By Matt Smith
Recent major champions Minjee Lee and Jennifer Kupcho have confirmed their participation in this year’s Ladies European Tour Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open taking place at Dundonald Links from July 28-31.

Australian Lee, the 2020 Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic champion, who won her second major title at the US Women’s Open earlier this month by four shots, is currently the highest ranked player entered in this year’s 144-women field, at No. 3.

Lee’s US Open victory was her second LPGA win of the season after last month’s Cognizant Founders Cup, taking her total LPGA victories to eight. She returns to Dundonald Links for her sixth appearance in the Women’s Scottish Open, having three top-10 finishes including solo second place in 2018.

Jennifer Kupcho

American Kupcho captured her first major title in April at the Chevron Championship. An impressive third round of 64 saw her enter the final day with a six-shot lead, and despite a shaky back nine she finished the championship two shots clear of fellow American Jessica Korda. This past weekend, Kupcho won her second LPGA title at the Meijer Classic where she beat Ireland’s Leona Maguire and world No. 2 Nelly Korda in a dramatic three-way playoff. She will be looking to make her first cut in three appearances at this year’s Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open.

“I can’t wait to return to Scotland this summer for the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open,” Lee said. “I have great memories of playing in this event and its always so special to come back to Scotland. Links golf is always challenging, but I really enjoy navigating the different conditions as we don’t get to experience a true links test very often.

“I’ve also heard great things about the newly transformed Dundonald Links so I’m excited to experience it in person and also try to keep building on my win at the US Open. My brother Min Woo won the Scottish Open last year which was a huge win for him, and it definitely gives me a little extra incentive to try and win the Women’s so we have one each.”

Kupcho added: “I last played this event in 2020, so I’m looking forward to being back and taking on the challenge of true links golf again. This has already been such a special year for me winning my first major and I will definitely be leaning on that experience to give me the extra boost of confidence that the tough Scottish coastal courses demand.”

This year’s field is the strongest yet with seventeen major winners already entered into the field at Dundonald Links, and more set to sign up before deadline on July 13.

This is Trust Golf’s second year as title sponsor and has increased this year’s prize-fund by 33 per cent to $2 million.

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The post Major players Minjee Lee and Jennifer Kupcho sign up for Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Charley Hull has always been a tenacious competitor but an unforgettable year has unearthed even deeper reserves as the Northamptonshire star returns to a favourite hunting ground.

By Kent Gray
We’ve all been impacted by the coronavirus in some way but few in King Abdullah Economic City for Saudi Arabia’s historic LET double-header have felt it as intensely as Charley Hull.

The 24-year-old was in the final stages of her prep for September’s ANA Inspiration when she tested positive on the eve of the third women’s major of this crazy old year. Hull put it down to jet lag, the stifling California heat and her asthma playing up. Indeed, she thought she might have already beaten the invisible enemy.

“I actually thought I’d already had it so I wasn’t really looking out for symptoms,” the Englishwoman revealed.

“I felt a bit flu-like on arrival in Palm Springs but I put it down to a long day of travel. I was pretty surprised when I tested positive as I’d been carrying on with my preparation for a major as normal.”

Hull reckons she got off lightly even if she described her two weeks in quarantine as “pretty brutal”.

“The recovery did take a little longer than I was expecting, not in a major way, but I did notice the tiredness and I also lost my taste for a while. It’s quite nice now knowing that I’ve had it, and I shouldn’t get it again, but I still need to be careful not to be a spreader. “

Welcome to the New World Order. The impacts of COVID-19, especially after a brush with the deadly virus, have Hull fizzing tbhe women’s week of golf at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, the $1 million Aramco Saudi Ladies International (Nov. 12-15) and $500,000 Saudi Ladies Team International (Nov. 17-19).

It was galling to miss the ANA but the world No. 28 quickly rebounded with a T-7 finish at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship last month for her 6th major championship top-10.

“A sign of good things to come? Yes, I hope so. I’m really excited to still have some good events ahead of me this year…I can’t wait to try to keep the momentum going.

“We were very impacted in the beginning when the golf tours stopped, and all the golf courses closed.  So for eight weeks or so things were very different. I’ll definitely play all that I can between now and the end of the year as I’ve only played about 5 events so far.  It’s just got tougher moving around the world with all the restrictions; it’s a real feat of organisation.”

Coupled with her desire to make up for lost time, Hull has proven pedigree in the Middle East. She captured her maiden LET title in Morocco just four days before her 18th birthday and went wire-to-wire at the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club in Jan. 2019, not long after her Christmas time engagement to mixed martial arts champion Ozzie Smith whom she went on to marry last September.

