Suwannapura plays through the pain barrier

Dubai: Thidapa Suwannapura overcame injury to hit six birdies in a row, one short of the Ladies European Tour (LET) record, to card a stunning 65 on day three of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters on Friday.

The 23-year-old Thai is now second in the leaderboard at 10 under par, five strokes off China’s Shanshan Feng following earlier rounds of 69 and 72.

Her round was all the more impressive given that she has been carrying an injury to her right hip, which is affecting the nerves down to her foot.

The pain was so great that she was leaning heavily on her caddies’ shoulder and asked to do all post round interviews sat cross-legged on the floor of the mixed zone with reporters following suit, forming a semi-circled assembly around her.

“Yeah six birdies in row, but I was just trying to finish my round,” said Suwannapura, who says she has experienced the pain since the summer.

“I have a pain in my glute and it’s cramping my nerves, it’s really painful even when I walk and hit the ball.

“So, my target today at the beginning was just to finish my round but then everything clicked and I started knocking them in,” she added of her six straight birdies from the 13th hole onwards, which followed two earlier birdies on three and ten after starting with a bogey on the first.

“I was just trying to hit it onto the green but I kept seeing lines and my caddie saw them too and I knocked it and it went in. I just kept doing that but it’s not easy out there especially today as it’s windy and I didn’t expect to play good with the injury.

“I didn’t expect anything, my target was just to hit balls and try to finish my round, knock it onto the green and a par would have been fine for me.”

Asked if she felt she could catch Shanshan, Suwannapura replied: “No, I don’t think so. She is pretty good and hitting it 100 per cent, so I just want to have fun and finish my round again tomorrow.

“The least she will do is hit it under par, that’s the least she will do, I mean it’s Shanshan Feng. I putted well today with 26 putts and 15 greens but it will just be a happy round tomorrow and I’ll try to finish.”