Anna Nordqvist put herself to the top of the leaderboard heading into the final day at the Big Green Egg Open, with a third round score of 67 (-5) seeing her take the initiative on Saturday.
The three-time Major winner turned on the style in the latter part of her day, with three birdies in her final three holes seeing her take a one-shot advantage into Sunday’s action in The Netherlands on -7 overall.
The Solheim Cup star has India’s Vani Kapoor and Austria’s Sarah Schober for company at the top of the standings on -6, with the duo still in contention after 54 holes played at Rosendaelsche Golf Club.
It was a return to form for Nordqvist at the start of the weekend, who overturned a six-shot deficit from the start of the day to take the ascendency, and she was delighted with her day’s efforts.
“I played really solid today, I hit a lot of good shots but didn’t seem to make putts on the front nine, but I turned in two-under,” she said.
“I three-putted ten, made a long one on eleven, but it was nice to finish with three good birdies. I’m really happy, it was a solid day, I’ve been struggling with the speed of the greens but there were a few good moments out there today, so I’m really pleased with the end of the round.
“I feel like patience was my key today, I thought I did a lot of good things but they didn’t pay off early on, but making that putt on 15 was definitely a big momentum change.
“I felt like I hit the ball really well and it was actually quite windy out there, I think I missed two fairways and two greens which is great.”
The Swede dealt excellently with the windier conditions in The Netherlands on Saturday, with birdies on the fourth and eighth seeing her finish the front nine in 34 shots, before dropping her only shot of the day on the tenth.
That was soon forgotten about with a bounce-back birdie on 11, before a clutch-putt from 15-feet on the 15th saw her expertly save herself from dropping another shot on the back nine.
And that proved to be a complete momentum-changer for the 2021 AIG Women’s Open Champion, who rolled in birdies on 16, 17 and 18 to elevate herself to the top of the standings.
After taking two weeks away from the course to be with friends and family back in Sweden, it has taken a few days for Nordqvist to get back to top gear, but Saturday was the day where it all clicked.
With a busy summer ahead of her, the Swede was keen to make the most of time with her loved ones, and is heading into a hectic schedule ready and refreshed, and that was clear to see on Saturday.
She continued: “Taking two weeks off in the middle of the season is obviously not ideal, but I was a bit tired after a long stretch in the US with two Majors, so I wanted to go home.
“My family means the world to me and I have six nieces and nephews that I want to see and I haven’t seen my family since November so I prioritised seeing them because I know that’s going to give me a lot of energy going forward.
“The first couple of days back is probably a bigger struggle than I would have liked, but I’m playing four weeks in a row now so there’s a fun stretch coming up. I love coming back to Europe to see friends and family, and I love the atmosphere here and spending time with the girls out here.
“All I can focus on is myself tomorrow, I knew this week was about getting a feel after two weeks off, so all I was focusing on was my ball-striking, and I’m just going to do my best tomorrow, you can’t really force anything out there.”
Nordqvist will have Vani Kapoor for company in the final group on Sunday, with the Indian carding a third round score of 71 (-1) to head into the final day one shot from the lead.
Birdies on the fourth and tenth gave the 28-year-old the lead at one point in the day, before a dropped shot on the 15th saw her fall back into a tie for second.
A missed birdie putt on 18 summed up Kapoor’s day on the greens on Saturday, but she is excited to play in the final group in an LET event for the first time on Sunday.
“I left quite a few putts out there, I gave myself a lot of chances. I putted well but they didn’t go in the hole – I had two lip-outs and one stopped on the edge – but I’m hoping for a better day tomorrow,” she said.
“My accuracy is helping on this course, this course is tight and you need to hit fairways and greens here, and as long as I keep doing that the scores will keep coming.
“I’m really excited to be in the final group, I’m glad that things are falling together and I’m finally here, and I hope tomorrow goes well as well. To play with Anna will be amazing and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Sarah Schober also sits on -6 with 18 holes left to play, with the Austrian picking up four shots in her final four holes to card a third round score of 73 (+1).
After a birdie on the first, things slowly unravelled for Schober, with bogeys on the second and fifth eclipsed by a double-bogey on the fourth, seeing her reach the turn in 39 (+3).
And things were to go from bad to worse with another two dropped shots on the tenth, before her fortunes changed on the way home, with a second eagle in two days clawing back two shots on the 15th, before back-to-back birdies to end her round keeping her in contention with one round to play.
Sitting one shot back on -5 is Nuria Iturrioz, with the Spaniard rolling in birdies on 12 and 18 while dropping a shot on 15 to register a third round score of 71 (-1).
“I didn’t make a lot of putts but it’s OK, I think I need to improve my irons and that will give me a chance for tomorrow,” she said.
“I’ve been playing well with the driver this week, I’m hitting a lot of fairways which is good. My putting has been good as well it’s just that I need to be hitting my irons closer to the hole.
“I always like to be at the top of the leaderboard, I feel really good and I’ll try my best tomorrow and see what happens.”
Momoka Kobori is among a cluster of five players three shots back heading into the final day in the Netherlands, with the New Zealander catching the eye with a third round score of 69 (-3) on Saturday.
The Kiwi has impressed on the LET Access Series in recent weeks, having emerged victorious at the Montauban Ladies Open and Hauts De France in the past month after arriving from the Southern Hemisphere.
The competition at Rosendaelsche Golf Club is Komori’s first LET event in Europe, having featured at the NSW Open and Australian Ladies Classic earlier in the season, and she has hit the ground running with an impressive showing so far this week in The Netherlands.
A bogey-free round sees her in the mix heading into the final day, with birdies coming on the fourth and eighth holes in the front nine, before picking up another shot on the 18th to put herself into contention with 18 holes left to play.
“It was a really nice day out there, it was a but windier today which made things a bit challenging but luckily for me I was hitting the ball better than the last couple of days so I hit a lot more fairways and greens which made the game a lot easier,” Kobori said.
“I”m quite happy with where my game is going at the moment, it’s been about five or six weeks since I’ve come over and I feel like I’ve adjusted to the travelling and the tournaments so I’m feeling quite good.
“I hope the experience on LETAS helps a lot, I’ve had the chance to play in the final group and I was lucky enough to win a couple on the Access Series, so hopefully I can go off of what I’ve been able to do there, but we’ll see what happens and my aim is to have fun out there.
“I had no idea what to expect at the start of the week, I’ve played a couple of LET events in Australia so I kind of knew what it was going to be like but for me it was a bonus that I managed to get in here so I just wanted to see how things went, and it’s working out for me so far.”
Kobori sits alongside England’s Liz Young (71), German amateur Alexandra Försterling (72), Diksha Dagar (73) and overnight leader Whitney Hillier (78) heading into the final day, with the quintet all sitting on -4 after 54 holes.
Lily May Humphreys of England rounds off the top ten in the Netherlands, with a third round score of 70 (-2) putting her in tenth position on -2 overall.
