Not even a rain suspension could stop the flow of Kajsa Arwefjall on Saturday at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open as the in-form Swede fired a career-best 63 (-9) to surge into contention at the K Club.
Eleven shots behind leader Casandra Alexander before the start of play, Arwefjall continued her excellent form going out in 33 (-3) before carding an eagle at the getable par-5 10th to move inside the top-10.
After home favourite Leona Maguire had fired a 63 (-9) of her own, play was suddenly halted on the Palmer South Course as heavy rainfall poured down in Ireland.
Following a 45 minute suspension, Arwefjall continued where she left off carding four more birdies at the 12th, 14th, 15th and 18th to match the round of the week set by Alexander and Maguire.
The scorecard helped Arwefjall jump into solo third position on 13-under par with Alexander still in command on 18-under par.
“It was super fun out there,” the Swede said. “I had a great group playing with Alice [Hewson] and Dorthea [Forbrigd] even though it was raining. It’s always fun to shoot low scores. Nine-under is my best ever score. My previous best was seven-under so I beat it by two.”
The sensational scorecard comes just two weeks after Arwefjall came agonisingly close to a maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) victory at the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open. The 26-year-old led by three shots heading into the final round at Golfpark Holzhäusern but a disappointing final day eventually saw her finish fifth,
“I was devastated after Switzerland but I also felt very motivated to come back and play well again,” Arwefjall said, the latest guest on the LET Unfiltered podcast. “I think it was a good [learning experience].”
As well as firing a round of the week 63 (-9), Arwefjall also provided some much needed entertainment during the rain suspension at The K Club where she and Forbrigd were spotted on the broadcast dancing in an attempt to keep the muscles warm.
“We were just trying to kill some time and warm-up,” the Swede explained. “First we did some of her warm-up and then I tried to teach her some kicks from side-to-side. We kept warm so it was good!”
The career-best scorecard for Arwefjall comes eight years after she also won her first international title at the 2018 Irish Girls U18 Stroke Player Championship at Roganstown Golf & Country Club. She will now tee up in the final group on Sunday at The K Club has she looks to chase Alexander down and earn her maiden LET title.
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