Olivia Mehaffey’s career-best result on the LET was a T3 finish at the 2023 Ladies Open by Pikala in Finland, and a strong final round at the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open could see her eclipse that.
Rounds of 67 and 68 on days one and two respectively see the Tandragee woman enter the final round in a tie for 11th, four shots behind leading duo of Lisa Petterssen of Sweden and England’s Charlotte Heath.
Despite two birdies on the back nine – her first nine – a bogey on the first left her at just one-under going into the final three holes, but a grandstand finish awaited as she eagled the par-5 seventh and closed out with a birdie on nine to storm back up the leaderboard and end the day at -9.
She’s joined in the final round by Sara Byrne (-7) and Aine Donegan (-6), meaning all three Irish women in the field made the cut.
Pettersson followed up yesterday’s 66 (-6) with a 65 (-7) to leapfrog Lydia Hall and Vanessa Knecht in the morning wave and take the solo lead. This came as Finland’s Noora Komulainen made a charge of her own moving to 12-under par thanks to a second round 67 (-5).
Pettersson, a one-time winner on the Ladies European Tour (LET), carded six birdies and one eagle which came at the short par-5 7th – her third last hole. She signed her scorecard as temperatures reached a blistering 36 degrees celsius at Royal Beroun Golf Club.
“It was very solid today,” Pettersson said, whose sole victory on the circuit came at the 2023 Helsingborg Open in her native Sweden. “I managed to miss in the right positions – same as yesterday. I hit it pretty close a few times and obviously had a good finish with an eagle and a birdie in the last three holes. A good day and a hot one. The greens are quite receptive so you can go at a lot of pins.
“I actually haven’t been here in three years. I skipped this event the past two years. Before that I never made the cut here! So I feel like it’s been a rematch this week to previous years! I don’t follow the leaderboards. Before you told me my position I had no clue. I try to stay in the moment. There’s a lot of birdies out there so I feel anyone can come up from below and grab it. I’ll have to play as good as I possibly can to win.”
Heath meanwhile, playing in the even hotter afternoon wave, followed up Friday’s 65 (-7) with a 66 (-6) to match Pettersson’s morning target. The English rookie carded seven birdies dropping just one shot which came at the par-3 4th.
“Today was a lot more boring, but in a good way,” Heath said. “Fairways. Greens. Good putts. Sometimes the best rounds are the most boring ones.”
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