Records not on Shanshan Feng's mind

Shanshan Feng of China plays her tee shot on the par 4, ninth hole of the 2015 Omega Dubai Ladies Masters.

 Having already wrapped the Order of Merit, breaking records is not on Shanshan Feng's mind as she just wants to relax and enjoy the golf in the season-ending Ladies European Tour (LET) event.
The defending champion is on the threshold of a record triple crown in the 10th installment of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters this week.
And after shooting a five-under on the opening day on Wednesday to finish third, the Chinese followed it up with an identical five-under at the Majlis Course of the Emirates Golf Club on Thursday to be perched on top of the leaderboard.
With an overall 10-under, Feng set a tournament record at the halfway stage of the tournament. The 26-year-old from Guangzhou had fired a 21-under en route to winning the event -- the first of her Dubai Ladies Masters -- in 2012. But Feng is not really dwelling on putting that record to shade and is taking it as it comes.
"Was I 21? I forgot," Feng asked after her second round on Thursday. "Well, I'm not really thinking about it, and I think every year, the condition is a little bit different, so it doesn't really matter if I break it or not. Like I said earlier, I just want to enjoy and be relaxed this week as I always do in Dubai. I've had two good days so far, and there's another two days to go," she added.
Feng, teeing off from the 10th, shot an identical round of 67 on the day but it wasn't as easy it looked. She had a tough start and also had to battle shoulder and neck pain during the 14th and 15th hole after which Feng was attended to by the physio on the 17th.
"I actually had a rough start, because the 10th hole is a par 5, and I hit it in the rough, the first shot. And then the third, I was trying to hit on the green and I hit in the bunker again. So it was kind of like a tough 5 on the first hole," she revealed.
"After that, I made a few pars and started to make birdies, made two. Then after that, I was making pars for awhile and then after that, finishing with a couple birdies, so I'm happy about it," added Feng.
Both her rounds have been bogey-free and while she said that the Majlis Course suits her, bogeys could happen.
"I think my ball-striking was not bad. I was leaving the balls a little bit shorter after I saw the physio. But I wasn't far away off the green. So I could still make the two putts. Made a couple birdies on the par 5s and I think, yeah, I think this is just a course for birdies. So we're not really thinking about bogeys. But of course, it happens, if we make bogeys," Feng said.
Melissa Reid, who was in her playing group, fired the best round of the day, a six-under 66, for an overall three-under 141. The Englishwoman, who had struck a three-over in the first round, vaulted from 71 st to seventh on the leaderboard.
And Feng said that she had expected Reid to make a comeback after that average first round.
"Mel is a really good player and we've played many times together. I think yesterday (Wednesday) wasn't her game. Today (Thursday), I think that was Mel. So I was expecting her to actually come back today. So I wasn't surprised at all," she said.
james@khaleejtimes.com