World No.8 Charley Hull moved back into contention in the Aramco Saudi Ladies International Presented by PIF with an impressive 68, moving to seven-under-par for the tournament – but it was far from a relaxing evening of sleep for the Solheim Cup stalwart.
Hull revealed that her usual preparations were disrupted when her hotel room required emergency attention in the middle of the night, as heavy rain and thunderstorms swept through the desert of the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh causing havoc.
“I had planned to do some sprints in a circuit this morning, but my room decided to flood – so I had to have plumbers in from 1am until 3:30am in the morning,” said an upbeat Hull following her successful day.
“After that I didn’t really fancy getting up to do too much of a workout, but I’m certainly much more awake now after that round,” continued Hull, who has introduced a new devoted fitness regime in the chase for her first Major.
At the top of the tree Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit remained calm and composed, as a solid round of three-under-par moved her one step closer to her first Aramco Saudi Ladies International Presented by PIF title, sitting four strokes clear at 11-under-par overall.
The gravity of the opportunity for Tavatanakit to claim her first win since her Major victory at the 2021 ANA Championship is not lost on the Thai star – addressing the pressure of the moment head on.
“Honestly, you have to think about [winning], right?”, said Tavatanakit. “You’re thinking about it, so what are you going to do about those thoughts?
“Tomorrow, all I want to do is make the right choices for each and every shot. Whatever it is that I’m going to face, I’m up for it.”
Elsewhere, it was a day to remember for two of the German players, as Alexandra Forsterling’s clinical five-under-par was later bested by her compatriot Esther Henselheit, who fired a blistering seven-under-par, with her score of 65 moving her firmly into contention in second place.
Heinseleit commended her fiancé Reece Phillips for his impactful role, which extends beyond moral support. As her coach and caddie, the Englishman Phillips has played a significant role in the German’s development.
“He’s certainly doing it all in one,” laughed Heinseleit at the unusual blend of roles. “He’s been helping me a lot with my swing over the last three years, and it looks completely different now. We have a good system now out there, and it’s good to have someone like that on the bag.”
“I hit lots of fairways and then hit my irons really close – there were lots of short birdie putts for me, and I pretty much made all of them.”
Former Aramco Saudi Ladies International Presented by PIF champions Georgia Hall and Emily Pedersen also fought bravely to ascend the leaderboard, with Hall’s three-under-par bringing her into seventh place.
2020 champion Pedersen, however, recorded a sizzling six-under-par to join Charley Hull tied for third place, and the Danish No.1 is keen to make the most of the opportunity she’s given herself.
“It was special for me to win [in Saudi Arabia] five years ago, so it would mean a lot to win again and obviously, that’s what I’m here for,” said Pedersen.
“It’s nice to be in contention as much as possible, it’s where you feel you’re alive and it’s what all of the hard works comes down to.”
The race for the largest prize-funded Ladies European Tour (LET) event outside of the Majors is approaching a pulsating climax, with a host of superb performances on day three setting up a grandstand finish.
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