’s very complicated in terms of a merger and acquisition strategy for membership organisations. I mean, we’re not talking about corporate entities where you change the share holding.  We are a membership organisation. So working through the ramifications of any kind of merger and acquisition would be extremely complex I think.“

With that said, Lictenhein confirmed talks would resume in April.

“Don’t get me wrong, we are more than happy to work together to identify the opportunities. We all agreed when we sat down in September with the LPGA, the No. 1 priority was rebuilding the European schedule.  So there’s no disagreement about that.  It’s just a question of how we do that.

“The key for us is, whatever we do, we create a sustainable solution for the future. This isn’t about throwing some money, creating artificially one or two tournaments.  That’s not really going to help anybody.

“In fact, it’s going to disrupt the market if we start shoving all of this free resource over here to create something. We need to be working with our partners, with the federations, with the sponsors, to find long term, sustainable solutions.”

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English amateur star Lamb will play the Ladies European Tour season-ender from Dec. 6-9 after accepting an invited from Golf in Dubai, the tournament organiser. It mean’s the low amateur at August’s Women’s British Open will be reunited with the South Korean winner of the fourth of the season’s five ladies major championships.

Related: British Open champion I.K. Kim fizzing for Omega Dubai Ladies Classic return

“Winning the amateur medal in a major event was a huge moment for me. It is something everyone dreams of when they first start to play golf,” said the 19-year-old of winning the Smyth Salver with a -6 aggregate at Kingsbarns Golf Links, 12 shots adrift of Kim.

“It’s been a great experience for me to see where my game compares to the best in the world.  When you have confidence in yourself you feel like you can do just about anything, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself and will take things as they come.

“It will be fun playing in Dubai as I have heard a lot of good things about the tournament and know pretty well that it attracts a very strong field each year.

“I am grateful to Golf in Dubai for the invitation and look forward to visiting the magnificent city and playing on the famed Majlis course, Hopefully, there’ll be some more good times to come.”

Related: Pettersen on her Dubai return: “I show up to win tournaments”

Lamb, whose career took off when she captured the the British women’s stroke-play championship and England Golf Women’s Order of Merit title in 2016, has no intention of turning professional until she’s represented Great Britain and Ireland in the biennial Curtis Cup matches against the U.S. in Scarsdale, New York next June.

“That’s something I want to achieve before I turn professional. Not sure how things will pan out, but definitely the Curtis Cup is something I want to do,” said the East Lancashire teen who is listed as a +4.1 handicapper on the England Golf website.

Lamb was England’s top scorer in the mixed international against Spain for the Seve Ballesteros Trophy earlier this year, winning all her games.

Said Falcon Golf (Golf in Dubai) chairman Peter Dawson: “Her achievements since winning the North of England under-14 championships amply show she has enormous potential. This is just the beginning, and I am sure we will see more of her in time to come.”

The post English amateur sensation Sophie Lamb reunited with British Open champion IK Kim in Dubai appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Organisers hope Paige Spiranac will again lend her social media celebrity to December’s Omega Dubai Ladies Masters but admit “we may not put her through the trauma of playing” the season-ending Ladies European Tour [LET] event.

Tournament Director David Spencer has revealed the 24-year-old American is likely to be offered an ambassadorial role at the €515,000 tournament from December 6-9 after emotionally missing the cut at the LET event the past two seasons.

Spencer is also hopeful the aspiring professional golfer will consider returning to act as the official starter for the men at the European Tour’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic, also at Emirates Golf Club, in late January.

Enter the Golf Digest Amateur Series today! CLICK HERE for Abu Dhabi GC event this Thursday

Asked if Spiranac would again be invited to the Ladies Masters, Spencer told Golf Digest Middle East: “Maybe, but we may not put her through the trauma of [actually] playing.“

Related Video: Spiranac hopes to ‘save someone’s life’ by speaking out on cyber bullies

“We’re hoping to bring her to the ladies and the men’s [Desert Classic] and we’re actually considering asking her to be the starter at the men’s event, the official starter.”

