Mclaren on brink of her biggest payday

England’s Meghan Maclaren is on course for the biggest payday of her career heading into the final round of the inaugural Jordan Mixed Open.

Maclaren carded a second consecutive 65 at Ayla Golf Club to finish 14 under par, two ahead of Challenge Tour player Daan Huizing in the event which features 40 players each from the Ladies European Tour, Challenge Tour and Staysure Tour.

Players are tackling the Greg Norman-designed course from different tees depending on the tour they compete on.

Maclaren has previously spoken eloquently about the disparity in prize money between the men’s and women’s games and the first prize of £46,000 compares favourably to the £12,000 she won recently for her successful title defence in the Women’s NSW Open.

“I’m pretty delighted,” she said. “I don’t have 65s too often so to have two in a row is pretty special.”

Jack Senior, Oliver Farr and Paul Streeter share third place on eight under par and, with the 52-year-old Streeter joining Maclaren and Huizing in the final group on Saturday, one player from each tour will be represented.

“They couldn’t have written it any better than that,” Maclaren added. “That’s a testament to the research that’s gone into it. This isn’t just some gimmick to see if it works. A lot of thought has gone into it and I’m happy that it’s playing out like this.

“I’m just trying to win a golf tournament. There’s a lot of other stuff going on and I’m proud of the position that all three tours have put themselves in and golf as a whole, for this tournament.

“Tomorrow it’s going to be completely about my own game and trying to have the best score possible.”

Martin Laird fired a fourunder-par 68 in his second round at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio yesterday, and was lying in joint 47th in the clubhouse on two under.