Abu Dhabi: India’s teen sensation Aditi Ashok took a two-stroke lead at the top of the leaderboard with a round of 68 going into the final round of the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open at the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club.
American Cheyenne Woods has also made her way up to second spot on 13-under as South African Lee-Anne Pace, who led the field for the first two days, slipped to third tied with Eleanor Givens of England at 12-under.
Georgia Hall, runner-up last year, shot 69 and is currently tied with Sweden’s Camilla Lennarth on fifth spot with 11-under.
Aditi, who started last in the company of Pace and Spain’s Luna Sobron, was straightaway up to the task at hand. Resuming on 11-under, she shot six birdies in the front nine — with a bogey on the fifth hole splitting the first four birdies. The remaining two birdies came on the eighth and ninth holes. On the back nine, she managed a birdie on 12 but bogeys on the 13th and the 15th was a bit of a blow.
“It started off really good, five-under in the front nine but a couple of bogeys in the back nine could have been avoided but still good,” said a delighted Aditi, adding that she started to get the good vibes from the time she started her warm-up before the round.
“I was hitting really well in the range in the morning and I knew I will be giving myself a lot of birdie chances. That I did and made a couple of birdies but back nine couple of bad tee shots and one three putt on the 15th was bad,” said Aditi but modestly observed that she would have to play really well in the final round to clinch the title.
Woods, who had three birdies and a bogey on the front nine, finished on a high with birdies on the 11th and on the 18th.
“I had a pretty solid round alltogether. I played well all through and gave myself a lot of chances for birdies. Was getting frustrated on the back nine as I was not making enough but birdie on the 18th always helps going into Saturday,” said Woods adding that her aim was to get into the final group.
Pace was left “frustrated” with her showing and felt that her decision making wasn’t that great on the day. “I didn’t play that badly,” she said.
“I had a lot of downhill putts. Not easy putts to make unlike yesterday. I would say I was not in the right positions. However, a quick start tomorrow and I could get there.”
England’s Hall also remained upbeat. “I was all right today, I didn’t putt that great. I have been hitting the ball quite well off the tee. It is a shame that I couldn’t get one more putt in the last hole. That would have made it a little bit easier for tomorrow.”
Givens also stormed into contention going into the final day with a score of 64. She shot a brilliant bogey-free round, with five birdies on the front nine and an eagle on the 11th and birdie on the last.
“I really enjoyed today,” she said. “I kept hitting the ball well and hit it very close and made the putts. I actually missed a couple of chances believe it or not especially at the par fives. Especially the front nine I played great.
“My family were here today so it’s great they got to see my lowest ever round and now really looking forward to tomorrow, I am going to go out and be aggressive.”
Sobron, who was third after round two with a course record of 62, is tied on seventh spot at 10-under with Thailand’s Thidapa Suwannapura, Finland’s Minea Blomqvist, England’s Felicity Johnson and Sweden’s Camilla Lennarth.
Scores
ADITI ASHOK (IND) -15
CHEYENNE WOODS (USA) -13
ELEANOR GIVENS (ENG) -12
LEE-ANNE PACE (RSA) -12
GEORGIA HALL (ENG)
CAMILLA LENNARTH (SWE) -11
THIDAPA SUWANNAPURA (THA) -10
MINEA BLOMQVIST (FIN) -10
FELICITY JOHNSON (ENG) -10
FLORENTYNA PARKER (ESP) -10
LUNA SOBRON (ESP) -10