Spiranac made her professional debut, and created a global media storm, at the 2015 Dubai Ladies Masters courtesy of a controversial sponsors’ invite.

When the Instagram superstar returned to Dubai last December, she tearfully admitted to an on-going struggle with depression and anxiety due to cyber bullying in the wake of her rounds of 77-79 the previous year.

She had toyed with quitting the game after “the hardest experience of my life” but felt compelled to fight on and speak out given concerning teen suicide rates. “Hopefully I can save someone’s life, I think that’s so much more important than if I make the cut or miss the cut,” she said at the time.

Video: Paige Spiranac’s Top 3 short game tips

Sadly, Spiranac continued to be targeted by faceless online trolls after carding rounds of 77 and 80 on the Majlis layout to finish 13 over par, nine shots shy of the cut which fell at +4, last year.

Spencer took plenty of heat when he first invited Spiranac to Dubai and expects fall-out from the lastest decision. But he remains unapologetic, insisting Spiranac had significantly raised the profile of the Dubai Ladies Masters and would continue to do so in an ambassadorial role.

“We took a lot of criticism for that [the 2015 sponsors’ invite] too but we are happy to stand by what we’ve been criticised for,” said Spencer, who also serves as a strategic adviser to Falcon Golf who now run both the Ladies Masters and Desert Classic.

“In my life I’ve been lucky enough to be in golf situations and see which golfers light up a room when they walk into it and I include in that [list] Seve, Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman and Tiger, of course.

“But the one I’d add to that is Paige, in that she has great presence, she’s an interesting character, she’s got lots of interesting [charity] causes. Apart from being physically beautiful, which she obviously is, she’s got a heart of gold and that comes across in corporate situations.“

David Cannon/Getty Images Spiranac during the second round of the 2015 Omega Dubai Ladies Masters.

Spencer admitted sponsors were initially reluctant for the tournament to be associated with Spiranac who profits from 1.2m followers on Instagram, and more than 235,000 and 162,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter respectively. But he said corporate backers had done a “complete 180 degree turn” and now, “I mean, they just love her.”

Related: Paige Spiranac and her crazy professional debut

“We think what may be happening is that people think this social media [strategy] is a sexist thing but I was so heartened at that public clinic [involving Spiranac] last year when we had all the young golfers there [watching],” Spencer said.

“There is obviously a connection to golf via social media and we’ve got to be competitive with other sports [and in the entertainment space]. It’s not easy to get sponsorship, whatever sport you have.”

Whatever transpires with Spiranac, four-time defending champion Shanshan Feng won’t return to defend her title due to a prior engagement back in China.

“Shanshan has requested a leave pass and [joked] it will give someone else a chance to win,’ Spencer said. “She said ‘I’ll win it again in 2018’.”

The post Paige Spiranac welcomed back to Dubai Ladies Masters but unlikely to be put through “trauma” of actually playing LET event appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Saadiyat Beach Golf Club will again host the US$550,000 event, the 14^th of the LET’s 19 events in 2017. The Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, to be promoted by Falcon Golf for the first time at Emirates Golf Club from December 6-9, is again the final event of the season.

The FBMLO dates were confirmed Tuesday as Saadiyat Beach and Troon Golf sister club Abu Dhabi GC joined seven other UAE clubs to celebrate International Women’s Golf Day with free learn to golf lessons. FBMLO prizes and VIP passes were up for grabs at the Abu Dhabi #WomensGolfDay events.

“The feedback we received from the players at the inaugural FBMLO was overwhelmingly positive, which is not surprising given the world-class facilitates on offer in Abu Dhabi,” LET CEO Ivan Khodabakhsh.

“Women’s Golf Day represents the global movement in women’s golf, which is inspiring a whole new generation of golfers and events like the FBMLO play a significant part to ensure this continued growth over the coming years.”

