Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open: Beth Allen’s rivals left to lament their mistakes and the American’s brilliance

Abu Dhabi: Beth Allen’s rivals could not respond to the American’s scorching final round of 64 to win the first Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Overnight leader Georgia Hall (69) finished three shots adrift of California’s Allen in second place, while fellow Englishwoman Melissa Reid had a 68 to tie for third place with Australian Sarah Kemp (69).

Another impressive Californian, the 18-year-old rookie Angel Yin, tied for fifth with Sweden’s Jessica Karlsson and Scotland’s Vikki Laing.

Allen cemented back-to-back wins on the Ladies’ European Tour (LET) and her second title in the space of two months following her success at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France in early September. Prior to that, she finished second at the Spanish Open. She now has two wins and five further top-10 finishes from 14 starts on the LET in 2016.

After starting the last day two strokes adrift, Allen made a fast start and caught Hall with birdies at the second and fourth holes. She fired four straight birdies from the eighth, but it wasn’t enough to break away from the overnight leader and Hall gained a two-stroke advantage after Allen bogeyed the 13th hole.

However, coming down the stretch, Hall stumbled with bogeys on the 14th and 16th, while Allen made three straight birdies from the 15th.

Hall, who felt sick before the round, said afterwards: “I played really well on the front nine and got to five-under but one of my bogeys was a bad mistake. The other one wasn’t bad; I was trying to carry the bunker and I hit my drive so low that it plugged into it when it came down, so that was another bogey. Without them, I probably could have caught Beth but I had no idea what score she was on.”

Reid had a frustrating day on the greens and said: “I didn’t get any breaks today at all. I felt I hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in but at the start of the week, I didn’t feel 100 per cent comfortable with my swing. I probably would have taken this but when you get within touching distance it’s a tough one to take.

“Fair play to Beth. Shooting eight-under is an incredible score and she’s just on fire at the minute.”

Meanwhile, Icelandic rookie Olafia Kristinsdottir, who opened with rounds of 65 and 66 to top the leaderboard, closed with rounds of 74 and 76 to slip back into a tie for 26th.

She said: “It’s a very valuable experience. I’ve never been in this position before so next time I’ll do it better. I’m hoping that India won’t be my last tournament and I’m really crossing my fingers for an invitation to Dubai [for the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters] next month.”