South Africa’s Kiera Floyd heads into Sunday’s final round of the Investec South African Women’s Open just two shots off the lead of France’s Perrine Delacour. MICHAEL VLISMAS reports.
On a challenging day at the Erinvale Country & Golf Estate when the weather threw wind, rain and even a brief burst of sunlight at this Sunshine Ladies Tour and Ladies European Tour field, Floyd birdied the last for a 69 and a total of 10 under par.
She’ll be chasing Delacour, who maintained her position at the top of the leaderboard on 12 under par with a third round of 70.
A final round of incredible opportunity awaits for the 20-year-old Floyd at the end of a Sunshine Ladies Tour season where she claimed her breakthrough victory as a professional.
“It was tough out there,” she said. “I took advantage on the front nine, and then on the back nine I just kept it in play as the back nine was playing the toughest.”
A magnificent birdie putt of about 20 feet at the last was exactly the way she wanted to finish off her round.
“I knew I needed to make that final birdie putt to sit comfortably in second. It was a bit of an up-and-down round, but that birdie putt on 18 just gave me a good bit of confidence for the final day.”
Floyd broke through with a maiden win in the Platinum Ladies Open in March, and she did so with a superb final round of 60 which she said has given her a new level of confidence.
“That 60 gave me a lot of confidence. To be able to shoot 60 to win my first professional title just showed me that I can do it out here. It has built my confidence way more on the course and has made me feel so free on the course. So it will be a bit of a battle in this final round, and Perrine is a good player. But I’m feeling confident.”
Delacour is equally focused after retaining her lead at the end of a difficult day.
“It was definitely hard. It was windy and we had some rain as well. But it turned out well. Towards the end I was struggling to make birdies, but I just stayed patient and kept doing my thing. If the birdies come then great, but if not then par is good.
“The first big tournament I won as an amateur was the Girls Amateur Championship in Britain, and it was raining and cold. So I’m just going to do my things and keep patient. There is a lot of golf left and we’ll just see where it goes.”
Photo: Sunshine Ladies Tour
