Photo: Tristan Jones/LET

By Kent Gray
With Annika Sörenstam (twice), Lexi Thompson and Shanshan Feng (four times in five years) happily hogging nearly half of the event’s 15 editions between them, Dubai’s annual Ladies European Tour stop boasts a roll call of champions of rare, albeit very familiar, pedigree. Courtesy of Bronte Law’s scintillating final round on the Faldo Friday, the Dubai Moonlight Classic now also has one of those scarcely believable, storybook winners too.

The 26-year-old Englishwoman produced two absolute clutch shots down the stretch to close out a stunning final round 64 and snatch the €260,000 event from under the nose of desperately unlucky Mexican Maria Fassi.

Right up till her penultimate hole, this looked to be Fassi’s tournament, a chance to seal her maiden main-tour professional title wire-to-wire. Indeed, the powerful 23-year-old LPGA Tour player barely faltered all week, adding rounds of 71-68 and some sublime final round iron shots to her course record-equalling 63 on Wednesday.

Sometimes though, you just have to doff your visor to a player on an absolute tear.

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With a fairway wood to 10-feet to set up eagle on the par-5 16th, her penultimate hole,  Law dramatically nabbed the lead. She then sealed the deal with a flushed, pin-seeking iron on the par 3 17th, a shot so pure Law turned and walked away with the ball barely halfway to the green. Law almost ironically missed the three-foot birdie putt and her chance to be a joint owner of the course record, but it mattered not, the giddying eight-under circuit taking Law to -15 and a crazy one-stroke win over Fassi.

Even Law couldn’t quite believe she was the one celebrating her maiden LET win and not Fassi.

“It’s a bit of a blur really,” Law said.

“I just went out and was trying to post a number. I said to my caddie Ken yesterday ‘let’s go out and try to shoot seven-under tomorrow’ and I’ve gone one better. It’s a bit surreal right now actually, I’m just so happy to be back here [in the winner’s circle]…it’s been a while.”

It has been nearly two and a half years since Law captured the LPGA Tour’s Pure Silk Championship, the same year she played a starring role in Europe’s Solheim Cup triumph at Gleneagles in Scotland.

Friday’s floodlight heroics finally put to bed any doubts about her decision to make what she described as a ‘radical’ swing change two years ago deigned to ensure career longevity and  greater repeatability under the blow torch of situations just like yesterday.

“I can’t really put it into words, it was one of the hardest things ever (to get back), and at times I didn’t know whether I could do it. This is my seventh week in a row, and before this I couldn’t play three weeks in a row before struggling with back problems and my body hurting all the time,” Law said.

“I probably wouldn’t have been here if I was still doing the same thing, I wouldn’t be able to sustain the same volume of golf, so I’m so glad that all the work is starting to pay off. It’s hard when things aren’t going your way and you feel like the world is against you, but I’ve got a lot of people that have stuck by me, and I owe them a lot.

“It’s the hardest thing in the world and I don’t think people understand how hard it is to be an athlete and the scrutiny that you’re under. You question yourself at times and it’s so hard to pull yourself back through that, but I’ve trusted the process and obviously it’s working.”

Indeed. So too is the return to the LET.

“I have so many friends on the LET that I’ve grown up playing golf with so to share it with them is something very special, it feels a lot closer to home than the States and it’s a really nice feeling.

“I love Dubai, I love coming here, I really enjoyed my time here last year and I love coming here and playing something different. That element with the lights is something else you have to factor in and I think it’s one step closer to growing the game which is ultimately what we’re trying to do.”

The last word went to Fassi and deservedly so. Just like how she played inside the ropes, Fassi handled the tough moment with aplomb.

“I think I played good golf all week, but Bronte shot eight-under today. It’s never nice to lose but to lose when she played like that and very much deserved to be crowned champion today [is slightly easier to stomach].

“I’m very happy with how my game has been in the last few weeks. I really enjoyed my first experience here in Dubai and looking forward to coming back next year.”