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Taylor moves closer to victory in Tenerife

England 's Kirsty S Taylor seized a three shot lead during the third round of the Tenerife Ladies Open at Abama in the Canary Islands , moving closer towards her maiden tournament victory on the Ladies European Tour.

The 26-year old from Basingstoke posted a one over par 73 to sit at two under par 214 after 54 holes and leads by three shots over Riikka Hakkarainen of Finland , who had a 74 for a one over par total.

Denmark 's Karen Magrethe Juul took third position at two over par after a 72, while England 's Georgina Simpson had a 75 and is tied for fourth position with Tania Elosegui, who had a 76.

Taylor said: “I had a bad start. I three putted twice in the first five holes and I couldn't hole anything today. But after that I told myself to work harder and I worked so hard to get it going.”

Taylor dropped two shots at the second and the fifth holes to move back to one under par after starting the day at three under but picked up a shot at the par-five sixth hole to turn in 37. At the sixth, she was on in two with a driver and a five wood and two putted for birdie.

On the back nine, she birdied the par-three 12 th hole after hitting her seven iron to three feet and moved to three under par; but a mistake at the par-four 18 th gave her a two under par total.

At the 18 th , the 2002 Rookie of the Year hit an enormous drive, but it took an unfortunate bounce right off some volcanic rock, which meant she had to pitch over some palm trees back onto the fairway. She hit a great pitch in but missed the putt.

“If I had holed that putt I would have been much happier, but overall it was a good day at the office,” she said.

It is the first time that Taylor has led a tournament heading into the final round on the Ladies European Tour but she was in a relaxed mood about the task that lay ahead after clinching her first professional victory at the Player's Club in Bristol last week on the newly formed Pro-Source Ladies Tour.

“What will be, will be,” she said. “I think it's all written in the stars. I can only do my best but I'm looking forward to tomorrow.”

Her closest challenger, Hakkarainen, was tied for the lead at three under par after 16 holes until she had a triple bogey at the 13 th hole which brought her back to level par total. She then had another bogey at the 16 th to finish at one over par for the day.

“I lost it all at the 13 th ,” she said, “I hit it over the green and I made a real mess. But I played pretty good especially on the front nine and I was one under after nine holes. I am pretty happy with my putting but I need to be more consistent. I really hope to shoot a low round tomorrow to win the tournament.”

Ireland's Rebecca Coakley and the Thailand Ladies Open champion Shani Waugh of Australia share fourth position at four over par 220, while Welsh player Becky Brewerton took outright eighth place after shooting the best round of the week.

The 23 year old from St Asaph tacked a four under par 68 onto rounds of 75 and 78 for a five over par 221 total and sits just seven shots off the lead.

Starting from the tenth tee she went out in three under par 33 with birdies at the 10 th , 13 th and 16 th holes and came back in 35 with two further birdies at the first and sixth holes and a solitary bogey at the second, which played as her 11 th hole.

Brewerton always plays well in Tenerife . She finished second at Golf Las Americas in 2003 as an amateur and second again at Buenavista Golf in 2004. Last year, at Golf Costa Adeje, she tied for 22 nd position.

“I'm thrilled with a 68,” said Brewerton. “It would feel like a 64 anywhere else because of the greens. I'm thinking about what it must be like to be putting at Augusta because that's what it feels like here. There are some putts here where you have to aim 15 feet right of the pin because of the slopes.

“Its strange because yesterday could have been the same score as today but I ended up with a 78 and I didn't feel as though I'd hit any bad shots. Yesterday's round was probably the strangest round I've played in my entire life because I hit two out of bounds, two double bogeys and apart from that I played quite well.

“Today it was a bit more sensible. I think yesterday I tried to go for too many pins when you can't here. I kept out of trouble and made it quite easy for myself. Once you get out of position here it's impossible to get back and yesterday I put myself in some horrific places but today I just managed to get on the correct side of the pin.”