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| From left: Charley Hull and Carlota Ciganda |
Carlota Ciganda and Charley Hull were tied for the lead on six-under-par at the UniCredit Ladies German Open presented by Audi on Saturday evening.
After heavy rain led to the abandonment of second-round play on Friday, the Stipulated Round was reduced to nine holes due to the condition of the course.
There was a torrential downpour in the afternoon followed by steady rainfall and organisers did well to play on at all. The majority of play was completed before a suspension of two hours and 25 minutes from 4.50pm.
At that point, 17-year-old rookie Charley Hull was two shots clear of Ciganda and Rebecca Hudson. However after returning to the course at 7.15pm, Ciganda birdied the 14th, which Hull then bogeyed, with a chip from the front of the green and two putts.
Both players missed short birdie putts by a fraction on the par-3 15th, playing as the last hole, which could have given them the outright lead, but were pleased to be in the clubhouse just before darkness fell over the course at Golfpark Gut Hausern near Munich.
Hull, who has had four runner-up spots in as many starts this season, said: “I started off really well. I started with a birdie and plodded my way around after that. I birdied the par-3, which is the 12th hole, then parred and bogeyed 14.”
Despite the weather, Ciganda, celebrating her 23rd birthday, had her own gallery of friends and family supporting, covered in plastic rain coats and Spanish flags. She said: “It has been a strange week. The last two days have been crazy and the weather wasn’t helping at all so you can’t really do anything. It was such a shame and unlucky because it’s a great event and great organisation, but when the weather is that bad and the course is almost unplayable, it’s hard. At least we managed to play nine holes today and we’ll see how it goes tomorrow. I did three birdies and one bogey. I was just trying to hit one shot at a time and just playing my best golf, but it wasn’t easy because it was raining and very wet.”
The start of round three was delayed as the course was unplayable after continued rain overnight. A further announcement will be made at 11am.
