Carlota Ciganda extended her lead at the top, firing a second consecutive round of 66 (-6) to hold a four-shot lead in front of Belgium’s Manon De Roey at the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España presented by Oysho.
Ciganda secured back-to-back birdies on the 4th and 5th, followed by another on 8th to make it three-under at Real Club Guadalhorce Golf. She continued the round with birdies on 12th, 14th, and 16th to stay top of the leaderboard on 17-under par.
“I wasn’t as comfortable today compared to the last few days but still played well and I made six solid birdies, some good putts, so very happy to have another bogey-free round,” said the seven-time LET winner.
“Three-under and three-under on the front and back nine, I’m very happy with that and hopefully I can keep the momentum going into tomorrow.
“There are so many good Spanish youngsters coming through now and the Spanish Golf Federation are doing a great job with that, and I’m always happy to see them playing good. They will always have my support.”
Belgium’s De Roey followed suit with six birdies on day three, finishing with a round of 66 (-6) to take second place in Spain. Back-to-back birdies on the 13th and 14th meant that overall, she secured 13-under par after 54 holes.
“I’m very happy with my play today, bogey-free which is always good,” said De Roey, who is second in the LET Order of Merit. “I created some good opportunities, some good putts so I’m very happy with my game today.
“I’m pleased with my season this year. I wish I could win the Order of Merit, unfortunately that’s not possible for me, but I’m still very happy with the way I played this year.
“It’s a very scoreable course, the par-fives are quite reachable. You just have to play smarter on this course, increase some chances, but I’m really looking forward to playin with Carlota tomorrow.
“I always start to finish as high as possible and be in contention. Being here in Spain with Carlota in the final group, it’s going to be exciting tomorrow.”
Joining the final group tomorrow will be Spain’s Andrea Revuelta, who carded an impressive bogey-free round of 64 (-8) on the third day and gained 20 places to become third on the leaderboard.
The 18-year-old amateur and England’s Rosie Davies both secured a new course record firing the lowest female score around Real Club Guadalhorce Golf.
Revuelta had a string of birdies on the 12th, 13th, and 14th holes, as well as a birdie on the 18th to finish off the round in style. She has her younger sister Angela on her bag this week.
“It was a great day practically no misses and no errors,” said the Spanish teenager. “I was playing two great rounds the first two days, but the result wasn’t showing actually how good I played. I stayed patient and today happened which is what I was hoping for so I’m pretty happy.
“I feel like I had some really good opportunities on every single hole, and I did have a very likeable birdie putt, around four metres away on the 8th hole. The weather has been great today. Every time we come here to the south of Spain, it doesn’t disappoint and nice to be playing at home too.”
Germany’s Helen Briem and India’s Pranavi Urs are in a share of fourth place on 10-under-par after they both signed for rounds of 71 (-1) on day three, and they are also alongside Slovenia’s Pia Babnik.
Three players are one shot further back with England’s Annabel Dimmock, Germany’s Patricia Isabel Schmidt and Norway’s Dorthea Forbrigd all in T7.
A highlight of the day was Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz securing a hole-in-one on 13, winning a six-night stay in the city, provided by Malaga City Council.
The final round will begin at 9.20 am (local time) with the leaders going out at 11.21am at Real Club Guadalhorce Golf.
Follow all the action throughout the tournament on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #RaiseOurGame #OpenDeEspaña.
