GOOD YOUNG CHARLEY! LEADS IN MOROCCO ON PRO L E T DEBUT

               Charley Hull in action in Morocco today

 

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR

Two of the world’s most promising young golfers are set for an exciting final round duel in the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco on Sunday.

England’s Charley Hull, 17, making her debut as a professional on the Ladies European Tour, shot a seven under par 64 at Golf de l’Ocean in Agadir today to lead on 11 under par 201 after three rounds over the par-71 course.

She is one stroke clear of fellow 17-year-old rookie Ariya Jutanugarn from Thailand, both players having graduated from tour school in Morocco in December.

Hull had a solid day on the greens, rolling in eight birdie putts and dropping just one shot at the par-3 ninth after missing the green. 

“I played well but I still feel that I left four putts out there that edged the hole,” Hull said. “The first was four feet, the second about eight feet, the 12^th edged the hole again and then the 16^th. It could have been even lower.

“I just played simple golf: fairways, greens and if I got in trouble I kept my head down and got on with it. I’ll just approach tomorrow like any other round. I’m not thinking about any score; just one shot at a time.”

The powerfully built Jutanugarn, who is long off the tee and deadly accurate with her approach shots, missed two birdie chances from just three feet on holes five and 15.

She said: “Today everything was very good, but I missed a lot of short putts. This tournament, my putting has not been very good so I tried to fix it every day and maybe I have to work harder. Putting is the key for me.”

American duo Beth Allen and Katie Burnett ended the day in a share of third at eight under par with South African Lee-Anne Pace. England’s Laura Davies and Mikaela Parmlid of Sweden are at five under, six strokes from the lead.

Australian Sarah Kemp sits a stroke further back on four under, followed by England’s Melissa Reid and Mallory Fraiche of the United States in a share of ninth place.

While conditions at Agadir on Morocco's western Atlantic coastline were warm and sunny with a gentle breeze, none of the early starters managed better than Florentyna Parker’s five under 66, which took her from 55th into a tie for 11^th with five other players.

However, it is hard to look past the talented teenage duo of Hull and Jutanugarn on Sunday, given their impressive performances over the past three days.

THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 213 (3x71)

202 Charley Hull (ENG)  68 70 64

203 Ariya Jutanugarn (THA)  69 67 67

205 Beth Allen (USA)  70 68 67, Katie Burnett (USA)  70 70 65, Lee-Anne Pace (ZAF)  70 68 67

208 Laura Davies (ENG)  71 68 69, Mikaela Parmlid (SWE)  73 66 69

209 Sarah Kemp (AUS)  72 68 69

210 Melissa Reid (ENG)  69 71 70, Mallory Fraiche (USA)  70 68 72

212 Nikki Campbell (AUS)  71 70 71, Florentyna Parker (ENG)  77 69 66, Marianne Skarpnord (NOR)  66 76 70, Valentine Derrey (FRA)  70 70 72, Margherita Rigon (ITA)  71 70 71, Lydia Hall (WAL)  74 70 68

213 Trish Johnson (ENG)  71 72 70, Tara Davies (WAL)  72 71 70, Sophie Walker (ENG)  69 72 72, Jacqueline Hedwall (SWE)  72 72 69, Caroline Afonso (FRA)  72 72 69, Klara Spilkova (CZE)  72 70 71, Elizabeth Bennett (ENG)  72 69 72, Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA)  72 70 71

214 Cheyenne Woods (USA)  72 73 69, Emma Cabrera-bello (ESP)  70 76 68, Stacy Lee Bregman (ZAF)  74 71 69, Celine Palomar (FRA)  72 68 74, Gwladys Nocera (FRA)  72 71 71, Margarita Ramos (MEX)  73 69 72, Felicity Johnson (ENG)  72 72 70

215 Amelia Lewis (USA)  76 69 70, Marta Silva Zamora (ESP)  75 67 73, Karen Lunn (AUS)  72 73 70, Line Vedel (DNK)  71 71 73, Ursula Wikstrom (FIN)  73 72 70, Linda Wessberg (SWE)  73 70 72

216 Noora Tamminen (FIN)  74 71 71, Xi Yu Lin (CHN)  75 71 70

217 Kelsey Macdonald (SCO) (amateur) 70 73 74, Maha Haddioui (MAR)  73 72 72, Sophie Giquel-bettan (FRA)  75 69 73, Steffi Kirchmayr (GER)  73 73 71, Patricia Sanz (ESP)  73 70 74, Julia Davidsson (SWE)  73 71 73, Becky Brewerton (WAL)  77 69 71

218 Jia Yun Li (CHN)  74 70 74, Connie Chen (ZAF)  73 72 73, Ann-Kathrin Lindner (GER)  74 72 72, Tania Elosegui (ESP)  74 68 76

219 Stefanie Michl (AUT)  72 74 73, Megan Grehan (USA)  72 72 75, Joanna Klatten (FRA)  74 71 74, Smriti Mehra (IND)  72 71 76, Veronica Zorzi (ITA)  72 74 73

220 Stefania Croce (ITA)  74 69 77, Paula Hurtado (COL)  76 67 77, Marjet Van Der Graaff (NLD)  74 71 75, Holly Clyburn (ENG)  69 71 80, Malene Jorgensen (DNK)  74 72 74, Sophie Sandolo (ITA)  74 72 74, Jessica Karlsson (SWE)  74 70 76

223 Zuzana Kamasova (SVK)  71 73 79, Georgina Simpson (ENG)  73 72 78

Bethan Cutler

Media Manager

Ladies European Tour

Mobile: +44 (0)7980056045

E: bcutler@ladieseuropeantour.com

www.ladieseuropeantour.com