Scotland-based US professional Beth Allen won the inaugural FBMLO, finishing 21-under par to scoop the first women’s pro event staged in Abu Dhabi. It helped Allen capture the LET’s order-of-merit and Players’ player of the year titles but she has struggled in 2017.

A T37 finish in the LET’S season-opening Victorian Open and T7 placing in the LPGA’S Australian Open was encouraging but Allen has since missed five cuts in her last six event in the US.

The post Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open dates confirmed appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Golf’s social media queen has been able to cast aside the disappointment of missing the cut for a second time in the season-ending Ladies European Tour event after being popped the question the day after the €500,000 tournament.

The Scottsdale, Arizona 23-year-old apparently said yes to former U.S. minor league baseballer Steven Tinoco who unveiled the news via a short video on Instagram – a post which has since been removed.

However, Spiranac alluded to “the best day of my life” in a Facebook post December 11 and we’re presuming, as cuddly as those cute wee penguins are at Ski Dubai, she was talking about Tinoco’s proposal.

She had taken to her own Instagram account the previous evening to explain away her golf at Emirates Golf Club where she carded rounds of 77-80 to finish 13-over-par in a tie for 102nd place, vowing to “come out stronger” for the experience.

SEE MORE
Spiranac: “There is more to life than the score you shoot”

It came after the LPGA Tour hopeful outlined the cyber bullying she encountered in the aftermath of missing the cut in Dubai the previous year when she was first granted a sponsor’s invite (see video).

“I have also been incredibly touched with the outpouring of support and the stories you have all shared with me after I spoke about my experiences with bullying. This along with the tragic passing of [caddy] Max Zechmann has proven to me that there is more to life than the score you shoot.“

As well as a shiny diamond engagement ring (we saw the rock before Tinoco’s post was taken down), Spiranac clearly has a firm shoulder to lean on for the inevitable backlash from online trolls to her near every move, on and off the course.

We wish the happy couple all the best for the future – and Spiranac more cute birdies… on the course, of course.

The post Will you marry me, Paige Spiranac? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The animal loving 28-year-old grasped the chance at Atlantis, The Palm Dubai either side of the serious business of finishing the Ladies European Tour (LET) season-ender T35, good enough to secure 16th place on the money list with €84,601 from just six starts.

Mozo, whose Colombian boyfriend Robert Farah reached the mixed doubles final at Wimbledon last summer, sat down with LET head of communications Bethan Cutler after her splashing good time to discuss her new found love of tennis, the sadness of leaving her beloved pooch Coco back in Spain and how she intends to building on her LPGA and LET form next season.

15 Questions for Belen Mozo

The UAE is new to you in 2016. What were your favourite memories from your first visit to the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters?
This was my first time in Dubai and my second in the UAE, after I played in Abu Dhabi a few weeks ago. I wanted to come to this part of the world, because there are many sceptics out there who jump to conclusions about the culture and religion and I wanted to make an impression of my own. I also wanted to make my own arguments about the people, their city, their culture and their religion. So far, in both emirates I have been to, it breathes tolerance and with how much controversy there is right now with the Muslim world, it gives me hope. I have met some wonderful, kind-hearted people that will remain my friends forever. So far, if I had to choose one thing from Dubai, it wouldn’t be the Burj Khalifa, the Marina or the nightlife, but the warmth of the people: that is what captivated me.

We understand that you love animals. How did this come about?
I love animals. I absolutely do. I am so naive about some of them actually being wild animals that whether it’s a dog, a tiger or a camel, I will go straight up and pet them, without being aware that they might attack me! One day I might get bit wiser. I guess I love animals because they speak the truth with their eyes, especially dogs. They only understand love and loyalty. And it doesn’t get any better than that in life!

Tell us about your dogs and how often you get to spend time with them?
I got so obsessed with wanting to go to pet stores with my boyfriend to play around with puppies after long periods of time on the road, that one day we came back home with one of them. Her name is Coco. She is a toy version of an Aussie Shepherd. I used to travel with her for almost nine months: she was my shadow and my best friend. She gives me so much peace and love when travelling on my own. It was one of my best seasons when I first had her, but she created this intense bond with me and became so dependent on me that every time I left for the golf course, she thought I was abandoning her. Because of her suffering, I brought her to my mom’s in Spain, where we have a big house with big gardens and she is very happy there and making my parents extremely joyful. I see her only once or twice a year and it’s very frustrating, but she’s still my shadow every time I go back.

