The Shanshan Feng romp finally ended with her successfully defending the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters crown and leaving a trail of shattered records and battered rivals in her wake.
The Majlis course has seen some incredible performances over the past 26 years, but none even comes close to Feng’s sustained brilliance over 72 holes.
A final-round six-under par 66 gave her a tournament tally of 21-under par 267, which matched her own record of lowest 72-hole total set in 2012.
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And the winning margin of 12 shots – Thailand’s Thidapa Suwannapura finished a distant second at nine-under par 279 – was exactly double that of the record set by the legendary Annika Sorenstam in the inaugural edition.
The win was also Feng’s third in Dubai in four appearances, making her the most successful player in the 10-year history of the tournament. Sorenstam won twice, in the first two years.
There really never was a doubt about the eventual outcome of the tournament, although Suwannapura raised some hopes of a fight with her storming finish in the third round. But the injured Thai LPGA Tour star’s game was not on yesterday, finishing with a disappointing one-over par 73.
England’s Melissa Reid was alone in third place at eight-under par 280.
An early wobble by Shanshan would have helped inject some competitiveness, but the Guangzhou girl has done remarkably well in the opening stretch of Majlis, and that was exactly what she did once again.
Three is the magic number for Shanshan Feng! 3rd @OmegaDLM title by a record winning margin of 12 shots! @LETgolf pic.twitter.com/R9kiyqodbE
— Emma Dodds (@Sports_EmmaD) December 12, 2015
Birdies on the second, third and fifth holes, as against an opening bogey by Suwannapura, meant she was ahead by eight shots at the turn.
Further birdies on the 13th, 14th and 18th, where she almost holed her third shot before completing the formalities with a putt from three feet, sealed the fate of the ‘Veiled Lady’ trophy in her favour.
It was the perfect way to end the season, having already secured the LET Order of Merit crown earlier by taking an insurmountable lead before the tournament.
Feng was delighted with her own performance, but asked not to be compared to Sorenstam.
“I would say the only reason I actually won more than Annika did is because she’s not playing anymore,” said the 26-year-old.
Congratulations! Shanshan Feng – 2015 @OmegaDLM Champion! #MyDubai #ODLM2015 pic.twitter.com/4YQUoTVdtR
— Dubai Ladies Masters (@OmegaDLM) December 12, 2015
“I don’t think there’s any comparison in there. But I’m really happy to win three times here though.
“Actually, before I came here, I didn’t really think I could win again. I didn’t really aim for that as a goal. I was like just get a top five, just enjoy the week and just try my best on every shot.
“But of course I performed really well, I would say really consistent. Even though yesterday there were two bogeys, but today was bogey-free again.
“I think that winning the Order of Merit is maybe like a bonus for this year, because I won twice on the Ladies European Tour and also I finished third at Evian. Overall, I think I did well this year on the European Tour.”
Feng said her sole aim in the final round was to get to 20-under par.
“Before I started, I was like, doesn’t matter how the others are doing. I’m just going for 20-under. If I get to 20-under, and if somebody shot like a really, really low score to beat me, I’m still happy about it,” said Feng.
Anybody going to catch #Shanshan @OmegaDLM no bogeys in 36 holes #impressive @EmiratesGC pic.twitter.com/GArjEmmUbw
— David Cannon (@Cannonball63) December 10, 2015
Suwannapura was troubled again by pain in her glutes and hips, and was satisfied finishing second in the tournament.
“It’s really good for me. I did not expect to play this well because of the pain. I’m really happy with the second place,” she said.
“I was trying to finish my round. Just play it shot-by-shot. Considering that I was almost about to pull out of the tournament at the start of the third round, this is good.”
Reid, who was looking forward to a snowboarding holiday, was also delighted with her finish.
“I didn’t feel like I was swinging it great this week. Like I said at the start, I need to manage myself well. We had a game plan and stuck to it, so to finish third is great,” said the Briton.
Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum (69), winner of the 2013 championship, Germany’s Caroline Masson (70) and France’s Jade Schaeffer (71) were tied fourth at 281.
