Rower had to row, as ordered, into gulf country (9)
I believe the answer is:
oarswoman
'rower' is the definition.
(oarswoman is a kind of rower)
'row as ordered into gulf country' is the wordplay.
'ordered' indicates anagramming the letters.
'into' indicates putting letters inside.
'gulf country' becomes 'o man' (I've seen this in another clue).
'row'+'as'='rowas'
'rowas' anagrammed gives 'arswo'.
'arswo' put inside 'oman' is 'OARSWOMAN'.
'had to' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for oarswoman that I've seen before include "Rower" , "River user" , "Girl having paddle" .)