What else do you love to do when you get time out from golf?
I love learning and reading. When I am not playing I will be reading and when I am not reading  I am either doing exercise indoors at the gym or outdoors like hiking, stand up paddle boarding or any physical activity. Of course I love shopping, but which woman doesn’t?

You are known as a talented and attractive golfer. How do you manage your reputation?
Reputation? The talented golfer one is hard to maintain because there are so many avid young golfers on tour these days that is hard to keep up, but I guess I will always be known for my hard work and dedication, regardless of my performance: you will always find me grinding it out the next day. The attractive side of it is all about controlling how you want people to know you. I like my fans to see the real Belen, not just Belen the golfer. So when fans get to know my personality a little bit better, is when they will find me attractive I guess. I have a great sense of humour!

How do you balance your time between sport training and practice and other commitments?
Time management is the hardest for me because I never want to cease learning, I am constantly attracted to trying new things. From reading a lot of books, to studying French on my own, to learning how to do a proper headstand, to being creative in my gym workouts, to learning about nutrition and hydration… to name the last couple of things I have been up to for the last week. The trick is learning to prioritise, what is essential and what can wait and build your schedule around it. The most important thing I have learned when applying this, is to include resting periods, some Belen time, in this scheduling. I didn’t do that before.

Are there any words that you live by, or advice that you have received, which has really helped you?
I live by never giving up. Your performance may not reflect the hard work you put it and how well you might be playing, so that’s why you can never cease the fight and when your time comes, you are ready to shine.

You were born and raised in Cadiz in Spain, a beautiful part of the world. Why did you decide to go to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and what did you study there?
I always wanted to go to college. I knew I was a great golfer after a fantastic amateur career, but I always knew that there was much more to me than golf. Pursuing a college degree was always something I wanted to do. I studied International Relations. Nowadays, kids don’t do that. You see them playing their best years on tour, which makes sense economically, because for me, my best years were from age 17-21, when I was fearless and had no pressure.

Why did you decide to move to Bogota in Colombia?
My coach. I decided to work with him two years ago, and in my weeks off I was flying there all the time, so I was never spending time at my home in Florida.

How much of a tennis fan are you?
Now a lot, but I wouldn’t know how to go down the ranking naming players. I am getting to be more into it because of Robert [Farah/pictured below] of course. But I do love going to watch him play and supporting him at his events. I am an amazing cheerleader and the funniest thing is that deep in me, I believe I coach him very well when I go out with him on tour. 

What have you enjoyed the most from the last few months of 2016, playing in LET events in Germany, India, Abu Dhabi and Dubai?
I didn’t have a good year on the LPGA. Performance-wise, it wasn’t good, however I saw a lot of improvement from last year and played the lights out much better. But the tour is getting harder and harder these days. My season on LPGA ended early, after Evian. And because I knew I was playing so much better and I lost the fear of competing again; I knew I needed to get out there to prove to myself that I could do it. I decided to accept a couple of invitations on the LET and that happened to be the best decision I made in 2016. Out of four events, I finished second twice and had two top 35s. So it did give me the confidence that I was lacking to keep working even harder. So kudos to me!

Can you tell us about your 2016 season… are you happy with it and is there anything you would have liked to have done better?
I have worked really hard, and things didn’t go my way at all, but I love how much stronger I have become against adversity because of all the setbacks I have had this year. I wouldn’t change any of those bad weeks if the end result is the new and better version of the Belen I am right now.

What are your plans for the Christmas break and New Year?
There are not going to be any breaks for me this off season. In December I will be in Cartagena de India, Colombia, doing some strong pre-season training with my physical trainer Jayson Mathiou. Robert, my boyfriend, will also be there. He is getting ready for the start of his season, which will be the Aussie Open. Then in January I will be non-stop with my golf coach Pedro Russi in Bucaramanga, Colombia.

