Davies: Shanshan will be too hard to catch

Dubai: Dame Laura Davies admitted it will be difficult to catch runaway leader Shanshan Feng after round two of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters at Emirates Golf Club on Thursday.

The 26-year-old Chinese leads by two strokes over Davies at 10 under par after carding another bogey-free 67 on day two.

World No.6 Shanshan is not only the highest ranked player in the 108-player field, but she is also a joint record two-time winner and defending champion of the tournament, and holds a record winning score here of 21 under par from 2012. With that in mind Davies said Shanshan would be almost impossible to catch.

Asked if she was happy to chase targets, Davies, who shot 68 on Thursday, replied: “It depends who the target is and unfortunately it’s Shanshan and she’s the course specialist.

“She’s shooting millions under par everyday. I’ve had courses like that over my career where you just love it and you know that once you tee it up you are going to shoot under par.

“You know she’s still got to do that [over the weekend] but you’d have to say that she probably is going to do that. It would be nice if me and a few others can go low at the weekend and we could catch her, or if not catch her, upset her and put pressure on her a little bit, but it’s hard to upset Shanshan because she just cruises.

“She could easily shoot another 10 and hit 20 and that would be hard work,” added the 52-year-old Englishwoman who hit another 68 on Thursday to go eight under par for the tournament with two birdies on her front nine and three birdies and a bogey on her return. “I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing. In my mind four 68s would be really good, it might not be good enough but I would love to shoot two more 68s and see what happens.”

Meanwhile, Shanshan, who carded two outward birdies and three on her return for another 67, said she feared she could still get caught this weekend.

“I’m really relaxed about it and think I’ve done well so far and I’m just trying to do the same thing again,” she said. “But this course is all about making a lot of birdies, and if one of the girls plays really well tomorrow and shoots nine or ten under in one round they will catch up.”

Asked about being just 11 strokes off her tournament record of 21 under par with 36 holes to play, she added: “I’d forgotten that I even held that record. I’m not really thinking about it. Every year the conditions are different so it doesn’t really matter if I break it or not. I just want to enjoy it and be relaxed for the weekend as I always do in Dubai. I’ve had two good days and there are another two to go.”