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28 March 2024

Alexis clings onto lead at Dubai Ladies Masters

Alexis Thompson ahead by one shot going into the final round of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters at Emirates Golf Club on Friday. (SUPPLIED)

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By Staff

Young Alexis Thompson birdied the closing hole to stay atop the leaderboard going into the final round of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters at the Emirates Golf Club on Friday.

The teenage prodigy, starting the day two shots in front, carded a steady two-under-par 70 to move to 10 under for the tournament, one shot ahead of Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson (69) and two clear of Sweden’s Pernilla Lindberg (68) and South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace, who shot a bogey-free 67, the day’s best round.

Julieta Granada of Paraguay, Becky Morgan (Wales) and Stacy Lee Bregman were tied for fifth on seven-under, one shot ahead of by Michelle Wie, who slipped to fifth from tied second overnight, after settling for a “frustrating 71.”

With just three shots separating the top seven players, the prognosis points to a thrilling finish on Saturday. The focus certainly will be on 16-year-old Thompson, already the youngest winner of the LPGA Tour when she took the Navistar LPGA Classic by five strokes in September.

A victory in Dubai would make her the second-youngest winner on the European Tour after Amy Yang of South Korea, who won the ANZ Masters in 2006 at 16 years, 191 days. That is just over five months younger than Thompson.

With her father in the bag, Thompson was in full control of her shots despite leaving a few putts out there, but still managed to put together a solid round to stay in front. It was Pace, the winner o fthe Ladies European Tour’s Money List in 2010, who stole the limelight with a flawless 67.

Nobody moved more noticeably than Pace who jumped from tied 27th place overnight to joint third, threatening to spoil what appears to be an Alexis Thompson party.

“I really played well and had no bogey which was the goal at the beginning of the day,” said Pace. “I am not thinking about the final round. I will just go out and try to achieve my goal for the week tomorrow and, hopefully, that is going to be enough,” added Pace who will be playing with Thompson and Gustafson in the final group.

Thompson was quite pleased with her consistent efforts. “I hit it pretty well even though I missed some close-range putts. There are a lot of girls in contention, so it’s going to be a great day.

“I am sure I will be a bit nervous standing on the first tee tomorrow, but who isn’t going to be. The mindset is to go out and have fun,” said the new sensation of women’s golf.  “I am just going to try and make birdies throughout the whole day and play consistent.”

Sweden’s Gustafson believes a victory here would mean a lot to her since she had an up-and-down season. “It would be nice to finish with a win,” she said. “Before I went out, I was thinking a ten would be a good number to get to.  And that’s what I was working towards. Alexis is going to be hard to beat, but if I can keep playing well, then I think I have a good chance,” Gustafson, the former European number one player.

Top-draw Michelle Wie would need something special to track down the leaders. “It was pretty frustrating out there, but at last I made a birdie on the last hole – and that made me feel good about myself. I just gotta go out there and really shoot low,” said the 22-year-old American whose 71 included three birdies and two bogeys.

Sweden’s Pernilla Lindberg lit up the back nine with five birdies en route to a 68. “I missed too many greens and didn’t get up-and-downs on the front nine, but then after rolling in a birdie on the 10th that kind of got me going,” said Lindberg who has her boy friend Daniel in the bag.