Thursday 11 December 2014 15:31, UK
Charley Hull remains on course to wrap up a historic Order of Merit victory despite a late blunder on the second day of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters.
The 18-year-old recovered from an opening bogey to card five birdies and stay within two shots of the lead, but she dunked her approach to the 18th in the water and ran up an ugly double-bogey seven.
But Hull's two-under 70 was enough to keep her in outright second place at the halfway stage at The Emirates, although she is now just one shot ahead of Gwladys Nocera, her closest rival in the race to end the season at European No 1.
Hull began the day two ahead of the French veteran, and the teenager maintained that advantage at the turn after following her bogey at the first with birdies at the second and seventh, while Nocera reeled off eight straight pars before getting a birdie putt to drop at the ninth.
Both birdied the 11th and Hull added another at the next before Nocera hit back again at 13, only for Hull to roll in her fifth birdie putt of the round at the 15th.
But while Nocera parred in from there, Hull's scrappy finish opened the door for her playing partner to deny the English ace the chance to become the youngest Ladies European Tour Order of Merit winner in history.
Dig deep
"I actually hit a pretty good shot into 18, but the wind really gusted when I hit that shot," explained Hull afterwards. "I was four under until then but still finished two under which isn't too bad.
"Gwladys is playing great at the moment. It's not over yet and I think she'll definitely finish in the top four because she's playing really good. So, I'll have to dig deep on Saturday."
Hull may occupy second, but she is four shots adrift of Shanshan Feng after the Chinese powerhouse returned a flawless five-birdie 67 to reach 11 under par.
World No 5 Feng, the highest-ranked player in the field, started at the 10th and birdied two of her first four holes before making a nice four at the long 18th for the second day running.
Feng added further birdies at the fifth and seventh to establish a commanding lead over Hull, whose Solheim Cup team-mate Anna Nordqvist is five behind the leader after offsetting five birdies with two bogeys in a second straight 69.
The Swede shares third with Nocera and Finland's Noora Tamminen, who posted a seven-birdie 66 to match the best round of the second day, while Tiger Woods' niece Cheyenne is one further back after a 69.
But Solheim Cup captain Carin Koch, who shared the obernight lead with Feng after an opening 66, found the going much tougher on day two as she made only one birdie against six bogeys in a disappointing 77.
Live coverage of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters resumes Friday at 9.30am on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf.
