England's Laura Davies fired a course-record seven-under-par 65 in sunny conditions to take a one stroke lead heading into the final round of the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open presented by Raiffeisen in Austria.
Davies, who carded a 69 in her first round at Golfclub Forenwald in Wiener Neustadt on Friday, finished on ten-under-par 134 after 36 holes and led by one over the defending champion, Sophie Gustafson of Sweden.
Gustafson, who won last week's De Vere Ladies Scottish Open, carded a six-under 66, equalling the men's course record recently set by Austrian Markus Brier.
Italian Diana Luna is two strokes further back on seven-under-par after a 69, with five players on four-under par: England's Kirsty A Taylor (68), Danielle Masters also from England (68), France's Virginie Lagoutte (69); New Zealand's Elizabeth McKinnon (70) and Denmark's Karen-Margrethe Juul (70).
Davies began the day two strokes behind the overnight leader, Sarah Nicholson from New Zealand, but, after eight consecutive pars, she picked up the pace with six birdies, an eagle and a bogey over her closing 11 holes.
“ I am very pleased. KM (Juul) played well today too. We sort of egged each other along so it was good,” said Davies, who has won 67 titles in a 22-year career, including four major championships.
“ I'm playing well. Sophie's playing well too and some of the other players are up there so it won't be easy. I'll have to see how I go tomorrow. If I play like I did the last two days I'll have a very good chance.
“She (Gustafson) won last week in horrible conditions and here she is again this week. At the beginning of the week in my mind I felt like if I could finish ahead of Sophie I would probably win.”
Davies began to make her charge with a birdie at the eighth hole and then hit her six-iron to six feet at the ninth, enabling her to sink an eagle putt and reach the turn in three-under.
She was four-under on the back nine, with birdies at the 10 th , 13 th , 15 th , 17 th and 18 th – and a bogey at the short 16 th where she three-putted. She sank a 40 foot putt at the par-three 13 th , where she had a triple bogey the previous day and was visibly pleased.
Afterwards, she revealed the key to her success.
“I'm just enjoying it really. Not practising too much, just playing lots of tournaments and keeping everything fresh by not standing on the range for hours and hours a day,” she said.
Davies last won over 12 months ago at the SAS Masters in Norway, the year she also won the Ladies European Tour's New Star Money List for the seventh time, but she was keen not to get ahead of herself.
Gustafson, who has not dropped a shot in 36 holes, was keen to let her presence on the leader board be felt. When a journalist suggested to her that Davies was running away with the title, she replied with a resolute: “She isn't running anywhere yet!”
Gustafson carded four birdies and an eagle at the par-five ninth hole for her 66 and is aiming for her 23 rd career title in a 13-year career.
Elsewhere, Spain's Ana Belen Sanchez ended a five-year wait for her sixth career hole-in-one after acing the 192-yard sixth hole.
The 31-year-old didn't realise she had made the ace until a greenside marshal began celebrating.
“I had a good shot a little bit to the left of the pin,” said Sanchez, who used a four iron to record the 11 th Tour hole-in-one of the season.
“It bounced pretty straight towards the flag. I didn't see it but I knew it was pretty close. Suddenly a guy started shouting so I thought: ‘Okay, it may be in'.
Sanchez's ace earned her a €200 bonus prize, as interested players and caddies contribute a €5 stake before each tournament. Previous winners have, however, walked away with almost ten times Sanchez' prize, if the kitty rolls over from week to week.
“A few weeks ago it was €1,800,” said the winner of the 2004 BMW Ladies Italian Open. “That's the problem, not everyone wants to put money in it because there isn't a big pot.”
Sanchez, who won The 18 Finest in 2006, eventually carded a one-under-par 71 and finished on two-over-par in a share of 44 th position; two strokes clear of the cut.
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