Sanna Nuutinen fired the round of the week with a 64 (-8) on the third day of the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España.
It was a flawless day for the Finnish star who equalled the course record of 64 set by Seve Ballesteros at the 1987 Open de España.
Nuutinen had spent the previous two days working hard on the range to try and find something and was glad the work paid off.
“I was better off the tee today than the first two days,” said the Finn. “I really struggled the first day with my swing, so every night I have spent another hour on the range in the dark just trying to figure it out. I was the last person to leave the premises yesterday.
“I was looking for that last confidence for the last two rounds. I think it worked out, I was a bit better off the tee and with my approach shots and the putter has been good all week. I haven’t even practice putting because I trust my putter so much. I gained 4.5 strokes with my putting today.”
Nuutinen heads into the week sat 75th in the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol but is not putting any pressure on herself to perform well.
The Finnish player accepted that she may finish outside of the top 70, which would secure her 2023 card, but is hoping to just enjoy the week.
She explained: “I have not been thinking about the Race to Costa del Sol because last week in Mallorca I did, and it really caused me some anxiety when I was playing. This week I accepted that if I’m going to be 75th in the RTCDS, I will be fine.
“I will still get enough starts and I can do well at the start of the season and get a reshuffle. I thought whatever happens I’m fine. I have loads of chances to gain a good re-ranking for next year and this is one of them.”
Nuutinen sits in a tie for 12th place on the leaderboard at the end of day three and will is looking forward to starting from the first tee instead of the 10.
She added: “I finally get to start from the first tee! It’s going to be a different course tomorrow. Oskar – Linda Osala’s husband caddied for me today and Linda actually caddied as well when he couldn’t make it – they have been great. They’re really positive and keeping me in a good mood, so I really trust in my caddie for tomorrow.”
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