In a season that has been dominated by South African golfers, it took a career-low round from England’s Thalia Martin to break that hold as her seven-under-par 65 earned her the lead going into Saturday’s final around of the Absa Ladies Invitational at Royal Johannesburg.
The 28-year-old golfer produced a bogey-free round of seven birdies for a tournament total of 10 under par.
Her closest challenger, Norway’s Madelene Stavnar, trails by three shots on seven under par after her four-under-par 68.
South Africa’s Casandra Alexander heads into the final round on six under par.
“I just took it shot-by-shot, staying in the moment. I wasn’t thinking of the shot before or the next shot. I just kept it in the moment,” said Martin, adding that she particularly enjoyed the opportunity to be creative with her approach shots on the Royal Johannesburg layout.
“It is definitely a challenging course off the tees, so I feel that if you can get yourself on the fairways, then you can use the slopes around the greens to get yourself closer in different ways.”
Knowing full well the standard of competition on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, Martin said she’ll remain aggressive in the final round. Four of the five tournaments to date on this year’s Sunshine Ladies Tour have been won by South African professionals.
“I am putting my foot on the gas and not letting go. I have been playing like that for the last two days, trying to keep my foot on the pedal and making as many birdies as possible, so that is my game plan.
I want to keep myself in my own bubble and push myself to be even better than I was today.
“The players are getting stronger so yes, it is getting a lot tougher to try and climb up the leaderboards here, so that is why I think if you can get yourself to make the cut or even a top 10, that is a really big achievement on any tour. I think the atmosphere of being on the Sunshine Ladies Tour is brilliant. That is why I always come back to play here. Everyone is lovely, the players, the organisers and the country – everything is just always good.”
