Nicole Garcia and Ana Pelaez Trivino share the lead on seven-under-par heading into the final round of the Helsingborg Open in Sweden.
The pair fired matching rounds of three-under-par 69 in warm and benign conditions at Allerum Golf Club on Saturday.
Caroline Hedwall, who held a three-way share of the lead after the first round, shot a 70 to end the day one stroke behind in a share of third position with Lisa Pettersson and Casandra Alexander.
Garcia fired the first hole-in-one of the tournament during an eventful morning round, which featured two eagles, three birdies and four bogeys.
The South African aced the 172-yard par 3 third hole using a majestic eight-iron, moments before Finland’s Elina Numenpaa made another hole-in-one on the par-3 14th.
Garcia made the turn in 36 after carding a birdie on the long fifth and three bogeys on the fourth, sixth and ninth. She steadied herself with two consecutive pars from the 10th and then eagled the 512-yard par-5 12thhole. Two further birdies on the 16th and 18th holes, along with a bogey on the 17th, saw her return in 33.
She said afterwards that she had to wait for a few moments to celebrate her hole-in-one, as she couldn’t see if the ball had ended in the hole.
“We weren’t 100 per cent sure if it was in or not, so didn’t want to get too excited. Then there were a few fist pumps, a little bit of screaming, so it was good,” said Garcia, who has now had four hole-in-ones in competition, including two on the LET, one on the LET Access Series and one on the Sunshine Ladies Tour.
Speaking about her second eagle of the day on the 12th, she added: “I’m quite fond of that par five. It suits my eye and I’ve managed to hit the green it two days in a row, giving myself opportunities. I hit it to 15-20 feet and hit an aggressive putt.”
Garcia, ranked 29th on the Race to Costa del Sol, enjoyed two team wins in Aramco Team Series events last year, in London and Jeddah, but the three-time Sunshine Ladies Tour champion is yet to notch an individual title in 10 years of competing on the LET.
She added: “An individual win is something really special. I love the team vibe and I’m quite good in that environment, so I really enjoy those, but to have an individual win, as I haven’t had one on the LET yet, would be incredible for me. Hold thumbs and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
Pelaez Trivino, from Spain, started well with two birdies and one bogey in an outward nine of 35. She had a bogey-free back nine of 34, with two further birdies on the 10th and 18th.
“It was a great round today again, with solid golf. I wasn’t playing my best out there, but we were smart off the tee and gave ourselves plenty of chances. It was nice to finish with a birdie and tie the lead,” said the 2022 Comunidad Madrid Ladies Open champion.
The third ranked player on the Race to Costa del Sol revealed that she had taken inspiration from watching the KLM Open at the weekend, adding: “I’m just trying to be in the moment. My caddie and I are doing a very good job there. Last week I was following the guys on the DP World Tour and Pablo Larrazabal won. For some reason, Pablo and Adrian (Otaegui) played together. I saw different personalities. I relate more to Pablo as he is more passionate, and I think I was missing that part of my game. At the same time, I learned from Adrian that you can play smart and have your chances in the last few holes. This week I am trying to remind myself who I am, but also be smart and in the moment, so, so far that’s helping, and I think I’m very chilled out there.”
Hedwall, who lived in Helsingborg for 15 years, held a one stroke lead on eight-under-par after four birdies on the second, fifth and eighth and 11th holes, but she dropped three shots at the 13th, 14th and 17th, before finishing with a birdie in a second round of 70.
“I was really happy with my game on the front nine and I played well. It could have been a couple more under par. I made a couple of, not bad swings, but they weren’t as good and it’s just the margins just weren’t on my side and that’s when golf starts feeling a bit harder,” the seven-time LET winner said. “I’m happy that I kept it together. I lost another one on 17, but again, the margins just weren’t there. I’m happy to have finished with a birdie and still be near the top, just one behind. It’s possible to do tomorrow, so I’m happy to be in contention. It’s definitely special to play in front of a home crowd, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Smilla Taning Soenderby of Denmark and Diksha Dagar of India share sixth place on five-under-par after rounds of 68 and 69 respectively, while Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz and Emma Thorngren of Sweden are tied for eighth on four-under-par.
Thai rookie April Angurasaranee and Kim Metraux of Switzerland share tenth place on three-under-par.
The final round gets under way at 7.30am on Sunday, with the last group teeing off at 11.42am. Follow all the action this week on @LETGolf on Instagram and Twitter and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #RaiseOurGame #HelsingborgOpen.
