Dubai: Melissa Reid said she played the best golf of her career on Friday after hitting a magnificent seven-under-par 65 on day three of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters.
Reid’s score took her to 12 under par for the tournament after opening with rounds of 70 and 69, shooting her up to second on the leaderboard, five strokes off runaway leader Shanshan Feng, who carded a 66.
The 27-year-old Englishwoman’s form has suffered since her mother Joy was killed in a car accident in 2012 as her parents were following her on tour in Germany. Her father Brian survived the accident.
She said this latest round is testament to her moving on from the trauma and rediscovering happiness both on and off the course.
“It’s been a tough couple of years, actually a lot harder than I expected and I probably didn’t give myself enough credit with what’s happened,” said Reid, who sunk four birdies on her front nine and three on her return.
“I actually feel now that my personal life is stable, which is nice, I’m not being a rebel anymore — the last few months I’ve settled down and that’s now showing through in my golf.
Turnaround
“There was a time when I didn’t know if I wanted to play golf anymore, which actually wasn’t that long ago. So to go from there to this, it’s nice. My Dad’s here as well, so it’s nice for him to see me playing well again.”
Reid admitted she wasn’t too concerned with Shanshan’s runaway lead, just satisfied with her own turnaround.
“I feel like I’ve figured something out and that’s the main thing, to figure it out and progress into next year,” she said.
“That’s probably the best I’ve played, I was striking it well and was confident with my driver. I’m just trying to keep it simple and keep the noise out of my head — and it is working.
“Shanshan is playing great, you can’t take that away from her. She’s going to be very difficult to catch tomorrow [Saturday], but if I keep playing the way I am, I’m going to try and put as much pressure on her as possible. It’s just nice to be within distance of her.”
Shanshan recorded two birdies, an eagle and a bogey on her front nine before three birdies on her return on day three, to gain six strokes. The Chinese 2012 Dubai champion and event record-winning score-holder (21 under par) was helped by the fact that Order of Merit favourite Charley Hull let her second place slip with a 69.
Hull had three birdies on her front nine, but despite four birdies on her return she also dropped four strokes on holes 11 and 12 to sit tied for third at 10 under par for the tournament.
Gwladys Nocera must finish in the top four and hope that Hull drops as low as 30th to overtake the youngster on the season-long money list.
Nocera hit a 71 on Friday with a birdie and two bogeys on her front nine followed by three birdies and a bogey on her return. She now stands ninth on the leaderboard at seven under par for the tournament.
