CHEN AND BOULDEN SHARE LEAD AFTER TENERIFE OPEN ROUOND 3

Amy Boulden in action today. Picture by Tristan Jones (LET).

KYLIE HANGING ON IN THERE WITH 

CHANCE OF THIRD WIN

LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR RELEASE

By BETHAN CULTER, LET Media Manager

South Africa Connie Chen and Amy Boulden from Wales emerged from a crowded leaderboard to share the lead on nine under par after the third round of the Tenerife Open de España Femenino.

The pair fired matching rounds of three under par 69 in hot conditions at Golf Costa Adeje to end the day a stroke ahead of Celine Herbin from France, who fired a sizzling seven under par 65.

There were eight players who either led outright or held a share of the lead over the course of moving day and they included Solheim Cup player Carlota Ciganda, rookie Nicole Broch Larsen and two-time champion Kylie Walker, who ended the day on seven under par in a share of fourth place.

Charley Hull tied for the lead after three birdies in her first seven holes but dropped back to six under with a 71. Midway leader Maria Balikoeva had a 77 and moved back into a tie for 14^th.

Chen set the clubhouse target when she chipped in from just behind the 18^th green for eagle, before Boulden chipped and putted for birdie on the same hole. Both players are looking for their first wins on the Ladies European Tour and Boulden is also targeting the rookie of the year trophy.

After a third straight round of 69, Boulden, 21, a club pro's daughter from Llandudno, North Wales, with two top five places on the LET this summer, commented:

 “I played solid again. I got off to a rocky start but managed to hole a few testers on the first few holes to keep me in there. I’m hoping for the same tomorrow or a bit lower. 

"On the back nine I made three birdies in a row which gave a lot of momentum. There was a little bit of wind out there but the heat was making it very warm and sweaty. 

"I’ve been putting myself into contention in most of the tournaments, or the last few, so just hoping the win is around the corner.”

Chen, whose best finish in four years on tour was a tie for seventh in this year’s Sberbank Golf Masters in the Czech Republic, arrived in Tenerife a week early to practice on the greens and the 21-year-old from Pretoria was particularly pleased with her putting.

The Guangzhou, China, based player said: “I’ve been working really hard. I got here a week earlier and did a lot of putting on the greens here so I had a week of practice. Hopefully my swing will be better tomorrow and a few more putts will drop.”

The round of the day by Celine Herbin – including a bogey on the first hole and eight birdies – matched first round leader Trish Johnson’s day one score.

“It was a nice day for me. For the first two rounds I had a bad flight and a lot of wind on both days. It was nice to finally play this course with no wind. I was feeling confident because I worked well on my swing yesterday afternoon. I fixed some little problems and I arrived with a lot of confidence,” said Herbin, who recorded her career best finish of fourth in last year’s Open de España Femenino at Club de Campo in Madrid.

 “The start of each of my rounds is a bit slow… I am like a diesel. I need to get my rhythm.”

With a 66, Denmark’s Broch Larsen also came flying through the field. She said: “I’m really happy about my round today. I played really solid. I had a good start, even though I had a bogey on the fourth, because my iron kicked on the grass and touched the ball, so I had four shots but one penalty stroke. 

"I just kept going today and it was fine. I was trying to look away from the scoreboards but I did see my name on there at the end.”

Walker had another steady round and is in contention for her third title this season after play-off wins in Holland and Germany. The Scot said: “I played pretty well for the most part and dropped a few silly shots but all in all one under, it’s alright.  

" I hit it pretty close on eight and was trying to make eagle but ended up with a tap-in birdie. It was good though. The course is playing really well and I’m enjoying it. I know my game is good enough to shoot a low round so I’m hoping for a good score. It is nice being in contention so I’ll enjoy it.”

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Collated scores after round 3:

207 - Amy Boulden (WAL)  69 69 69, Connie Chen (RSA)  68 70 69

208 - Celine Herbin (FRA)  73 70 65

209 - Carlota Ciganda (ESP)  68 71 70, Nicole Broch Larsen (DEN)  72 71 66, Kylie Walker (SCO)  67 71 71

210 - Charley Hull (ENG)  68 71 71

211 - Christine Wolf (AUT)  68 74 69

212 - Beth Allen (USA)  71 73 68, Trish Johnson (ENG)  65 76 71

213 - Hannah Burke (ENG)  71 74 68, Pamela Pretswell (SCO)  72 73 68, Nikki Campbell (AUS)  70 73 70

214 - Maria Balikoeva (RUS)  68 69 77, Lydia Hall (WAL)  71 72 71

215 - Titiya Plucksataporn (THA)  70 72 73, Michele Thomson (SCO)  69 76 70, Nontaya Srisawang (THA)  72 74 69, Stacy Lee Bregman (RSA)  67 75 73, Azahara Munoz (ESP)  70 75 70, Anais Maggetti (SUI)  70 77 68, Lee-Anne Pace (RSA)  75 71 69, Florentyna Parker (ENG)  72 72 71

216 - Kelsey Macdonald (SCO)  68 74 74, Whitney Hillier (AUS)  66 77 73, Melissa Reid (ENG)  71 73 72, Marion Ricordeau (FRA)  71 69 76

217 - Cassandra Kirkland (FRA)  70 71 76, Holly Clyburn (ENG)  75 72 70, Patricia Sanz Barrio (ESP)  74 71 72, Emma Cabrera-Bello (ESP)  75 73 69, Nina Holleder (GER)  79 67 71

218 - Hannah Ralph (ENG)  76 72 70, Ann-Kathrin Lindner (GER)  73 73 72, Laura Jansone (LVA)  71 76 71, Maria Beautell (ESP)  74 70 74

219 - Karolin Lampert (GER)  70 78 71, Sara Beautell Largo (ESP)  75 73 71, Anjelika Hammar (SWE)  68 79 72

220 - Diana Luna (ITA)  71 77 72, Becky Brewerton (WAL)  77 71 72, Bree Arthur (AUS)  73 75 72, Carmen Alonso (ESP)  73 75 72, Leigh Whittaker (GER)  70 74 76, Sophie Giquel-bettan (FRA)  75 72 73

221 - Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA)  75 73 73, Sally Watson (SCO)  76 72 73, Adriana Brent (AUS)  70 77 74, Nuria Iturrios (ESP)  73 75 73

222 - Julie Greciet (FRA)  73 75 74, Klara Spilkova (CZE)  69 76 77, Jade Schaeffer (FRA)  72 73 77

223 - Noora Tamminen (FIN)  71 77 75, Maha Haddioui (MAR)  69 79 75, Luna Sobron (ESP)  73 73 77

224 - Vikki Laing (SCO)  71 75 78, Heather MacRae (SCO)  73 72 79, Mireia Prat (ESP)  73 74 77, Ainil Bakar (MYS)  74 72 78

225 - Georgia Hall (ENG)  76 71 78, Caroline Afonso (FRA)  71 77 77, Charlotte Ellis (ENG)  74 73 78

226 - Georgina Simpson (ENG)  76 72 78

227 - Isabell Gabsa (GER)  73 75 79

228 - Araceli Felgueroso (ESP)  76 72 80