Charley Hull is one of three players locked on -9 at the summit of the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open standings, after a captivating third day of action at Dumbarnie Links.
The English star was in inspired in Scotland on Saturday – dropping a single shot in her round of 69 (-3) to share the lead with Ariya Jutanugarn and Ryann O’Toole after three days’ play.
After consummately rolling in birdies on the fourth and seventh, Hull picked up two more shots on the back nine at 12 and 15, before carding her first bogey of the day on the 16th.
And after setting up a nail-biting final day of action in Fife, the 25-year-old is feeling optimistic ahead of the final round.
“I’ve been feeling confident the last six weeks since the U.S. Open. I feel good. I feel really good,” Hull said.
“It’s coming to the point now where I’m playing well and I don’t even know how many birdies I made, I can’t even are remember what shots hit on the golf course like that because my brain is not thinking too much.
“My golf game this year has probably been one of the best I’ve ever been. I put so much hard work into it in the winter.”
Overnight leader Jutanugarn couldn’t take her scintillating form from Friday into the first day of the weekend, as she followed up her second round score of 66 with a level-par 72.
After three birdies and a bogey on the front nine, the 2018 Scottish Open winner dropped two shots on the par-four tenth, before a pair of bogeys and birdies saw her finish even for the day and on -9 overall.
Despite losing her three-shot lead from the start of the day, the Thai star is looking forward to the battle for supremacy on the Firth of Forth tomorrow.
Jutanugarn said: “Right now I feel like it’s so much better than what I expected because starting this week, I had so many things to work on and I was not really feel comfortable with my game.
“So right now I feel like it’s much better than what I thought, so there’s nothing to lose tomorrow. I’ll just go out, have fun and really focus on the things important to me.
American O’Toole is also in contention at the 54-hole mark in Scotland, after shooting a third round score of 68 (-4) to leave her level at the top.
Three birdies and a bogey saw her go through the front nine two-under-par, before an eagle on the par-five 15th contributed to her doing similar on the back nine.
Race to Costa del Sol leader Atthaya Thitikul is still in contention after Saturday’s play, although she will be kicking herself after two dropped shots on the last two holes leaves her one shot off the lead on -8.
The 18-year-old wasted no time in getting going on day three with a birdie on the first, before backing that up with birdies on the third and sixth to put her in the mix at the top of the standings.
But two birdies and three bogeys – including those two on the 17th and 18th – saw her finish the day tied for fourth spot with 18 holes left to play.
“If I can make it tomorrow, it’s going to be great definitely. But if not, it’s still a good week and I’m still trying to improve myself every single day and I try to be a better person and a better golfer. Everything has been amazing and let’s see the challenge tomorrow,” Thitikul said.
The biggest mover of the round was South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai, who shot 67 to register the score of the day, with the Aramco Team Series – Sotogrande team winner keeping up her good form from last week’s victory
The 32-year-old birdied holes seven and eight, before picking up four more shots between holes 12 and 17 to rise up the leaderboard in the closing stages, and sit a shot behind the leading trio on -8.
“Every day I think you learn to play the course a bit more, and as long as you stick to the right game plan and hit to the right areas, you can make a birdie every now and then,” Buhai said.
“Obviously there’s a lot of great players up there. I’m happy with my game and that I’m starting to trend in the right direction again. I just need to keep doing what I’m doing.
“Any time you have a chance to win, it’s great. I just love links golf and how creative you can be. I think it suits my game a lot.”
Team Europe Solheim Cup hopefuls Anna Nordqvist and Celine Boutier also find themselves within the top ten at Dumbarnie Links, with the former sitting in sixth on -6, while the Frenchwoman finds herself in a tie for seventh-spot a further shot back.
Boutier lies level with American stars Marina Alex and Yealimi Noh after day three, as well as Lydia Ko and Kelsey MacDonald.
Local favourite MacDonald continues to flourish in her homeland, with a level-par 72 seeing her stay on -5 overall and on course for a second top-ten finish of the season.
The Inverness-born star registered four birdies in her day, but two bogeys on the last two holes, as well as a second successive double-bogey on the fearsome tenth saw her finish on the same score as she started.
“I’m obviously gutted with my finish. I would have taken level par at the start of the day, but when I give myself those opportunities, and to finish so poorly like that is disappointing,” the Scot said.
“But tomorrow is a good day and it will be good to go out a wee bit earlier and post a low number before everyone else.
“It was gusty in places. Some holes you had more a downwind than a crosswind, so it was a slightly different direction of wind, which I think would catch players out.”
After starting the day three shots off the lead and in the final group, Denmark’s Emily Kristine Pedersen slipped down the rankings after a score of 77 (+5) to leave her one-under-par heading into Sunday’s play.
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