Chiara Tamburlini is the player to catch at the Joburg Ladies Open after a flawless 67 (-6) on Saturday moved the Swiss rookie six shots clear on 14-under par.
Chasing a maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) win, and trailing South Africa’s Nadia van der Westhuizen by one shot prior to play, Tamburlini got off to a hot start birdying the picturesque par-5 at Modderfontein Golf Club to move into a share of the lead.
She would follow this up with back-to-back birdies on the 5th and 6th to edge ahead of her Sunshine Ladies Tour playing partner before extending her lead further with a birdie on the par-5 8th.
A monster putt birdie on the par-3 11th soon put Tamburlini in cruise control on 13-under par. After five straight pars, and with van der Westhuizen dropping fours shots, the Swiss star would hit one of the shots of the day on the par-4 17th for a kick-in birdie.
A par on the final hole would then secure the 67 (-6).
“It just feels amazing to be honest!” the 24-year-old said. “I played really solid again today from start to end basically. I’m just really excited to go into tomorrow with a six shot lead.
“Some really good putting today. Some really good recovery shots. Just honestly through the board pretty good from tee to green. I had a couple missed tee shots on the back nine but with my short game I was able to keep going and keep the score card clean. Overall a really good performance.
“I was very aware [of my position]. I was aware the whole day. I was really nervous before the round. I was chatting to my sister on the driving range telling her, ‘I’m so nervous’. Honestly once I got through the first hole, I was really calm. Not crazy nervous the entire time apart from the three-footer on the last.”
Six shots adrift sits her other playing partner from Saturday, Thailand’s Aunchisa Utama. The rookie had a steady day after dropping a shot on the 1st carding three birdies for a round of 71 (-2).
Spain’s Luna Sobron Galmes led the biggest charge on moving day as she made seven birdies in her first 13 holes before a double-bogey halted her momentum when she found water on the 17th.
She said: “I hit one bad shot but today was really good. Until the 17th I hit every green. I made a lot if long putts and felt really good out there.”
The Mallorcan shares third place with Czech’s Tereza Melecká on seven-under par thanks to the 68 (-5). Panama’s Laura Sluman and India’s Diksha Dagar share fifth on six-under par.
Four players sit in a tie for seventh, a quartet which includes van der Westhuizen, Singapore’s Shannon Tan, South Africa’s Nicole Garcia, and Thailand’s April Angurasaranee.
Should Tamburlini see out the victory, the rookie would become the second first year winner in 2024 after Tan’s heroics at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open.
The LET Access Series (LETAS) graduate would also move to second in the Order of Merit.
She continued: “The main thing for me is to just keep pushing. A six shot lead is quite the buffer but you can never get comfortable. You never know, someone could go eight, nine, deep. So the goal for me is just to set individual goals and just make sure that I keep pushing to go low tomorrow.”
After an exciting moving day, the fourth and final round of the Joburg Ladies Open concludes tomorrow starting at at 8:58am local time. The leaders will go out at 11:10am.
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