A putter change worked wonders for Anne Van Dam, who flew over the opening nine holes to climb to the top of the penultimate round of the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic at the Emirates Golf Club on Thursday.

  • Georgia Hall - © LET

Starting the second round with two shots from the head, the 22-year-old Dutch star shot a faultless finish at (-7) 65 to reach (-10) in total for the tournament, a good two shots ahead of the Scottish Kelsey MacDonald.

The Australian Georgia Hall, 14th the day before, signed a superb card of 67 to join the Australian Celina Yuan and Thidapa Suwannapura in 3rd place tied at (-7) while Supamas Sangchan, leader of the day before, slipped in sixth place after bringing in a card of 71.

From the 10th tee, Van Dam set the tone of the day with a birdie on the 11th hole before making a turn at (-2), placing her firmly in her second Ladies European Tour title.

The day before, a massive 320-meter drive on the 18th hole Prepared her for an 8-iron approach shot into the green and a comfortable two-stroke birdie, but it was her putting that helped her climb to the top of the standings on day two.

"I haven't made very good putts for six months, but I changed putters two days ago"said last year's Xiamen Ladies Open champion, 22, from Arhem, Netherlands.

“I chose a completely different approach. Normally I have a face balance and now I have a pinch. It's a blade, and normally I have a mallet. "

Van Dam, second in driver distance on the Tour, with an average drive of 254,20 meters, relished the opportunity to compete with Brittany Lincicome and Angel Yin, officially in first position at 258 meters.

"We had a lot of fun today and yesterday", she said, adding: "We were all under par for two days in a row and we all hit long shots, that helps us. let's all play aggressively. "

Second-place MacDonald of Scotland credited her caddy, Katy McNicoll, a former LET player and assistant PGA professional in Gullane, for her calm and focus.

As Van Dam played a power play, Hall, the 2017 LET Order of Merit holder, made her way to a 67 score, her six birdies, including a 9-yard effort on the ninth hole. , which she played as her last hole.

"My putting was good today and I wanted to take advantage of the morning lap, because the greens were in better condition and it was less windy, so I'm glad I did"said Hall, still Jet-Laggé of his trip to United States.

“I woke up at midnight and couldn't get back to sleep. I was not in the best shape today. I'm pretty tired, but I played well ”said Hall.