It wasn’t so much a round of two halves as a round of three thirds for Sara Byrne at the LET Access Series’ Iberdola Calatayud Ladies Open in Spain, but the Dromoland Castle pro is still on course for a wire-to-wire victory.
Starting the day tied for the lead at -5 along with fellow Irish woman Annabel Wilson, Byrne came out hot and made birdies on three of her opening five holes with a bogey at two the lone dropped shot in the opening third. It was in the middle third where she pressed her foot firmly to the floor, however, making birdies at seven, eight, 10, 11 and 12 to reach -7 on the day and -12 overall.
By this point, she’d birdied eight of the 12 holes she’d faced and carded just three pars and lead by six shots courtesy of her early tee time.
The final third of her round, however, was a stark contrast as the birdies dried up and dropped shots at 13, 17 and 18 dropped her back to -9 and she signed for a four-under 68 that would eventually see her take a one-shot lead into the third and final round.
“I played solid again,” she said afterwards. “The putts were dropping on the front nine. The back nine I struggled but that’s golf.
“Now I’ve just had a big lunch, I will take a nap, watch some Netflix and maybe have a wander in the city.
“I’m in energy preservation mode as I’m tired after a long couple of weeks.”
Those couple of weeks have seen her make a stellar contribution to Great Britain and Ireland’s Curtis Cup winning efforts, play in the Rose Ladies Open on the LET Access, then play back-to-back events on the main LET circuit.
A lot of golf, but it means she’s battle hardened and confident heading into the final round with a first professional victory in sight.
“I don’t mind being in the front,” she explained. “I just want to keep that mentality and go as low as possible.
“I’ve won from the front before, and I’ve won from behind, so it is what it is, and I want to just keep the same mentality I had from today.
“I came here with the intention to win. It would be a great start to my professional career.”
Byrne comes into this event having made two consecutive cuts on the LET at the La Sella Golf Open and the Lacoste Ladies Open de France where she placed 41stand 28th respectively.
“I’m taking it all in my stride and I just want to lean into it as much as possible. I came here to win and if I can do that, it would be amazing.
“We’ve come off such a good couple of weeks together with the Curtis Cup and LPGA Q school so it would be nice if we could make it two out of two.”
Tina Mazarino or Norway and France’s Marine Griffaut are in hot pursuit after rounds of 67 and 68 respectively, with England’s Billie-Jo Smith one further back in solo fourth.
Unfortunately, Wilson’s chances of victory have come to an end as she struggled to a five-over 77 – 10 strokes higher than her opening round – and slips back to level-par. She’ll naturally be disappointed, but still makes the cut and heads into the final round in a tie for 29th.
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