Parker leads by a thin margin in Omega Dubai Ladies Masters

Dubai - Tiger Woods' niece Cheyenne Woods completed a solid round of four-under 68

It might look so but it is never easy to carry on playing after a sudden loss of life. The 108-women field returned to the very scene where caddie Maximilian Zechmann's life was snuffed out just 24 hours earlier.
And quite rightly so, it was a sombre mood at the Emirates Golf Club's Majlis Course as the golfers made their way to their respective tee positions, some, to complete their rounds, and some to start theirs in the Ladies European Tour's (LET) Omega Dubai Ladies Masters.
It can be quite a traumatic experience to get back onto the course after the tragic event of Wednesday but the women called upon every ounce of strength in such an hour to put on a show.
Perhaps, even Zechmann, who loved the sport so much, wouldn't have wanted it any other way. He would have wanted the show to carry on.
With a prayer on their lips and Zechmann in their thoughts, they went about it. And at the end of first round, unheralded Englishwoman Florentyna Parker perched herself at the top of the leaderboard.
The 27-year-old, who had teed off from the par-5 10th on Wednesday morning and had reeled off seven birdies before play was suspended for the day, returned to card a five-under 67 in the opening round.
Parker, fourth on the Order of Merit and ranked 141 in the world, made a further two birdies on her front nine but her round was also strewn with two bogeys and a double bogey. She had nine birdies in total, with four of them back-to-back from the 15th to the 18th.
And even though her return journey didn't go according to script with her bogeying the par-5 third and the par-4 eighth as well as that double bogey on the par-4 ninth where she chipped and then three-putted from the back of the green, it was still enough for Parker to take a one stroke lead going into round 2.
Tiger Woods' niece Cheyenne Woods completed a solid round of four-under 68 to be tied second along with Frenchwoman Sophie Giquel-Bettan, a shot behind Parker.
Six others - South Africa's Ashleigh Simon, Latvia's Laura Jansone, Spaniard Nuria Iturrios, Denmark's Emily Kristine Pedersen, Dutchwoman Anne Van Dam and France's Jade Schaeffer were tied for fourth with three-under.
India's Aditi Ashok, second on the Order of Merit and Rookie of the Year, overcame a few glitches along the way to card a two-under to be tied for 10 th along with six others.
Order of Merit winner Beth Allen was tied 17th with one-under along with 13 others which included Thailand's Thidapa Suwannapura, who had finished second here last year.
Defending champion and three-time winner Shanshan Feng was tied 31 st with a par round along with 2013 winner Pornanong Phatlum as well as Frenchwoman Anne-Lise Caudal.
james@khaleejtimes.com
 
 

Florentyna Parker Age: 27 Nationality: England Residence: Hamburg, Germany Turned pro: 2009 World Ranking: 141 Order of Merit: 4 LET Wins: 2 (ABN AMRO Ladies Open 2010, Italian Ladies Open 2014) LET Career earnings: 777191.99 pounds Best finish in 2016: Second at Lalla Meryem Cup, Morocco