Italy 's Veronica Zorzi increased her bid for a successful defence of the Vediorbis Open de France Dames title today with a second consecutive 69 at Le Golf d'Arras.
In calmer conditions than the previous two days, but with strong, swirling winds and rough made additionally punishing by the previous day's constant rain, the 25-year old Zorzi, from Verona, finished on seven-under-par 209 after 54 holes, four shots ahead of Laura Davies, from England and Stephanie Arricau, from France.
“It was a great front nine today and I was two-under by the turn,” said Zorzi. “The weather was much better than yesterday, which of course made it easier. I birdied holes four and five and I was having a lot of fun. Then I birdied ten and 11 with two very short putts. I missed the green on the really long par-four 12 th and then I was short at the 14 th so I made two bogeys. But I recovered with a good birdie on 15, where I hit my 51 degree wedge in close.”
Zorzi, a supporter of Inter Milan football club, joked that she was aiming for a new course record of 59 in the final round tomorrow. But Davies, who had a joint best-of-round 68 today and is tied for second position with Arricau at three under par 213, declared that she would be doing her best to give the young Italian a run for her money.
“I'm only four behind so I'll have a chance,” said Davies, who has attracted the largest galleries all week and will play with Zorzi and Arricau in the final match tomorrow. “I played really well today and in that wind it was difficult. It was not a bad effort and I'm quite pleased.
“The spectators here have come to see low scores and unfortunately we haven't been able to give that to them for the last few days because of the wet conditions but hopefully we can give them something to get excited about tomorrow.”
Arricau, from Pau , which is 100km east of Biarritz , gave the home supporters something to cheer about after she carded a 70 today.
“It was a satisfying day today. It was fun and nice to have lots of spectators on home soil. I hope the sun comes out tomorrow and lots of birdies would be nice. If I focus on my rhythm, then the great birdies will come,” said Arricau, who won the French and Spanish Opens in 2004.
England 's Kirsty S Taylor, seeking her first tour win, dropped back to two-under-par 214 after a 71 today but is still well in the running in a tie for fourth position. She sits alongside last week's Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open Champion Gwladys Nocera, from France, who had a third round of 69 and the two-time Portuguese Open Champion, Cecilia Ekelundh, from Sweden , who had a 69 and said it was her best round of the year.
“I played wonderfully today and I just missed a lot of putts for birdie. If I can keep that going I'm not going to be far behind tomorrow,” said Ekelundh.
Anna Knutsson from Sweden had a 68 to tie with Davies for the joint best score of the day and she finished on level par 216 alongside Nathalie David-Mila from France, who had a 69 and England 's Trish Johnson, who had a 71.
Johnson had a lucky break at the par-four 15 th , where she holed a miss-hit nine-iron shot from 124 yards for eagle. She started the day well and was three under after four holes but admitted that she failed to capitalise on numerous birdie chances.
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