DUBAI // Compatriots, colleagues and close friends, Charley Hull and Holly Clyburn certainly have plenty in common.
This week, the pair also are bound by a collective goal at the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, arriving in the UAE as the frontrunners for the Ladies European Tour’s rookie-of-the-year award.
Once the desert dust settled on Friday after the third round at Emirates Golf Club, the English pair appeared diametric opposites. One is playing it cool, while the other is cranking up the heat.
“Not even thinking about it,” said Hull, 17, with all the insouciance of a plucky teenager. “I’m thinking it’s not that important, to be honest. I’m here to win the golf tournament.”
A disappointing 73 probably put an end to that goal, leaving her 10 shots behind leader Stacy Lewis. Yet Clyburn’s 2-under 70 reignited the scramble for top-rookie honours.
Two shots off the lead, Clyburn returns to the Majlis on Saturday with the bit firmly between her teeth.
“I’m not a write-off, I’m still in it,” Clyburn said. “Nothing’s impossible on this golf course.”
Clyburn, 22, is €11,336 (Dh56,914) behind Hull on the rookie money list and knows that a top-three finish would guarantee the rookie honour.
Given the permutations coming into the 2013 finale, Clyburn’s quest seemed pretty implausible. That much could was evident in the amount of publicity generated by her young peer, the star of this summer’s Solheim Cup who has registered five runner-up finishes.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Clyburn said. “To be fair, she’s played well enough to get the attention. If she it wants it, she can have it. We’ll see if she can deal with the pressure tomorrow.”
Outwardly at least, Hull gives the impression she is up to the challenge.
“It’s probably all right to win the rookie of the year,” she said. “But I can look back on my year and see I’ve done really well, anyway.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
