Abu Dhabi: A star-studded field of women golfers, comprising defending champion Beth Allen, Georgia Hall, Melissa Reid, Catriona Matthew and debutant Cheyenne Woods will be battling for the Gazelle Trophy at the second edition of Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open (FBMLO), which gets under way at the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club on Wednesday.
Held under the patronage of Her Highness Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, the tournament has a purse of $550,000 (Dh2.02 million) up for grabs.
Allen is not in the best of form this season, having made her switch back to LPGA following her 2016 Ladies European Tour Order of Merit winner performance. The 35-year-old, however, comes into this event at the back of some form she gained towards the end of the season. She was tied ninth-place at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France. The American is banking on that performance to retain her title and to end her 2017’s title drought. “It can be a bit difficult but I’m very much confident of doing a repeat. I don’t remember if it was windy all through last time round but towards the end it became windy. The greens are quite big so in the morning you want to score and then the afternoon if wind picks up, you have to keep it under control,” said Allen, who will be teeing off with Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa and Bronte Law of England in round one.
England’s Georgia Hall led from front till the final day and so was her compatriot Reid. The duo will be looking to go all the way this time round. Georgia is bubbling with confidence following her six top-10 finishes from eight appearances this season and a title would be the best way to cap up the exceptional season.
“I have fond memories of last year. I’m looking forward to playing the course and I’d love to have a good result after having come so close to winning last year. The course is absolutely lovely and as always there is a fantastic field and I can’t wait to get going,” said the 21-year-old, who will have Emily Kristine Pedersen of Denmark and Rebecca Artis of Australia in round one.
Reid has also got things rolling for her this season. She won the LET season opener at Oates Vic Open in Australia and will be looking to build on the form she showed here last time round. Hall and Reid are joined by their Solheim Cup teammates Florentyna Parker and Emily Kristine Pedersen, as well as vice-captain Catriona Matthew, previous Women’s British Open winner and LET player of the year.
Matthew, recently appointed as Team Europe captain for the 2019 Solheim Cup, and making her debut appearance at the tournament too was keen to make her presence felt.
“I’ve had a great year so far — I was vice-captain of Team Europe, which was followed by a last minute playing position on the team, and then when I didn’t think it could get any better, I was honoured with the captaincy for the Solheim 2019 event. I’m really looking forward to topping off this great year in Abu Dhabi and hopefully this positivity will continue in the same vein at this year’s FBMLO,” said Matthews.
One needs to keep a close watch on India’s sensation Aditi Ashok, who had climbed up the ranks with some telling performances in the recent times. With plenty of Indian expat population based in the UAE to egg her on, the teenager will be looking to make her most.
Cheyenne Woods, niece of golfing icon Tiger Woods reported late on the eve of the tournament but hit the course right away. “It is a fun course to play but the tricky part is how large the greens are. So it is obviously very difficult on that prospective. The week ahead on the whole will be pretty interesting,” said Woods.
