WELSH PLAYER WELL AHEAD IN SPANISH WOMEN'S OPEN

Becky Brewerton leads by five but

she's not counting her Solheim Cup

selection chickens just yet

FROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Becky Brewerton kept her grip on the Spanish Women's Open for a third day with a round of 66 at Panorámica Golf Club, Castellon today.
The Welshwoman carded six birdies and moved to 16-under par after opening rounds of 65 and 69. She leads by five shots over Spaniards Tania Elosegui and teenager amateur Ana Fernandez de Mesa.
“I’m absolutely delighted,” Brewerton said. “I putted excellently. That really saved me on a couple of holes. I holed a huge putt on the third from about 60 foot and one from just a bit longer than that on 17.”
Brewerton hopes that a strong performance will mean a chance to play on Europe's Solheim Cup team, due to face the United States at Rich Harvest Farms in Illinois from August 21-23, but she is not taking anything for granted.
“This is the sort of course where you could shoot 62 so you just don’t know,” she added. “If the course stays like it normally is with a bit less wind, someone could come up from way behind. They could come creeping up and post a score early on so I’ve just got to be aggressive tomorrow and shoot something in the 60s.”
Elosegui is already likely to make the European Solheim Cup team, following her maiden win at the ABN AMRO Ladies Open in the Netherlands in June. She moved into contention for a second title with a seven-under 65 and shared second with Fernandez de Mesa, an 18-year-old amateur, who shot 68.
She added that the wind was strong and gusty at the start of the day but calmed down later. Germany’s Denise-Charlotte Becker moved into fourth on 10-under after a 67 which contained four birdies, three bogeys and two eagles.
England’s Sarah Heath slipped back to equal fifth at nine-under alongside Frenchwoman Anne-Lise Caudal, the 2008 Portugal Open champion.
The five players sharing seventh place on eight-under were South African Stacy Lee Bregman, Norwegian Marianne Skarpnord, English rookie Elizabeth Bennett along with Spaniards Paula Marti and leading amateur Carlota Ciganda, a student at Arizona State University
Former Curtis Cup player Bennett hopes to add to the run of strong performances by rookies on the tour this year. So far, six first year players have finished inside the top five places, with it proving to be a vintage year.
THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)
200 B Brewerton (Wales) 65 69 66.
205 T Elosegui (Spain) 71 69 65, A Fernandez de Mesa (Spain) (amateur) 70 67 68.
206 D-C Becker (Germany) 67 72 67.
207 A-L Caudal (France) 68 73 66, S Heath (England) 70 67 70.
208 E Bennett (England) 69 72 67, S L Bregman (South Africa) 69 72 67, M Skarpnord (Norway) 71 69 68, P Martin (Spain) 70 68 70, C Ciganda (Spain) (amateur) 65 72 71.
209 B Hauert (Germany) 69 71 69, F Bondad (Australia) 72 67 70, M Boden (Sweden) 65 73 71, L-A Pace (South Africa) 68 70 71, E Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 70 67 72.
210 B A Loucks (Wales) 72 69 69, C Rominger (Switzerland) 69 71 70.
Selected scores:
211 F Parker (England) 72 70 69 (jt 19th).
212 V Laing (Scotland) 67 73 72, L Davies (England) (jt 26th).
213 H Aitchison (England) 69 72 72 (jt 32nd).
214 S Head (England) 70 73 71, J Mundy (England) 72 70 72, L Kenny (Scotland) 71 70 73 (jt 36th).
215 R Hudson (England) 74 70 71, H Kavanagh (Ireland) 71 72 72 (jt 39th).
216 G Simpson (England) 72 71 73 (jt 45th).
219 T Johnson (England) 7u3 71 75 (jt 59th).
220 K Caithness (Scotland) 69 74 77 (jt 60th).