In a season that has been dominated by South African golfers, it took a career-low round from England’s Thalia Martin to break that hold as her seven-under-par 65 earned her the lead going into Saturday’s final around of the Absa Ladies Invitational at Royal Johannesburg.
The 28-year-old golfer produced a bogey-free round of seven birdies for a tournament total of 10 under par.
Her closest challenger, Norway’s Madelene Stavnar, trails by three shots on seven under par after her four-under-par 68.
South Africa’s Casandra Alexander heads into the final round on six under par.
“I just took it shot-by-shot, staying in the moment. I wasn’t thinking of the shot before or the next shot. I just kept it in the moment,” said Martin, adding that she particularly enjoyed the opportunity to be creative with her approach shots on the Royal Johannesburg layout.
“It is definitely a challenging course off the tees, so I feel that if you can get yourself on the fairways, then you can use the slopes around the greens to get yourself closer in different ways.”
Knowing full well the standard of competition on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, Martin said she’ll remain aggressive in the final round.
Four of the five tournaments to date on this year’s Sunshine Ladies Tour have been won by South African professionals.
“I am putting my foot on the gas and not letting go. I have been playing like that for the last two days, trying to keep my foot on the pedal and making as many birdies as possible, so that is my gameplan.
I want to keep myself in my own bubble and push myself to be even better than I was today.
“The players are getting stronger so yes, it is getting a lot tougher to try and climb up the leaderboards here, so that is why I think if you can get yourself to make the cut or even a top 10, that is a really big achievement on any tour. I think the atmosphere of being on the Sunshine Ladies Tour is brilliant. That is why I always come back to play here. Everyone is lovely, the players, the organisers and the country – everything is just always good.”
SCORES
134 - Thalia Martin (ENG) 69 65
137 - Madelene Stavnar (NOR) 69 68
138 - Carolin Kauffmann (GER) 72 66, Casandra Alexander 67 71, Laura Beveridge (SCO) 70 68
139 - Tereza Melecka (CZE) 70 69, Nobuhle Dlamini (SWZ) 68 71, Carmen Alonso (ESP) 67 72
140 - Sofie Kibsgaard (DEN) 69 71, Pia Babnik (SVN) 71 69
141 - Mayka Hoogeboom (NED) 70 71, Vidhatri Urs (IND) 71 70
142 - Hanna Tauber (GER) 73 69, Olivia Mehaffey (NIR) 70 72, Gabrielle Venter 72 70, Romy Meekers (NED) 70 72, Fernanda Lira (MEX) 70 72, Kajal Mistry 72 70, Celina Sattelkau (GER) 71 71
143 - Karoline Lund (NOR) 70 73, Harang Lee (ESP) 72 71, Kaiyuree Moodley 71 72, Kelsey Nicholas 76 67, Esme Hamilton (ENG) 74 69, Symone Henriques 70 73, Marta Sanz Barrio (ESP) 72 71
144 - Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir (ISL) 72 72, Cara Gorlei 72 72, Anne-Charlotte Mora (FRA) 70 74, Kiera Floyd 73 71, Alexandra Swayne (ISV) 68 76, Maha Haddioui (MAR) 71 73, Hannah Karg (GER) 75 69
145 - Verena Gimmy (GER) 71 74, Isabella van Rooyen 73 72, Nina Pegova (WHT) 74 71, Rhea Purvi (IND) 72 73, Jane Turner (SCO) 68 77
146 - Emma Grechi (FRA) 75 71, Emie Peronnin (FRA) 74 72, Hayley Davis (ENG) 72 74, Nadia van der Westhuizen 69 77, Charlotte Millard (a) 72 74, Anais Meyssonnier (FRA) 72 74, Ana Dawson (IMN) 77 69, Tiia Koivisto (FIN) 73 73, Rosie Belsham (ENG) 73 73, Corinne Viden (SWE) 71 75, Sofie Bringner (SWE) 74 72, Nayanika Sanga (IND) 72 74
Missed the cut:
147 - Bonita Bredenhann (NAM) 73 74, Emma Falcher (FRA) 70 77, Demi Flanagan 70 77, Canice Screene (IRL) 71 76, Katherine Hollern (USA) 74 73
148 - Tandi McCallum 73 75, Helen Kreuzer (GER) 74 74, Danielle du Toit 72 76, Pasqualle Coffa (NED) 75 73, Lourenda Steyn (a) 77 71, Bobbi Brown (a) 71 77, Louisa Carlbom (SWE) 74 74, Tvesa Malik (IND) 72 76, Claire Minter (ZIM) 74 74
149 - Hannah Arnold (USA) 73 76, Florentyna Parker (ENG) 75 74, Nikki Hofstede (NED) 74 75, Lora Assad 73 76, Marianne Skarpnord (NOR) 73 76
150 - Gabriella Cowley (ENG) 73 77, Jess Baker (BRI) 75 75
151 - Michelle Forsland (NOR) 74 77, Olivia Wood (a) 71 80, Selena Costabile (CAN) 75 76, Lenanda van der Watt 76 75, Lindi Coetzee 75 76
152 - Stacy Bregman 76 76, Chante van Zyl 79 73, Bronwyn Doeg 75 77
153 - Chantal Dueringer (AUT) 77 76, Lauren Taylor (ENG) 77 76, Shawnelle de Lange 78 75
154 - Linn Wiberg (SWE) 77 77
155 - Teresa Diez Moliner (ESP) 79 76, Jessica Bailey (ENG) 77 78
156 - Clara Pietri (SUI) 75 81, Vanessa Knecht (SUI) 78 78
157 - Ivanna Samu 77 80, Yolanda Duma 76 81
158 - Judith van der Voort (NED) 79 79
160 - Karishma Govind (IND) 82 78, Ananya Garg (IND) 79 81, Cara Ford 78 82
162 - Leontine Petit (FRA) 80 82
163 - Carey Dodds 83 80, Brittney-Fay Berger 78 85, Kim de Klerk 80 83
171 - Julie Bruyns-Leach 87 84
WDN - Maiken Bing Paulsen (NOR) 79 WDN, Michelle Leigh 81 WDN, Paris Hilinski (USA) 79 RTD