THIRD-ROUND CUT PUTS PRESSURE ON
LYNN, HEATHER AND JENNA
It’s crunch time for the three Scots competing at the Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying School over the North Course at La Cala Resort near Marbella on the Costa del Sol.
Only players in the leading 50 (and ties) at the end of Friday’s third round will go on to play in the fourth round, at the end of which the top 28 will gain full playing rights on next season’s circuit.
Lynn Kenny slipped back from a seven-birdie 70 on the opening day to a birdie-free 78 today. That gives her a 36-hole tally of four-over-par 148 and a share of 33rd place.
Barring a third-round nightmare, the Clydesdale Bank-sponsored former Scottish women’s amateur champion should survive into the crucial last day.
There were no bright spots on Lynn’s second-day card. She bogeyed the third, fourth, sixth, ninth, 10th and 13th in halves of 40 and 38.
Heather MacRae will be walking a tightrope in the third round although a two-shot improvement for a second-round 74 and 150 was a welcome sign that she is going the right way. Heather is sharing 46th place, which does not give her much leeway for slippage in the third round.
Heather deviated from par only four times. She bogeyed the seventh to be out in 37 and then bogeyed the 10th and 11th before birdieing the 12th. She parred her way home from there for an inward 37.
Jenna Wilson, who did so well in the Stage 1 eliminator in Italy, has it all to do in the third round in Spain. She is sharing 65th place on 153 after rounds of 78 and 75.
Jenna had a bad run from the fourth to the 11th in which she had six bogeys, having started with a bogey and then birdied the third. Out in four-over 40, Jenna soon slipped to six over par but then must have given herself heart for what lies ahead on Friday with birdies at the 12th, 14th and 18th for an inward 35.
Irish Curtis Cup player Claire Coughlan added a level par 72 (two birdies-two bogeys) to her first-day 71 and is four shots off the lead at the halfway stage. Finland’s Hanna-Leena Solonen, who turned pro only a month ago, is a shot clear of the field on five-under-par 139 after scores of 70 and 69.
Another Scandinavian who can't play golf back home because of snow, Lill Kristin Saether (Norway) is lying second on 140 after a best of the day second-round 67.
Another Irish player, Martina Gillan in sharing 49th place after a 77 for 151. Martina struggled on the inward journey which cost her 43 shots (seven over par) after being two under par for the front nine. She had triple bogeys at the 12th and 14th.
LEADERBOARD
Par 72
139 Hanna-Leena Salonen (Fin) 70 69.
140 Lill Kristin Saether (Nor) 73 67.
142 Kiran Matharu (Eng) 72 70, (am) Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 72 70, (am) Sophie Walker (Eng) 71 71, Maria Beautell (Spa) 69 73.
143 Jenni Kuosa (Fin) 73 70, Julie Tvede (Den) 71 72, Dana Lacey (Aus) 68 75, (am) Claire Coughlan (Ire) 71 72.
144 Anna Temple (US) 72 72, Rui Yukomine (Jan) 70 74, Felicity Johnson (Eng) 71 73, Stefanie Michl (Aut) 72 72, Sophie Hunter (Eng) 71 73, Heidi McCulkin (Aus) 71 73, (am) Anne Lise Caudal (Fra) 73 71.
145 Samantha Head (Eng) 71 74, (am) Stacy Lee Bregman (SAf) 70 75, Jo Clingan (Eng) 73 72.
Other scores:
148 Lynn Kenny (Sco) 70 78 (jt 33rd).
149 Louise Stahle (Swe) 76 73 (jt 39th).
150 Heather MacRae (Sco) 76 74 (jt 46th).
151 (am) Martina Gillen (Ire) 74 77, Kirsty Fisher (Eng) 79 72 (jt 49th).
152 Hazel Kavanagh (Ire) 77 75 (jt 57th).
153 Jenna Wilson (Sco) 78 75 (jt 65th).
156 (am) Rachel Bell (Eng) 78 78 (jt 75th).
158 (am) Stephanie Evans (Wal) 78 80 (jt 81st)
+Leading 50 and ties at end of third round will qualify for fourth and final round. The leading 28 after 72 holes will earn full playing status on the LET in 2007.