We are set for an exciting last day at Final Qualifying for Lalla Aicha Q-School in Morocco with 43 players positioned within five shots of the top-20.
After the competition was reduced to 72 holes due to heavy rainfall on Tuesday, a sun-soaked round three ended with a trio tied at the top as France’s Agathe Laisne, Poland’s Dorota Zalewska and USA’s Anna Morgan all moved to 13-under par.
Teeing up at Al Maaden Golf Marrakech, Laisne had the pick of the days firing a wonderful 65 (-8) – the joint best round of the week – to move into a share of the lead.
The Frenchwoman earned full Ladies European Tour (LET) status at Q-School the last two years and rekindled her finest form on Friday carding nine birdies and dropping just one shot at the par-4 15th.
“Right from the start my 7-iron was really hot,” Laisne explained, who refused to look at a scoreboard throughout her round. “I hit it to three-feet on my first hole and then five-feet on my second hole. Same club. On the par-5s I was then able to have a putt for eagle on pretty much all of them. That was nice and made it a little bit stress free because I knew it was going to be a good day.
“It’s like a ritual, I always come back here to Q-School! I always want to try and get my card. It’s nice here and the sun is shining. I like it.”
Also teeing up at Al Maaden Golf Marrakech was Morgan, a Q-School first-timer, who is continuing to make the task at hand look nerveless. The American carded her best round of the week on Friday, a 67 (-6), to join Laisne on 13-under par. This included several clutch putts around the wider open of the two courses in Marrakech.
“I made a lot of putts out there and took advantage of the par-5s,” Morgan said. “It was very steady and I didn’t make too many mistakes. Honestly, I feel like I hit it the worst today of the three rounds, but I scored the best!
“I go into every tournament wanting to win. That’s been the goal this week. Play aggressive, play my usual game, play for first place. Not just to do well enough. I want to win. I won’t change anything tomorrow.”
Over at the tree-lined Royal Golf Marrakech, Zalewska, Poland’s first LET member, also carded her best round of the week firing a 66 (-6) to join the above-mentioned pair. The 26-year-old got off to a hot start birdying four of her first five holes on Friday morning.
“The day was quite interesting,” Zalewska said, who earned a full LET card at Q-School two years ago. “I started quite hot, had a few birdies at the beginning. Then I was kind of chilling for a few holes. I had one bogey and then I was able to catch a few more birdies.
“Q-School is a different breed of a tournament. Everyone is starting from the scratch here, no matter if you’re already playing on the LET or if you’re a rookie. I’ll just relax tonight and stretch. Have some food and probably watch Game of Thrones, because I started that series and I’m just loving it.”
On the same course, Alexandra Swayne of the U.S. Virgin Islands followed up yesterday’s flawless 66 (-7) at Al Maaden Golf Marrakech with a 67 (-5) to move to 12-under par. She holds solo fourth position with 18 holes remaining.
In a tie for fifth on 11-under par are Nigeria’s Georgia Oboh and Spain’s Marta Sanz Barrio.
Four players share seventh on 10-under par, a quartet consisting of France’s Emma Grechi who fired an excellent 67 (-6) at Al Maaden Golf Marrakech, Ireland’s Aine Donegan, Isle of Man’s Ana Dawson and England’s Meghan MacLaren – a three-time winner on the LET.
“I’m happy about the score, but most of all I’m happy about my focus on what I have to do,” Grechi said. “I changed my equipment two months ago so it’s brand-new. I also changes a few things in my swing. I came here with the goal of doing what I have to do. I’ve listened to my coach and so far I’ve done the job I’ve need to do.”
Elsewhere, Australia’s Justice Bosio and Scotland’s Hannah Darling soared up the leaderboard with a pair of 67s (-6) at Al Maaden Golf Marrakech. The former is being caddied by LET veteran Michele Thomson this week – the same looper who helped France’s Nastasia Nadaud claim her maiden victory on the circuit last month. Both players share T11 position with South Africa’s Caitlyn Macnab, one of our leaders after the first round.
One of the stories of the fortnight also developed in round three as Thalia Kirby carded a 67 (-5) at Royal Golf Marrakech to move into T20 position. At last week’s Pre-Qualifier, the Englishwoman produced a clutch finish of a birdie and an eagle hole-out to make it through on the number.
Following 54 holes, a redraw has been done for round four with each side of the field switching courses for the final time. The fourth and final round of Final Qualifying for Lalla Aicha Q-School gets underway on Saturday 20 December at 9:30am local time.
A reminder that the top-20 and ties following the conclusion of 72 holes in Marrakech will earn Category 12 status for the 2026 LET season.
Follow Final Qualifying across our social media pages and YouTube channel: @LETgolf and @LETAccess on Instagram and X, Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #LallaAichaQSchool.
