Dec 9, 2016: Aditi Ashok rose to the top of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters before ending the second round tied in fourth place. The Indian golfer produced a second straight 70 to reach within three shots of the leader. Felicity Johson produced a spectacular 64 to gain a one shot lead over Linda Wessberg. Florentyna Parker was lying in third place with a 72 on Friday. The women sported black ribbons in Dubai to honour the memory of Max Zechmann, who collapsed on the course before losing his life on Wednesday.
Aditi Ashok started her day with a bogey on the tenth hole but made amends with a spectacular run at the turn. Aditi reeled off four birdies in a five hole stretch starting at the 15th to gain a share of the lead.
But the teen aged Indian conceded a shot at the 6th hole to slip down from the top of the leader board. Aditi Ashok is playing her tenth event in eleven weeks and has so far produced eight birdies and four bogeys in her two rounds at the Emirates Golf Club.
“I think I played pretty well, especially in the middle. I started from the back nine. I did really well from like 15 to like the middle nine holes, it was really good. I made four or five birdies, so that was good,” said Aditi. “But obviously I didn’t play as well on the par 5s as I thought I would. I made only one birdie and I bogeyed the 10th, as well. It’s not great, but it was still 2-under, so it’s not bad. I’m happy.”
England’s Felicity Johnson fired a second round of eight-under-par 64 in perfect conditions at Emirates Golf Club on ‘Pink Friday’ at the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters.
Everyone was wearing pink today and the course is covered in pink pin flags, pin cups and pink tees, as the tournament is once again helping to raise awareness of breast cancer to support the Al Jalila Foundation and Brest Friends.
Johnson, 29, from Birmingham, certainly drew attention to herself early in the day as she made eight birdies, with four on the front and four on the back of the Majlis Course, to take the clubhouse lead on seven-under-par by lunchtime.
The two-time LET tournament winner, who captured the Tenerife Ladies Open in 2009 and the Lacoste Ladies Open de France in 2011, was unaware that she had a chance to equal the course record of 63, set by Dewi Claire Schreefel in 2012, as she faced an uphill birdie putt of 15 feet on the par-5 18th, which ended just below the hole.
“It was a great day for golf this morning. I hit a lot of really close iron shots. I holed out really well with my putts in but I had probably seven birdie putts within four feet, so that always makes the game a little bit easier. All the ones I hit close, I converted, so 24 putts. Hitting a lot of good iron shots, you’re going to have a good score,” said Johnson.
“It’s getting breezy out there now, so we’ll see what happens this afternoon. Yeah, I’ll be in a good position for tomorrow. Obviously today, it’s only a three-round event, so you try to put yourself in a good position heading into the final day. I think I did that pretty well.”
