‘Human being’ Shanshan Feng drops two shots but remains in command at LET Dubai Ladies Masters

The reigning champion reeled off six birdies in the first 11 holes to increase her third-round lead to 10 shots but two bogeys meant she ended up with a five-stroke lead.

Shanshan Feng tries to battle back in the third round of the Dubai Ladies Masters at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai. Karim Sahib / AFP

DUBAI // At one stage in the sunshine at Emirates Golf Club on Friday, Shanshan Feng appeared to be disappearing over the horizon.

The reigning champion was cruising through the defence of her title, reeling off six birdies in the first 11 holes to increase her third-round lead to 10 shots. In doing so, she had climbed to 16-under par, leaving some to wonder aloud if the tournament-total record, which she set on debut in 2012 and was now within five shots, might be struck before the final day’s play.

Then from out of nowhere, Feng bogeyed holes 12 and 14, drawing collective gasps from all those in attendance. Nevermind, though. She will simply settle for the five-stroke lead going into Saturday, instead.

“We’re human beings, we’re going to make mistakes,” Feng said with a shrug of the shoulders.

The only thing is, Feng has spent most of this week, and the majority of last year’s event, looking positively superhuman. Those bogeys were her first of the 2015 tournament, concluding a blemish-free run at the Majlis that stretched back 50 holes.

A birdie on 17, after she had driven the par-4, helped restore the aura, before Feng parred the last to sign for a third successive 67. She therefore holds a five-shot advantage, even though Thailand’s Thidapa Suwannapura closed with six birdies on the bounce to post a hugely impressive 65.

Typically blase about her enviable position, Feng simply insisted she will just keep doing what she does. There will be no intent to go out and protect her lead, nor will the fact she can become the first three-time winner of the tournament put her off track, either. No surprises there, then.

“I’m not really thinking about it on the course, all the time just focusing shot by shot,” she said. “So that’s not going to even be in my game plan. Tomorrow I just need to do the same thing as the past three days.”

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It may not seem it, but Suwannapura represents Feng’s only realistic rival for the title. Laura Davies, who started the day as the Chinese star’s closest competitor, ran dry in the desert, carding a disappointing 77.

So Suwannapura, currently 39th on the Ladies European Tour’s Order of Merit, it is. Not that Feng, already the money-list champion and at world No 6 the highest-ranked player in the field, appeared particularly perturbed.

“She plays on the LPGA too and I think she’s won on the European, so I know she’s a good player,” Feng said. “Maybe I’ve played with her once before so tomorrow should be a pleasant day.”

Suwannapura might not exactly describe it in such glowing terms. For the past six months, the 2013 Indian Open champion has been plagued by an injury to her glut, which restricts the movement in her right side and has confined her to only six tournaments this season. At times on Friday, she had to literally lean on her caddie for support, while she limped her way around the course, too.

“The physio said my hip flexor is really tight, so when they push it, it’s not moving. It’s dead,” Suwannapura said. “My muscle here is not working or not active. So every time I hit, it’s like this - everything pulls together and it’s pain.”

Asked if she harbours any hope of catching Feng, Suwannapura replied: “No, I don’t think so. I know she’s pretty good and she hits it a hundred per cent every shot - boom, boom, boom. I’m just going to have fun tomorrow and try to finish my round again.”​

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