England’s Charlotte Heath will take a commanding four-shot advantage into the final round of the La Sella Open after severe weather forced tournament officials to reduce the event to 54 holes.
Play on day three began with the resumption of the second round at 8:30am local time, but heavy rain, followed by thunder and lightning, quickly brought proceedings to a halt. With conditions deemed unsafe and further disruption expected, officials made the difficult decision to shorten the tournament by one round.
The second round eventually resumed at 3pm on Saturday, with the final round now scheduled for Sunday.
Heath, who produced a superb seven-under-par 65 on Friday, remained at the top of the leaderboard despite not striking a shot on Saturday. The Englishwoman heads into the decisive round on 11-under-par, four strokes clear of Australia’s Maddison Hinson-Tolchard and Poland’s Dorota Zalewska, who share second place at seven-under.
Zalewska completed the final nine holes of her delayed second round in style, carding a four-under-par 68 to move into contention. Having started her round on Friday afternoon and finished it late on Saturday, the 26-year-old described it as the longest round of her career.
“I teed off at 8.30am this morning in that rain and I couldn’t see the ball, basically,” said Zalewska. “The ball travelled 40 metres shorter. I smashed that drive and I thought, ‘What is happening?’ Then play was suspended and we left the course.”
When play resumed, the Pole made an immediate impact, holing a lengthy eagle putt on the second before adding another long-range birdie on the sixth.
“It was an interesting nine holes, but I’ll take it,” she added.
Asked about the opportunity to challenge for her maiden Ladies European Tour title on Sunday, Zalewska remained composed.
“Yes, I am excited. Let’s keep it rolling. It’s a normal day, a normal round and we’ll see what happens.”
A further shot back on six-under-par, Singapore’s Shannon Tan posted a second consecutive round of 69 to move into a share of fourth place alongside England’s Alice Hewson and the 2024 champion Helen Briem of Germany.
Tan returned to complete the final three holes of her second round on Saturday, birdieing both the 16th and 17th.
“I’m glad to have gone out to play today,” said the 22-year-old. “Considering how much rain we had overnight and this morning, it was nice to be able to get back out there, and the course was still in great shape.”
Away from the battle at the top of the leaderboard, there was an emotional moment for Spain’s Carmen Alonso, who played the final competitive round of her LET career before retirement. With the cut mark falling at two-over-par, Alonso completed her round with her 11-year-old nephew Lucas on the bag.
The Spaniard birdied the par-five 18th and was greeted by family, friends and fellow players in a touching tribute to her 22-year career on Tour.
“I have so many emotions,” said Alonso. “I finished with a birdie and all my family and friends are here, so I have to say thank you to everyone who came to see the end of my career.”
In a gesture of support, tournament organisers confirmed that all players who missed the cut will receive a €1,400 missed-cut payment.
The final round of the La Sella Open gets underway at 9am on Sunday, with the final group of Heath, Hinson-Tolchard and Zalewska set to tee off at 12:45pm local time.