What will you be working on during the off-season?
There are a couple of things I still need to polish in my swing. When one sees my swing, they see a flawless swing with no imperfections, but trust me, there are, especially when I get loose because of negative thoughts and doubts. Building a more connected swing is my top priority. I will work on shortening the swing. I lost confidence with my driver two years ago, and it is taking me that long to put it in play during competitive rounds. On the driving range, it is perfect, but once they announce my name on the first tee, things get very shaky for me.

What are your plans and ambitions for 2017?
I have high expectations for myself for 2017 that I need to tone down. It’s not good to pressurise yourself that much, but I have been watching my improvements day in, day out, and I cannot wait to get out there and redeem myself. My biggest ambition is to conquer my driver again and make it my favourite club in the bag. I also want to become a top five best putter on tour. With those two things, I will manage to do quite alright on tour next year!

The post Being Belen Mozo appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 34-year-old Californian had secured the Ladies European Tour order-of-merit title before the season-ending Omega Dubai Ladies Masters but only because Shanshan Feng hadn’t played the requisite six events to qualify.

Allen still hoped to play well enough at Emirates Golf Club to eclipse the Chinese world No.4 but Feng’s fourth Dubai title in five years and a disappointing T55 for Allen put pay to that.

Allen finished 2016 with €313,079 from 16 events and the official money title. But there was nothing unofficial about the disappointment after Feng finished with €14,195 more from just a quarter the number of starts on the LET.

But surely it’s irrelevant as you have the title, surely it doesn’t really matter?

“It matters. I’m gutted,” Allen said after her rounds of 71-77-74 on the Majlis.

“I had expectations [coming into Dubai] obviously because I had been playing well all year and I had a decent round in the first round. But yesterday [Friday], something just wasn’t right, and then today I thought the conditions were really tough,” Allen said.

“Like, that score that Shanshan shot [64] is phenomenal, and Charley [Hull, 65] as well. I guess Friday was really my downfall and maybe it was just a bit of like I was tired mentally. Maybe that was part of it. I don’t know. But I wish it was different.”

Allen’s year – wins at the Open de France and last month’s inaugural Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open at Saadiyat Beach GC and five other top 10s – is nothing to sniff at.

It’s just that Feng has been, well, fantastic in her fleeting appearances with victory at the Buick Championship in China, a T17 at the Ricoh Women’s British Open, fourth place at The Evian Championship and her stunning two-shot, come from behind triumph in Dubai.

“Of course I wish I would have made more money than her,” said the Edinburgh-based LET board member’s whose buildup to Dubai was hardly ideal although potentially very profitable as she secured an LPGA Tour card for 2017 at last week’s Q-school in Florida.

“At the end of the day, to be a member, you have to play in six events, and I support the LET 100 percent. Because of that, I think I guess I deserve it.

“Looking back, I’m so pleased, because this is something that I wasn’t ever sure I could achieve. Everything just sort of went nicely. So yeah, I’m really, really happy…I [just] wish things were different [at the end].”

So what next for Allen, who was married in July, is committed to the LET next year but needs to play well in the US to achieve her goal of a Solheim Cup start?

“I haven’t been to Edinburgh in two months, so I’m keen to go back. I’m going to be there until Boxing Day and then I’m going to California to see my family, too. I think it’s going to be a great off-season, probably the best ever.

“It’s been a full on few months and I’m really ready for the couch.”

The post Allen: ‘Yeah, I wish things were different’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 27-year-old Chinese star swept to her fourth Dubai title in five years Saturday with a stunning eight-under 64 that defied leaderboard logic, event history and most of all the gutsy winds that buffeted the Majlis course all afternoon.

Feng mightn’t have the keys to the clubhouse at Emirates Golf Club but she pretty much owns the club’s marquee course, this time reeling off eight birdies in a blemish free round to finish the season-ending Ladies European Tour (LET) event, shortened to 54 holes, at -10.

