Unscathed on the 18th hole till now and finishing with a birdie for the first time at the Hero Women’s Indian Open, the omens are good for Christine Wolf.
Perhaps it is time to make up for the heartbreak last year, but she would rather not get ahead of herself at the DLF Golf and Country Club despite going into the final day with a one-shot lead over England’s Meghan MacLaren. The 30-year-old from Rum, Austria, has been a regular here as “it suits my eye”, and that she hits it straight is an advantage on a course that demands sound planning.
While that’s a reason for one of Wolf’s steadiest shows at any Ladies European Tour (LET) tournament, the perils of hitting the golf ball over the expanse of water on to the 18th green have consumed her.
Last year, Wolf was sitting pretty with a four-shot lead after the second day, but a quadruple bogey followed by a double over the weekend rounds dashed hopes of her first LET win.
Since the season began in January, Wolf has waited for this week, picking up three top-10s in Australia and Spain on the way to show that she can contend elsewhere too.
“Indian food and the friendly people are a draw too”, but the fierce competitor beneath Wolf’s easy demeanour will not rest till the record is set right.
Her caddy this week carried her bag last year as well, and for the third day running reminded her of her final-hole travails as she prepared for the second shot.
{{/usCountry}}Her caddy this week carried her bag last year as well, and for the third day running reminded her of her final-hole travails as she prepared for the second shot.
{{/usCountry}}“Why should I keep thinking of it,” said Wolf bravely, while admitting that she took a lot of time to get over the setback.
In fact, she played a couple of events at the start of the season with the pain lingering on.
The crucial par on the 8th on Saturday could be another pointer to a change in fortune, and while Wolf acknowledged “it set me up for the rest of the round”, she stayed guarded. “Everyone will be trying their best, so you never know in a packed leaderboard.”
The lessons from last year have been learnt well and come Sunday Wolf will do what is required to stay ahead. As for the golf course making up to her, the reply was: “In golf, you can never say I deserve to win.”
Leaderboard: 208: Christine Wolf 73, 68, 67; 209: Meghan MacLaren 67, 73, 69; 210: Marianne Skarpord 68, 71, 71; Whitney Hillier 67, 71, 72; 211: Tonje Daffinrud 73, 70, 68.