Dubai: Nicole Broch Larsen proved that the Rookie of the Year Award wasn’t just a two-horse race on Friday after hitting a six-under-par 66 on day three of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters to go nine under for the tournament.
Most of the pre-tournament talk surrounded rookie award overall leader Amy Boulden and her nearest rival on the money list Sally Watson, with just €8,000 (Dh36,000) separating the pair heading into this €500,000 (Dh 2.3 million) Ladies European Tour season finale.
However, with Larsen rocketing up to tied for sixth in the leaderboard and Boulden (tied for 24th on three under) and Watson (tied 29th at two under) languishing, the calculators may have to be put to work on Saturday.
If Larsen, who started the event more than €33,000 (Dh 151,000) behind Boulden in the money list, finishes inside the top two and Boulden and Watson continue to lag considerably behind, we could see a dramatic final day takeover.
Boulden hit a 69 on Friday to add to opening rounds of 70 and 74, while Watson narrowly avoided missing the cut with opening rounds of 76 and 70, before carding 68 on Friday.
Watson must finish inside the top 10 and hope Boulden falls below 30th to scoop the title. But Larsen is now fancying her chances as well.
“Maybe I have a chance if I play well tomorrow [Saturday],” she said. “I think I’ll need them to play bad and I hope they don’t do that. I will just play my game and then we will see where it takes me.”