Feng’s Midas touch on the Majlis saw her finish two clear of late-charging fellow Omega brand ambassador Charley Hull after the Englishwoman’s 65 saw her leapfrog from T23 overnight. Indian 18-year-old Aditi Ashok (70) capped her LET Rookie-of-the-Year breakthrough by finishing T3 alongside Englishwoman Florentyna Parker (71) at -6.

Feng had started the final round of the LET season five adrift of overnight leader Felicity Johnson (England) and almost an afterthought given the icy cold putter she had wielded to rounds of 72-70 and a 36-hole share of 13th. More fool us all.

“Of course it was different, because I think in the first three times that I won, I was leading by five shots into the final days. This time, I was five behind so I knew that I would have to play hard to try to catch the leaders,” Feng said

“I knew that it was going to be windy today and I knew that playing in the wind is one of my strongest parts. So even though I was five behind, I always thought that maybe I would still have a chance to win this week and I tried my best. Eight-under was a pretty good score.

“Of course I’m so excited today, because I didn’t play super well the first two days. My putting was kind of lost and I’m very happy that I was able to putt well today and make a lot of birdies to make the crowds excited. I’m just really happy that I brought out my A-game in front of all the crowds.”

The feeling was most definitely mutual from the galleries, many of them here when Feng won in 2012, 2014 and last year

The Rio Olympic Games bronze medalist owns all the most important tournament records – including the low aggregate (-21 in both 2012 and 2015) and widest winning margin (12 shots last year) – and added another with her virtuoso finish, the 64 eclipsing her own lowest final round by a winner, a 66 last year which had matched the marker by 2013 champion Pornanong Phatlum.

If you want some really impressive figures then consider Feng is a combined 74-under par for 19 rounds on the Majlis. That’s a scarily good stroke average of 68.10; only once has she failed to break par, an opening 76 in 2013 when she still managed fifth place.

About the only record she didn’t claim Saturday was Dutchwoman Dewi Claire Schreefel’s 2012 course record score of 63 although she gave it an alrighty scare with birdie putts burning the hole on both 17 and 18.

Feng finally got her flat-stick firing despite the late misses and it was curtains for the field, among them Johnson who fell fell away to a 75 and a share of seventh place.

“I would say that the putting, yes, finally it’s working. You’ve been asking me the whole week, ‘oh, what are you doing, the first and second day, you’re not putting same as what you were doing here in the past years’. I asked myself, I didn’t know either,” Feng said.

So what did you do differently?

“I made small adjustments on my posture. I think I found like the most comfortable way to putt again. I was misjudging about the speed the first day, Yesterday, I got the speed better. Today I got the speed and the line better. So that’s why the balls were dropping.”

Over and over again, just like her rivals bowing to the Queen of Dubai. On second thoughts, the chief engraver probably won’t want to miss next year.

The post Feng’s awesome foursome appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

“I’m actually getting a new driver and 3-wood from [Titleist], the new 917, so I’m looking forward to practice with those,” the Ladies European Tour’s newly crowned rookie-of-the-year said of her well-deserved off-season.

Is that your idea of a Christmas gift? “Kind of, yeah.”

That that sort of attitude and aptitude to getting better, it’s little wonder the 18-year-old from Bangalore is one of the hottest properties in world golf currently.

Ashok capped her breakthrough year, which included back-to-back wins in Indian and Qatar, with a share of third place alongside Englishwoman Florentyna Parker at the season-ending Omega Dubai Ladies Masters.

Three successive rounds of 70 saw her finish -6, four adrift of Chinese champion Shanshan Feng and lifted her to second overall on the LET money list with €206,664 from 13 starts, €106,405 behind Californian Beth Allen.

Like Allen, Ashok didn’t have time for a practice round on the Majlis after flying into Dubai after gaining partial LPGA Tour status at last week’s Q-School in Florida.