Photo courtesy of TaylorMade

“I really enjoy being in the Middle East. The place has a real holiday vibe, so I feel relaxed here, a bit like I’m on holiday.  The courses really suit my game too – lots of high shots into the greens.”

The Solheim Cup is another part of golf that clearly suits Hull’s bubbly but tenacious personality. She became the youngest competitor in 2013 and contributed three of a possible four points to Europe’s upset of the U.S. at Gleneagles in 2019 to be running at a 70 percent success rate in the matches. She handles comparisons with countryman Ian Poulter, Europe’s Ryder Cup ‘Postman’, with similar aplomb looking ahead to the 2021 edition at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.

“Well Ian and I do have one thing in common and that’s that we are both from Woburn Golf Club. But I think I’ve got a way to go before I match his Ryder Cup performances. I just love playing the Solheim and the big crowds and the excitement definitely get me going.’

So to do the new events and formats being rolled out for the women’s game in the Middle East.

“I think it helps to attract new players to the game, and it’s great to hear that there was a real rise in the amount of new people into the game during lockdown this summer,” said Hull.

“It’s really important to grow the game wherever we can. Saudi Arabia is an important new market and I can’t wait to see the set up there.”

Photo courtesy of TaylorMade

Just as exciting as getting to grips with Royal Greens is the Saudi Teams International which was tagged onto the 72-hole strokeplay event at the 11th hour as Golf Saudi and the Saudi Golf Federation doubled down on their commitment to the LET and women’s game in general.

“I hope I get drafted into a good team. I think I’d play with Dame Laura [Davies] if I was given a choice.”

It’s likely, given her world ranking, that Hull will be given a choice as one of the 36-team captains involved in the novel NFL-style draft for the teams event. Whether she gets Davies is another matter but you can be assured Hull will fight to the last whomever she is teamed with.

If 2020 has taught Hull anything, it is you can only control the controllable. Like battling back from a positive COVID-19 test, the Rose Ladies Series, bankrolled and organised by Justin Rose and the major champion’s wife Kate to give tournament-starved LET players an employment lifeline, was another case in point.

Hull won the opening event in a playoff at Brockenhurst Manor and went on to claim the £20,000 order of merit title by a whisker from Georgia Hall courtesy of a runner-up finish when the final round of the series finale at Wentworth was cancelled due to wildfires raging on nearby Chobham Common.

It was just another 2020 curveball Hull has successfully batted off.

“I just love playing golf so I was playing anything going during the summer. There were a couple of other mini-tours going on too. It was so good of Justin and Kate to put on the Rose Series, not least because we got to play some great golf courses. To win it was the icing on the cake.”

Hull clearly has designs on finishing the year on a high but like most of us must secretly hope to put 2020 in the rearview mirror as well. So, what is your dream for the world in 2021 given how tough it has been this year?

“I just hope that things get back to normal as soon as possible, and that not too much damage is done in the meantime.”

Hull has been lucky that not too much damage was done in September. All that positive COVID test has done is make her doubly determined to get things back to normal. A New World Order in which she remains one of the game’s most dangerous competitors. Her peers KAEC have been warned.

Editor’s Note:  Hull entered last week’s OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic as one of the pre-tournament favourites but had a topsy-turvy week, struggling to bounce back from a triple-bogey 8 on the 16^th in her opening round. The world No. 30 eventually signed for rounds of 72-69-78 to finish on 222 — 16 shots adrift of winner Minjee Lee — in a share of 35^th place with Dame Laura Davies and German Esther Hensele who was runner-up at last year’s Moonlight.

The post Charley Hull: Is that all you’ve got, 2020? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Read all about the 24-year-old Australian’s playoff victory over Celine Boutier in the official review edition of the LET event’s Daily News, again produced by Golf Digest Middle East, here.

Caroline Hedwall reflects on a wire-to-wire bid that was so close and yet so far at Emirates Golf Club while we talk to EGF Ops and Marketing Manager Robert Fiala and UAE national team player Abdulla Al Musharrekh who were part of the winning Pro-Am team captained by Charley Hull.

Scroll through the ISSUU link below and/or download Saturday’s ODMC Daily News to your favourite device to read offline and keep for prosperity.

This was a historic OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic after all. There mightn’t have been fans at The Faldo but there was ample drama. Enjoy.

The post Get the special Saturday review edition of the OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic ‘Daily News’ here FREE! 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.

Getty Images

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.

By Kent Gray
How good was the experience of being inside the ropes as an amateur at the OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic?

For Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) Operations and Marketing Manager Robert Fiala and Emirati national team players Khalid Yousuf and Abdulla Al Musharrekh, it was priceless and not simply for the obvious reason.

