North Berwick local Catriona Matthew leads by three strokes heading into the final round of the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open.<\/p>\n
The 44-year-old world number 10 fired rounds of 71 and 67 on the pine tree-lined Fidra Course at Archerfield Links in East Lothian to move to six-under-par ahead of Frenchwoman Anne-Lise Caudal and England\u2019s Liz Young.<\/p>\n
After going out first on a crisp and windy morning, Matthew started with a bogey on 10 but picked up shots on 11, 16 and 18 for a back nine total of 34.<\/p>\n
She then birdied the second, third, fifth and seventh before a \u2018silly bogey\u2019 on eight and made a solid up and down on the ninth green to return in 33 just after midday. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m delighted!\u201d said the Solheim Cup heroine. \u201cI played well and made a few putts today so very pleased. It\u2019s still pretty windy, about the same as yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two years ago, in 2011, Matthew led by four strokes at nine-under-par after the second round before proceeding to an imperious 10 stroke margin of victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cI played really well that week. I obviously had a bit of luck to win by that much. There are a lot of good players out there. I\u2019ll try to have another good round tomorrow,\u201d said Matthew, looking for an 11th career victory.<\/p>\n
Young moved into joint second with a four-under 68 and will be targeting her first podium finish in five years as a professional.<\/p>\n
Three-under-par after 14 holes in Friday\u2019s first round, she bogeyed the last four holes for a 73 but had turned her ankle after searching for a ball in the rough on 15. Playing with a heavily strapped ankle on Saturday, she began with a bogey on 11, but immediately picked up a pair of birdies and then came in with three further birdies on holes two, five and six.<\/p>\n
\u201cI played the same as yesterday but holed some crucial putts for par and when I did miss the greens, got up and down and just one bogey on the card,\u201d said Young, who had a career best finish of 4th in the event two years ago. \u201cIt was fairly solid all the way round and I was making the most of my chances.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caudal, who won the 2008 Portugal Open and the 2012 German Open, maintained her form of the first day with a level par 72 to remain in the hunt.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI\u2019m very happy. It was tough again today with the wind. I dropped a shot on my 17th: hole number eight, missed a short putt, but I\u2019m quite happy. Level par is good for this competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Matthew three shots ahead, Caudal is still optimistic about her chances. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a good challenge tomorrow and I\u2019m going to try to catch her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recent Pilsen Golf Masters champion Ann-Kathrin Lindner from Germany and England\u2019s Hannah Burke share fourth place on two-under-par. Spain\u2019s Maria Hernandez and Australian Stephanie Na are the only two other players under par, a stroke further behind in a tie for sixth place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
North Berwick local Catriona Matthew leads by three strokes heading into the final round of the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open. The 44-year-old world number 10 fired rounds of 71 and 67 on the pine tree-lined Fidra Course at Archerfield Links in East Lothian to move to six-under-par ahead of Frenchwoman Anne-Lise Caudal and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t