Maria Fassi. Photo by Tristan Jones/LET
Maria Fassi’s first circuit of the Faldo produced a scorecard that will be hung up in the clubhouse at Emirates Golf Club for prosperity. Now to the job of defending her first round lead.
By Kent Gray
With 10 missed cuts in her first 11 starts on the LPGA Tour this season, you wouldn’t have been alone in giving Maria Fassi’s name little more than a cursory glance when surveying the field for potential winners of this week’s Dubai Moonlight Classic.
The 23-year-old Mexican’s relative anonymity lasted precisely 18 holes on Wednesday as she roared to the first-round lead of the €260,000 Ladies European Tour event at Emirates Golf Club.
With nine birdies and a chip-in eagle on her last hole of the night, the 16th, Fassi signed for an eight-under 63, matching the Faldo course record established by Kylie Henry in the final round of last year’s tournament. She leads by a stroke from South African Lee-Anne Pace with JA the Resort-attached Olivia Cowan alone in third place after a 65 heading into Thursday’s penultimate round.
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Cowan had hinted at the Faldo’s receptiveness with a stunning round of 60 in Tuesday’s Pro-Am and 31 of the 56 starters were in red numbers after the first round, including former world No.1 Ariya Jutanugarn who carded a four-under 68 to stay in touch with the leaders.
But the night belonged to Fassi who, astonishingly, could have lead by more but for blotting her card with two bogeys. Not that anyone was grumbling. It was sensational and surprising golf from a player whose only previous LET rounds – scores of 73-74 – saw her miss the cut at last year’s Australian Ladies Classic Bonville.
Wednesday’s round is even more impressive when you learn Fassi needed knee surgery in April.
“It is, of course, always good to be under par but it was pretty flawless out there today,” she said. “It is my first time playing in the dark but it was awesome. I was talking with the girls in my group today [and saying] that it’s a pretty cool experience.
“It’s something that I wanted to experience [night golf] at least once in my lifetime. It is a lot of fun and it gives a more relaxed vibe to the tournament which helps my mindset and my game.”
Staying chill for the final 36 holes is the trick from here. It seems Fassi has a plan for that too.
“You always look back to a round like today and hope to do the same the next day and so on. It’s very important for me to just walk in tomorrow and have a clean slate and focus on the same things I was focusing on – we have a great game plan for the golf course, and it definitely paid off today, but I just need to keep doing what I have been doing and I should be in good shape after that.”
Olivia Cowan. Photo by Tristan Jones/LET
While others might have been surprised by the round, Fassi herself wasn’t. She’s been trending nicely since going under the knife with a 5th place finish at last month’s ShopRite LPGA Classic. It’s not like she is an unknown either; Fassi finished runner-up to Jennifer Kupcho at the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur and placed T-12 in her professional debut – impressively at the U.S. Open – later in 2019.
“I think it was a matter of time for me to be able to put a round like todays together. I have been working very hard to see something like this happen so it’s very motivating to see a round like today and have all that hard work pay off.
“I think it is a good game plan. We are playing pretty aggressive especially on the back nine, there’s a few holes where my length really plays a big role so it’s using that and hoping that the putts keep dropping.”
For much of the opening round Pace was the aptly-named pace-setter. The South African didn’t put a, ahem, foot wrong, starting with a birdie on the 4th, her first hole, before adding six more and an eagle on the 10th to sign for a 64.
“To shoot bogey-free is always very nice, I nearly birdied the last hole as well. I played very solid and made all the fairways which makes it a lot easier into the greens,” said Pace, a 10-time LET winner. “It’s not a terribly long golf course so you can attack the pins and the greens are holding as well.”
Pace played in the same three-ball as Cowan, the 25-year-old German who is still searching for her LET breakthrough.
“We both played solid today and had a good day… it was really enjoyable,” Cowan said. “I love coming to Dubai – it feels like a second home with my sponsors JA the Resort here and I always play well here because of that. Great weather, great course, I can’t complain.”
That’s a good thing for Cowan’s bag-carrying partner.
“My boyfriend is caddying for me this week. We weren’t quite sure how it was going to be because it was the first time – it could make or break the relationship. It’s going well so far though so he can keep the job.”
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