Captained by effervescent English LET and LPGA Tour winner Charley Hull, the trio won the teams portion of the innovative LET Pro-Am at Emirates Golf Club. Representing Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA V), Hull’s quartet edged the Marianne Skarpnor-skippered OMEGA I team of Beatrice Galeppini Salani, Edoardo Galeppini and Max Burrow by a stroke, -45 to -44 in the scramble format. Gabriella Cowley’s JA Resorts & Hotels IV team of Natalii Gupta, Scott Flewellen and Peter England completed the podium on -43.

Fiala normally scripts and distributes media releases promoting the deeds of others at EGF events or when UAE reps such as +4-handicapper Yousuf are representing the UAE at Middle East and world amateur events such as the Eisenhower Trophy. It was sure fun being the news creator rather than a recorder of history for a change.

“Wow…super excited, said the South Florida seven-handicapper. “The format worked in our favour and playing with Charley gave us an edge. Khalid and Abdallah were perfect off the tee and that really paired nicely with my iron game.”

Winning was sweet but the ring-side seat with Hull for the opening 36 of the Moonlight’s 54-holes was what made the week for Fiala.

“Charley is impressive. We fed off her focus and competitiveness,” he said. “Her caddie Adam controlled the pace and force of the group very nicely. It’s completely different from other Pro-Am formats because the rounds count for the pros as well. It gives the amateurs a more competitive feel knowing your pro is playing for the ‘real prize’. The engagement between the pros, caddies and amateurs was amazing given the current COVID situation. Wearing the mask all the time between shots was tough but being able to play with a professional is worth it.”

For 32-year-old five-handicapper Al Musharrekh, the older brother of the only Emirati professional Ahmed Al Musharrekh, playing the Moonlight was an “absolute privilege”. He likened it the AT&T at Pebble Beach and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland that he watches on TV every year.

“Charley was fantastic to be honest,” said Al Musharrekh, a UAE national team rep since the age of 15, a 2011 Pan Arab teams gold medallist in Qatar in 2011 and a regular Pro-Am starter.

“Of course, she is playing the main tournament, obviously one of the top pros on the tour, ranking’s right up there, so what I initially thought is, okay, she’s going to be very serious, she’s not really going to talk to us, greet us obviously but that’s it, she’s going to be completely focused on her game throughout.

“I was wrong. She was fantastic. She was chatting with us, she was cracking jokes, she was asking about the UAE, about the heritage, what [tourist] things she should be doing, food, how the culture really works, so that was intriguing.

“When we asked her any questions she would happily answer so very, very friendly. Obviously she would zone into her circle when she was approaching her shots but beyond that she was very, very amazing to play with, such a pleasure to be honest. We got really, really lucky to play with Charley.”

A COVID-19 survivor, Hull entered as one of the pre-tournament favourites but had a topsy-turvy week, struggling to bounce back from a triple bogey 8 on the 16th in her opening round. The world No. 30 eventually signed for rounds of 72-69-78 to finish on 222 — 16 shots adrift of winner Minjee Lee — in a share of 35th place with Dame Laura Davies and German Esther Hensele who was runner-up at last year’s Moonlight.

Hull’s game still thoroughly impressed Al Musharrekh.

“I don’t think she played her best golf but what really impressed me about her, like if she made bogey, I would look at it and she made a bogey from such an easy situation, you’d say, ‘oh wow’, this is such a silly bogey, you know. With amateurs, if we make such a silly bogey, with me, I’d probably struggle to come back and make a string of pars and birdies. But she would come back and birdie the next hole. If you look at her scorecards, she did it so many times.

“What I also found really interesting about her game is, I think she hits it a very long way to be honest. I mean, I would consider myself a very long hitter and when I really catch it, I am longer than her but not miles longer. I’ve played in one or two other ladies Pro-Ams before and honestly my driver would be a comfortable 50-60 yards ahead of the pro on average but with Charley I think she is one of the longer hitters. She hits it really, really hard, you could see that in the swing.”

The post Charley Hull proves captain ‘fantastic’ as EFG infused team win Moonlight Classic Pro-Am appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
A cursory glance at the names beneath Minjee Lee on the front page of the OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic leaderboard read like a who’s who of what might have been, tales that some were happy to articulate, others not at all.

While Frenchwoman Celine Boutier, clearly crestfallen at her playoff loss to Lee, escaped into the night without a word, Swede Caroline Hedwall and Scot Kylie Henry stuck about to add context to a dramatic Friday on The Faldo.

The leader by one heading into the final round, Hedwall eventually missed the playoff by the same margin after three front nine bogeys meant she was always playing catch-up down the floodlit stretch. She did so bravely but simply couldn’t will either of the birdie looks she had on the final two holes into the cup, including a great chance after a near repeat of her opening round slam dunk ace on 17.

