England’s Rebecca Earl and Scotland’s Lorna Mcclymont share the 36-hole lead at seven-under-par heading into Saturday’s final round at the Terre Blanche Ladies Open on the LET Access Series (LETAS).
Earl fired a blistering 66 after a rollercoaster round comprising nine birdies and three bogeys, while Mcclymont shot a bogey-free 67 with five birdies on the back nine.
The duo have a one-stroke cushion over Switzerland’s Natalie Armbruester (71) and England’s Jessica Hall (68) who are at six-under-par for the tournament.
“It was very up and down at the start,“ Earl, 26, said. “I actually holed two good putts for bogey on the back nine, which was my front nine, and then had seven birdies in a row, which was probably my best.
“I think we started in quite a lot of showers, and there was a bit of rain and stuff. And then obviously it started brightening up, and we had a bit less wind today than yesterday.
“You could attack the pins a little bit more with the greens being a bit softer. So yeah, I had lots of one putts, I putted really nicely, which was good, and hit the ball quite close to the pin.”
Teeing off from the tenth tee in the morning session, Earl rolled in back-to-back birdies on holes 13 and 14 before giving them back with bogeys on holes 15 and 17.
On the par-4 17th hole, she sent her tee shot out of bounds and made a “ghost birdie” with her second ball which counted as a bogey on her scorecard.
It was the catalyst she needed to then go on a seven-hole birdie blitz from holes 18 to 6, setting the course record for most consecutive birdies made (7) and most birdies made in a round (9).
“I wasn’t really thinking about it,” she said. “I have my friend from school on the bag this week, so it’s quite nice. She takes my mind of things in between, takes my mind off things in between shots.
“She’s just here for this tournament. We’ve been friends since we were about 10 years old from school. This is her first tournament she’s come to caddy for and I think she’s enjoyed it.
“It was nice to have a good round. I feel like this is probably actually one of my lowest rounds I’ve had in a competition. I’m excited for tomorrow.”
Despite a three-putt bogey on the closing par-4 9th hole, Earl is in a good position to win her first professional event following two top 10 results on the LETAS this season.
“I three putted the last, but it’s such a tough hole,” she added. “Like the pins right at the back on the slope. It was a tough two putt anyway. But I’m still happy with my round overall.
“I feel like I’ve been in contention a little bit this year, so yeah, hopefully I can have a good round tomorrow.”
Earl will face strong competition from her good friend Mcclymont, who is in stellar form having recorded two top 10 finishes in her past two LETAS events.
Last time out at the Lavaux Ladies Open, Mcclymont finished in a tie for sixth, four shots behind eventual winner Bel Wardle.
A costly quadruple bogey during the final hole of her opening round denied the Scotswoman a shot at claiming her first LETAS trophy.
“A few weeks ago, maybe just one hole cost me,” she said. “In a way, I’m happy it happened because I learnt more. I think it’s just about taking all that good golf with me and just believing in myself.”
About her stunning back nine performance, with birdies on holes 11, 12, 13, 17 and 18, Mcclymont said: “The front nine, that’s the nine I probably have seen less. I kind of was just trying to be pretty strategical and just getting my way around.
“And then the back nine, I just knew there was a few more chances up there, and I played it quite well yesterday, so yeah, just took from that and had the same plan.
“I kind of just focused on hitting fairways as much as I could, just giving myself a chance to hit the greens. Because the greens are quite soft as well, you can be quite aggressive, which is quite nice.”
When asked about playing alongside Earl in the final flight, Mcclymont added: “I think tomorrow we’ll have a good laugh and keep things pretty light, and hopefully both play well.”
Completing the final group with the pair is Armbruester, who followed up her first-round 67 with a one-under 71 mixing three birdies with two bogeys.
Alongside the Swiss at six-under-par overall is England’s Hall whose round of four-under 68 comprised six birdies and two bogeys.
Further down the leaderboard, England’s Billie-Jo Smith, Swiss amateur Lana Guyot (both 71) and French amateur Teodora Nikolovski (69) are two shots adrift of the leaders at five-under-par overall.
Another stroke behind them in solo eighth is England’s Wardle (68) who is in the hunt for back-to-back LETAS victories.
At three-under-par overall come the quintet of Australia’s Kristalle Blum (70) and Belinda Ji (72), Finland’s Anna Backman (70), Germany’s Theresa De Bochdanovits (70) and France’s Marine Griffaut (70).
LETAS Order of Merit leader Lauren Holmey (67) is in a five-way tie for 14th place at two-under-par with Sweden’s Moa Svedenskiold (74) and Isabell Ekstrom (72), Canada’s Ashley Chow (67) and Czechia’s Anna Ludvova (74).
The cut line was set at four-over-par with 52 players set to play the weekend.
Notable players to have missed the cut include Germany’s Hanna Tauber (+5), France’s Lucie Malchirand (+5), Sweden’s Elsa Svensson (+5), Czechia’s Tereza Zapletal Kozeluhova (+6) and Switzerland’s Caroline Sturdza (+11).
The final round of the Terre Blanche Ladies Open will begin at 9.10am (local time) on Saturday with the last flight of Earl, Mcclymont and Armbruester teeing off at 10.54am.
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