“That made it difficult but I think I did exceed expectations. I made four birdies every day but a made a couple of mistakes every day, too. To finish off your year with a top five is good. It’s not bad.”

So what will you be working on at the range, other than coming to grips with those flash new woods?

“I think I could still get a lot sharper with my approaches compared to how I am now. And plus the US courses are going to be slightly longer, so I’m going to have to get really good with my approaches, and also work on hitting it further. That’s a continuous process.”

So too is coming to terms with her sudden celebrity which has come as something of a surprise.

“I think the Olympics changed that quite a bit. Even before [Rio], I was playing in LET events and I did sort of okay, but it wasn’t like it was of interest at the time.

“But obviously after I played the Olympics, everyone wants to know what I’m doing because I’m the ‘Olympian who was leading after two days and is now playing here’. Hopefully the interest continues to grow and not just with me but with all the women golfers in India.”

And what of next year. You’ve already set your crosshairs on the LPGA rookie title we hear?

“Yeah, that would be challenging but I’m sure on the LPGA, I’ve heard that if you play well, they have reshuffles and so you might get into a good position. You might be able to get into all events if you just do well in the opportunities you get,” Ashok said.

“So hopefully I can do that. And also the LET, I should be able to play a couple of events like The Scottish Open and stuff like that, which I may not get into from the LPGA but I can get into from the LET side, and maybe three majors, I’m not sure yet.”
What does seem certain is that we’re going to hear a lot more from India’s most talented golfing teen.

The post Aditi eyes LPGA Tour rookie-of-the-year double
 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

“Yeah, I think we have to play maybe a couple less holes than her,” the vanquished overnight leader quipped after Feng clinched an awesome foursome of Dubai titles with a closing 64.

“She seems to have got rights to it at the moment. Is that four from five or something, something ridiculous like that? And even when you think she might not have been in contention today, what’s she, five back today, and stormed it.”

That Johnson was able to see the light side of a dark day personally speaks volumes of the red-headed 29-year-old.

The Englishwoman slipped from the summit of the leaderboard following her own 64 around Emirates Golf Club Friday to a disappointing share of seventh on the back of a topsy-turvy 75.

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After bogeying the first, Johnson settled down with a up and down birdie on the short par 4 2nd. An eagle-birdie combo on the par 5 3rd and par 4 5th respectively saw her extend her overnight lead of -7 to -10 for a commanding four shot lead over Charley Hull (England).

But then Fend fired up, Johnson began spraying her approaches and the chance to return to the winners circle for the first time since the 2011 Open de France had vanished.

“I think I looked at the board at one point and I had a three-shot lead and the next I was three behind,” Johnson said.

“I knew I made a couple of mistakes, but I don’t know what her scorecard looked like. Around the turn, the back nine, there [must have been] quite a few birdies thrown in there. She just took over.”

That position enlightening leaderboard must have made for difficult reading?

“Yeah, obviously a little bit of deflation because I wasn’t playing as well as I could have done. But I kind of smiled to myself because she had some round going, so I kind of appreciated what she was doing.

“She’s one of the best players in the world, so you can never count her out of it. I knew what the situation was. I knew I had a two-shot lead. But I didn’t look at it and think, right, Shanshan’s five back, Flory is a couple back.

“I thought if I shot maybe four-under today in the conditions that was maybe forecast in the wind, I thought -11 would probably be good enough and it would have been.”

But it was not meant to be for Johnson, her final round summing up a topsy-turvy 2016.

“t’s obviously a top-10, any day, you’ve got to be happy with but I’ve kind of wanted this year to end. On and off the golf course hasn’t been a great year. To finish this way, yes, does epitomise it, but there’s some positive stuff to take into a fresh season.

“It shows what I’m working on works really well when it works, obviously yesterday [her second round 64], but it’s just more time on the range, grooving it in.

“Obviously your old faults come back under pressure like they did today. Left is my bad shot, and hit a couple of those today. I just need to go back and keep working on the same things; it works. It’s just a time process.”

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