For the second week running, Lucie Malchirand holds the 36-hole lead of a LET Access Series (LETAS) event.
The Frenchwoman, who won her maiden LETAS title with a wire-to-wire victory at the Hauts de France Open last week, fired a blistering 66 at the Lavaux Ladies Open in Puidoux, Switzerland, to finish the day at 10-under overall.
Malchirand, 24, leads compatriot Lauren Holmey (66) and South Korea’s Ayeon Yang (68) by one stroke in a tightly packed leaderboard ahead of Friday’s final round at Golf de Lavaux.
Sweden’s Elsa Svensson (67) and England’s Bel Wardle (67) are a further shot back at eight-under for the tournament while four other players are also in the hunt at seven-under overall.
“It was a great day,” Malchirand said. “I’m really happy with what I’m doing right now. Second tournament in a row where I’m leading by one shot now. I’m feeling really confident at this moment.
“I love playing under pressure, I’m really enjoying. Last week was amazing, this week feels great. The course is tricky, so that’s nice because I’m trying to do more fades and draws and make some nice shots, but I’m having fun.
“Because I won last week, I feel more confident and there is not too much pressure on my shoulders. So that’s a good feeling.”
After beginning her round with four birdies in her opening 10 holes, Malchirand caught fire again towards the end with three consecutive birdies from holes 15 to 17.
But she was denied a flawless bogey-free round when she bogeyed the closing par-4 18th hole.
“My approach game is really nice this week, like last week,” she said. “So I’m really happy about it. I feel like I need to put more tee shots on the fairway. That was kind of the mistake of the day, if I can say it.
“I think that’s the part of the game I’m working on the most right now. That’s why I made a bogey on the last hole. It’s the one I was struggling since the beginning of the season.
“Because it’s the second week, a lot of things happened so my head just needs to go a little bit slower, and I just need to try to breathe a little bit more. That would be the most important for tomorrow.
“I mean, it was almost a bogey free round, so that was great. And my putting is still amazing. So hopefully I can continue like that.”
About how she celebrated her win in Saint-Omer, she said: “I saw my friends in Paris. That was pretty nice. We had a night out and I knew I had to play this week. But then we have two weeks off. So, I think if I win tomorrow, that would be the good plan.
“We still have a day to go, still a lot of things to do, still a lot of shots to hit. So, I mean, it’s going to be a long day tomorrow, and I’ll just try to keep doing what I know. Just keep focusing on every shot, every routine and we’ll see.”
Malchirand, who will be partnered in the final flight alongside LETAS Order of Merit leader Holmey, added: “I’m feeling confident about it. I love Lauren. She’s an amazing girl, she’s an amazing player. She’s doing great this season.
“I think that will help me to keep pushing my game harder. We’ll see. But I think that would be a good round.”
Holmey put herself in contention with a spectacular bogey free six-under 66 with birdies on holes 3, 5, 8, 9, 13 and 14.
She is chasing her third LETAS victory, having already won this season at the Montauban Ladies Open and in 2022 at the Flumserberg Ladies Open.
The OOM leader, who played a full season on the LET in 2023, has come close to picking up her second win this season but she fell to Slovakia’s Michaela Vavrova in a sudden-death play-off at the Ladies Slovak Golf Open.
Rounding out a stacked final flight is South Korea’s Yang, who followed up an opening round 67 with a second round 68.
Yang, who ventured out of South Korea to play in Europe for the first time this season, is bidding to win her maiden LETAS title after coming agonisingly close at the Women’s Irish Challenge. She lost to Ireland’s Beth Coulter in a sudden-death play-off.
Sweden PGA Championship winner Elsa Svensson is also in the mix at eight-under, after a round of 67 comprising an eagle, five birdies and a double bogey, as is England’s Bel Wardle who went bogey free with five birdies.
In a tie for sixth come the quartet of Australia’s Hannah Reeves (68), Sweden’s Moa Svedenskiold (67), Iceland’s Andrea Bergsdottir (67) and Austria’s Johanna Ebner (69).
Another shot back at six-under for the tournament, four strokes behind Malchirand, are Austria’s Isabella Holpfer (71), France’s Gala Dumez (70), Scotland’s Lorna Mcclymont (65) and Spain’s Maria Villanueva (69).
Fifty-two players made the cut at even-par. Some notable players to have missed the cut include Germany’s Hanna Tauber (+2), Switzerland’s Caroline Sturdza (+5) and Czechia’s Tereza Zapletal Kozeluhova (+12).
The final round of the Lavaux Ladies Open resumes on Friday at 8.45am (local time) with the final flight of Malchirand, Holmey and Yang teeing off at 10.24am.
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