The six-time LET winner eventually had to settle for T-3 alongside Laura Fuenfstueck (70) and fast-finishing defending champion Nuria Iturrioz (67) who were others to come close and finish yet so far.

“It wasn’t the start I wanted but I think I fought back very well and the last couple of holes I played really, really well, gave myself the opportunities but just didn’t make the putts in the end,” said Hedwall who signed for a 72 and a decent dollop of confidence to take into Saudi next week and beyond.

“Yeah, absolutely, I mean I feel well with my game, I’m playing solid. I just need to get that momentum I had the greens the first day [a 65] and I know I can score low.”

Henry was never really in ‘what might have been’ range after starting the final round so far back. But she was elated all the same with a course-record 63 to catapult herself from +3 to -6 and into the top-10. The highlight came at the par-3 8th where she summoned an 8-iron to a foot from the cup but her most impressive moment came afterwards when she spoke on behalf of all those with Moonlight narratives good, great and sad.

“I’m just so delighted to be playing tournaments,” Henry said. “I’m so grateful to everybody at the LET who is working doubly hard and all our sponsors who’ve got us back up and running through this pandemic. It’s made us all remember how much we love the game and we’re really appreciating the opportunity to be out here competing for a living.”

The post The contrasting final-round fortunes of Hedwall, Henry and co. appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Read all about Hedwall’s unusual evening plans in the official OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic Daily News here. You can also catch up on Minjee Lee’s superb second round on The Faldo and Meghan MacLaren’s thus far impressive bid for a third LET title.

The gates to Emirates Golf Club might be closed to the public but you’re not shut out of the action. You can watch LIVE televised coverage of Friday’s final round on Sky Sport in the UK and Ireland, Dubai Sports Channel in the UAE and NBC’s Golf Channel in the U.S. and other territories. Scroll through the ISSUU link below to get in the mood and/or download Friday’s ODMC Daily News to your favourite device to read offline and keep for prosperity.

This is a historic OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic after all. Enjoy and stay tuned for the ODMC Daily News review of the third and final round, out bright and early Saturday.

The post Get the Day 2 wrap of the OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic in your FREE Friday Daily News here 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
It’s peak 2020, all a bit topsy-turvy.

About the time Minjee Lee tees it up in pursuit of her second LET title on Friday, she’d normally be thinking about what Netflix show to pop on after dinner. But with the 14th OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic to be decided under The Faldo’s bright LED floodlights, she’s planning to do the exact opposite.

The 24-year-old Australian roared into contention with a seven-under second round 65 on Wednesday morning to get it to -7 for the $285,000 championship. The five-time LPGA Tour winner will start the final round’s 5pm shotgun in the final group off the 1st tee, just two shots adrift of 36-hole leader Caroline Hedwall.

It will be a unusually long wait to get going but Lee has a cunning plan.

“I don’t mind being inside until tomorrow’s afternoon round because it is so hot out here and I’m just going to trust I’ve done enough practice last week before I came out here,” said Lee. “There are a few shows on my Netflix that aren’t available in America such as a few Korean dramas. I felt like I watched all of the American shows while we were in lockdown the first time.”

The world No.9 is the highest ranked player this week and as such will enter Friday as a clear and present danger. Capitalising on three birdies in her opening four holes after teeing off from the 10th  on Wednesday, Lee went out in 30 strokes, six-under. She then traded two birdies with a late bogey on the par-3 8th to eventually sign for an equal best of Wednesday 65.

“I got off to a pretty hot start. I wasn’t able to get many more [birdies] on the back nine, but I am pleased with my day. I feel like I had a look for birdie on every hole.”

The Perth pro’s last win came at the LPGA’s LA Open in April last year. The former world amateur No.1 will be looking to emulate her brother Min Woo Lee as a 2020 winner after he secured his breakthrough on the European Tour at the Vic Open in February.

“I have played night golf once in Korea but that was just for fun. This is my first time competitively and to play at night is something so different to the professional game, I think it will attract a lot of the younger generation,” said Lee who was third at the recent Women’s British Open before a T-7 finish at the ANA Inspiration.

“I think during the day, it goes a bit further and rolls out and the greens are easier to read but at night time I think it is hard to see the ball land and judge the roll out. There’s a bit of adjustment to make.”

But not before logging into Netflix for the biggest adjustment to her usual final round preparation. TV behind closed doors, almost like in lockdown. Peak 2020 indeed.

The post A second LET title in sight, Minjee Lee will focus first on some Netflix 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.

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