Elm Park’s Anna Foster has set herself up for an exciting final round on Saturday after the 24-year-old backed up her first round 67 with a second round 66 on Friday to sit T2 at the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open.
Prime conditions around Migros Golfpark opened the door for some low rounds and Foster blew the hinges off, going bogey-free. Foster’s first red number came at the second hole, making light work of the par-4 even after missing the fairway from the tee. The Dubliner would add another at the par-4 seventh.
Cruising at two-under for the day, Foster would extend her momentum into the back nine, making birdies at the 12th, 16th, and 18th to sit just three back from the leader Kajsa Arwefjall at nine-under, alongside Whitney Hillier who also shares T2. Foster’s Friday form produced her lowest round of the year.
The Elm Park woman is making her debut in this event and will now tee up in the final group on the final day for the first time in her LET career.
“It felt very stress free again today,” Foster said. “I kept the momentum going today and conserved my energy well because it’s so hot out here. I would much rather be in a position of chasing rather that having all these great players chasing me. I’ll just go out there with an attitude that I have nothing to lose. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and take one shot at a time.
“I’ll definitely be nervous, I feel like it would be weird if you weren’t in that situation. But my game has been trending in the right way for a while now so to be in a position to contend in the final group, I’ll try to enjoy it as best I can.”
Foster is the only Irish representative that will tee it up on Saturday as Sara Byrne, Aine Donegan, and Olivia Mehaffey couldn’t get inside the even-par cutline. Both Byrne and Donegan managed the greatly improve on their first round tallies but second round 69s for the pair wasn’t enough as they bowed out at +1 and +3 respectively.
Sweden’s Kajsa Arwefjall matched Foster’s round of 66 with one of her own as she got the majority of her attacking done early with five birdies in the first 10 holes before a run of eight consecutive pars. The 26-year-old’s bogey-free round allowed her to extend her 18-hole one stroke lead to three before the final round.
“It was very fun again today,” the Swede said in scorching hot Switzerland. “I actually played better on the back-nine, my front-nine, even though I scored better on the front. It was nice having a lot of people out watching and going bogey-free is always a bonus.“
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” the Swede said on the task at hand. “It’s going to be a fun day. I’ll just go out there and try to enjoy it. I’ll try to not look at scores and just play my own game.”
Australia’s Whitney Hillier is looking to put her long battle with illness behind her as the 35-year-old LET veteran is hoping to pip both Foster and Arwefjall with a big final round on Saturday. The Aussie hasn’t seen a top-10 finish since 2022.
“Everything’s just feeling really good at the moment, I’m in a good mental space and feeling fit – finally! I’m feeling healthy which is the most important thing. Everything is just kind of happening this week and it’s just feeling good,” said Hillier.
A three-way tie for fourth sees Alexandra Forsterling, Chloe Williams, and Eleanor Givens at eight-under, followed by Hannah Screen in seventh at seven-under.
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