Hannah Green will take a two shot lead into the final round of the Australian WPGA Championship after firing a 67 (-4) on Saturday to maintain her cushion in Queensland.
The Australian is chasing three consecutive wins this week having claimed her home open last Sunday plus the HSBC Women’s World Championship on the LPGA three weeks ago.
She sits on 14-under par heading into the final round where she will tee up alongside Casandra Alexander for the second Sunday in a row, as well as Switzerland’s Vanessa Knecht – both of which sit on 12-under par after firing rounds of 65 (-6) on moving day.
“I am obviously one of the poster girls [this week],” Green said. “So I feel like there are some more pressures on myself. But I think I’ll use that to my advantage. Perhaps the other girls will also feel nervous. Everyone’s trying to win a trophy. Everyone wants it. So it’s going to be hopefully not too much of a grind tomorrow.
“[Alexander] has been playing really solid. She obviously had a really great year last year. Probably less pressure for her just because she’s not an Australian at home trying to win. So I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a course record out there tomorrow, whether it comes from Casandra or anyone else behind us.”
Two clear before the start of play at Sanctuary Cove Golf & Country Club, Green got off to the perfect start on Saturday when she birdied her opening hole thanks to a dialled approach.
This was followed by a rare bogey at the 2nd after finding the the bunker before Green – a seven-time LPGA winner – made birdies at the 4th, 5th and 8th to storm into a four-shot lead. Two more birdies followed at the 10th and 11th as Green began to put on a show for her home fans. But coming in Green dropped shots at the 13th and 17th either side of a birdie at the 16th for a round of 67 (-5).
“I feel like I’ve hit some poor shots, but I’ve also played very well,” the one-time Major winner said. “So I’m hoping that I can still continue that tomorrow. Hopefully the crowds are good, cheering us on. I think that will really help distract myself from what is going on.”
Knecht had an excellent day in the Queensland sun kickstarted by an eagle at the par-5 4th. This was followed five birdies and one dropped shot at the 10th.
The 28-year-old said. “I just stayed in my process and made good decisions with my second shots. It was a really good day I’m really happy but the job is not quite done yet.”
“I felt confident out there and there were certain pins that I could attack more than others and it worked out. [Ahead of tomorrow], I’m going to have a few phone calls and then I’m going to do my stats and go over them, see what I can adjust and then prep for tomorrow and go to bed early.
“I’ve put in a lot of work. I was off for a long time due to a wrist injury. I’m super happy to be back and letting my golf speak for itself.”
Alexander meanwhile, the second highest ranked player in the field at World No 43, matched Knecht’s score thanks to two chip-ins and a clutch birdie at the last.
On the Ladies European Tour (LET) this season the South African has finished T2, T6 and T4. She will tee up alongside Major winner Green for the second Sunday in a row where she will look to end her Aussie swing on a high and claim a second LET victory.
“Hopefully the Aussie fans will come out this weekend and show their support for Hannah [Green] and all of us,” Alexander said. “I like the final group, that gets me going and yeah, Hannah’s not as far ahead as last week, so at least we stand half a chance. We’ll try to give her a run for money, but she’s top-10 in the world so it’s going to be a big feat.”
Elsewhere on day three, it was a birdie bonanza as England’s Annabell Fuller matched the course record 64 (-7) on the Palms as Sanctuary Cove, only for Finland’s Noora Komulainen to better it two groups later with a sensational 63 (-8).
Both stars fired their best LET rounds in the process and now sit T4 and T9 respectively heading into Sunday – Fuller on eight-under par and Komulainen on 10-under par.
Komulainen, a two-time Olympian, shares fourth spot with England’s Meghan MacLaren who carded a 69 (-2) on Saturday, a card which included a fine chip-in birdie at the 17th.
Indian duo Diksha Dagar and Hitaashee Bakshi both two advantage of moving day carding rounds of 65 (-6) and 67 (-4) respectively. They share sixth with Germany’s Alexandra Forsterling on nine-under par.
Italian Anna Zanusso also soared up the leaderboard on Sunday with a round of 66 (-5) and sits ninth alongside Fuller.
Áine Donegan slipped back to T34 on one-under after a round of 72 while Annabel Wilson is back on three-over after a 72 of her own.
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