Abu Dhabi: Olafia Kristinsdottir is thriving on the pressure of becoming an overnight sensation in her native Iceland following her superlative showing at the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open in Abu Dhabi.
The ice-cool 24-year-old exuded supreme confidence after her six-under-par 66 at the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club earned her a three-shot lead of 13-under-par 131 on Thursday.
The Ladies’ European Tour debutante had been a surprise leader on day one of the inaugural LET tournament in the UAE capital after her seven-under-par 65 on Wednesday, but it’s no longer a case of ‘Olafia who?’.
“The whole of Iceland was really excited for me [on Wednesday] and my phone was exploding, so I thought, ‘I need to stay calm’, and I managed to do it, so it was really good,” she told reporters afterwards.
Kristinsdottir’s performance under increased pressure and scrutiny was made all the more remarkable by the fact the Georgia Hall had laid down the gauntlet to her earlier in the day.
Englishwoman Hall had fired a stunning, course-record 64, studded with eight birdies and shorn of bogeys, to share a four-way tie for second place with France’s Gwladys Nocera, Beth Allen of the United States and England’s Holly Clyburn.
How did Kristinsdottir, who posted seven birdies and just one bogey in her round, stay so cool?
“I’m the one who decides if I let it affect me so I did everything the same as yesterday with no added pressure on me. I wasn’t really nervous and I was surprised, because it was so fun yesterday.”
Is it an exciting feeling to be three shots ahead at the halfway point?
“It’s really great,” the Reykjavik native said. “I’m just trying to stay in the now and hit one shot at a time and see where it gets me. I’m playing great so hopefully it continues.”
“Can I do it again? Yes, this course really suits me and as I said yesterday, I love these greens,” she added.
Hall, who enjoyed a vast improvement on her opening round of 70, said: “Am I delighted? Yes. I’m very happy because there were no bogeys and I played really well. Everything glued together and I had fun out there. I didn’t think of my score at all: I was just trying to make birdie after birdie.
“I’m really pleased with that.”
What particularly pleased her about her sparkling display?
“Everything was good. I missed one fairway and one green and had 27 putts. Everything came together and I stayed focused, which I was happy about.”
The 20-year-old admitted she had profited from less wind in the morning as opposed to the afternoon.
She explained: “When I played yesterday (Wednesday), it wasn’t very windy but a bit, so I had to allow for that. Some holes today were so much shorter so it allowed me to attack the pins more and take my chances.”
