DUBAI // Shanshan Feng at the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters: Play. Win. Repeat.
That was again the story of the 2016 event, an abridged 54-hole tournament where Feng came from five shots back on the final day, threatened to break the course record, then contented herself with an eight-under 64 and a fourth Dubai title.
Four victories in her past five appearances, to be precise. So instead of the three-fingered salute used to promote the emirate and, this week, the tournament - ‘#WinVictoryLove’ — the Chinese star and her team adopted a new pose in celebration. Best make that ‘#WinVictoryWinVictory’ then.
“I’m just happy I brought out my A-Game today,” said Feng after another stunning Saturday’s work at a blustery Emirates Golf Club. “I knew it was going to be windy today and playing in the wind is one of my strongest points.
“So even though I was five behind, in the morning 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.”
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“Pretty good” is a bit of an understatement. Feng’s 64 was the joint-best score of the week, at just the right time to ensure she finished two strokes better off than runner-up Charley Hull, with Indian sensation Aditi Ashok tied-third alongside Florentyna Parker.
Feng’s tally came courtesy of four consecutive birdies from the second hole, to quickly draw her level with overnight leader Felicity Johnson, then three more successive birdies from the ninth, then another on 14.
It suggested not only a fourth crown was most probably hers, but that a course-record 62 was in the offing, too. However, as someone who vehemently ignores leaderboards, Feng maintains that never crept into her thinking. Neither did her chances of the title.
“No, I didn’t know anything,” she said. “I have a habit that I don’t look at leaderboards when I play, and I’m not in the last group, so I actually don’t know how my competitors are doing. I knew by the 16th hole there was a big scoreboard, and so I was trying not to look. Just stick to your routine and play your own game.”
As is typically the case in Dubai, Feng’s game is unrivalled. Yet, although the end result was the same, the method and mode of victory was new. Unlike her previous three triumphs, Feng needed to chase rather than simply stay out in front, but having made a few adjustments to her putting between Rounds 2 and 3, she soon did enough to mount the greatest final-round comeback by a winner in tournament history. So agreed: not the usual method, but just as satisfying.
“Of course it was different, because the first three times I won I was leading by five shots going into the final days,” Feng said. “This time, I was five behind. So I knew that I would have to play hard, have to try hard to try to catch the leaders. I think the weather was great for me. If there wasn’t wind out there today, I don’t know what would happen.”
While Feng claims she did not, others must have looked at the leaderboard with an acute sense of foreboding. That was certainly Johnson’s take after the early pacesetter slipped down the field as the eventual winner made her charge. Asked what everyone else needed to do to break Feng’s stranglehold of the event, Johnson quipped: “I think we have to maybe play a couple of less holes than her. She seems to have got rights to it at the moment. Is that four from five, something ridiculous like that? She’s one of the best players in the world, so you can never write her off.”
Feng’s closest challenger was attempting to write another name onto the trophy. Hull had a Saturday to remember herself, beginning one shot further back and then carding a fine 65 to end her season on a high.
As the young Englishwoman noted, though, it could have been even better.
“Today I kind of woke up and got into my game,” Hull said. “I felt I’ve been a bit lazy all week on the course, but today I got in there and concentrated.
“I could have been way better the first two days, but it’s all a learning curve and you’ve just got to get in there and focus. I’ve had fun, but now I’m really looking forward to flying home tonight. I can’t wait to get back to England because it’s Christmas and I’ve had a long season.”
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