What a difference a day can make.
Following 18 holes of action Casandra Alexander faced an uphill task to make the cut at the Aramco China Championship after she carded a disappointing 77 (+4). Fast forward 24 hours and the big-hitting South African now finds herself in tie for 12th – 84 spots better off – thanks to a magnificent round of the week 63 (-10) at Mission Hills. An unbelievable 14 shot improvement from Thursday’s card in Shenzhen.
“First I hit the ball a lot better and holed a lot more putts,” Alexander explained, who made 10 birdies on Friday and failed to drop a single shot. “Overall it was just a little bit more simple today. I think yesterday I got a bit complicated with it. Today I picked my lines, picked my targets and just hit it.
“Yesterday I was in the bus sulking and told my caddie [Charlie], I’m going to shoot 10-under tomorrow. This morning he came up to me and he said, ’10-under?’ and I said, ‘yep’, and carried on walking. It seems like it all worked out. So if he doesn’t say that tomorrow he’s fired!”
The round of the week marks the second time this season that Alexander – currently sitting third in the LET Order of Merit – has fired a -10 scorecard. Back in June, the 26-year-old carded a 62 (-10) on the final day at the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open to break the course record and win her maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) title.
“Not everyone has BMT (big match temperament) but I seem to have it,” Alexander said. “I don’t think it’s something you can teach. I just have it. I’ve been competitive my whole life and I’ve always had that competitive edge. I think I’m the hardest on myself and I think that also gives me the upper hand. I also hit the ball long, so that always gives me an upper hand to reach the par-5s and go low.”
Thanks to the stunning turnaround, Alexander now sits six shots back from Trichat Cheenglab heading into the final round of the Aramco China Championship. She will tee off at 9:58am local time on Saturday alongside England’s Mimi Rhodes and Ecuador’s Daniela Darquea.
Follow all the action on @LETGolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #AramcoChinaChampionship.
