Australia’s Kelsey Bennett will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Hulencourt Women’s Open after she fired a three-under-par 69 in the third round to leapfrog Carolina Chacarra at the top of the standings at 10-under-par.
Two behind the Spanish rookie before the beginning of play, Bennett got off to a strong start birdieing the par-3 second hole to narrow the gap. The ninth hole would soon cause a three-shot swing handing the Aussie a two-shot advantage as Chacarra carded a double-bogey with Bennett birdieing the par-5.
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With a two-horse race developing at Hulencourt Golf Club, both players would birdie the 10th – Bennett after dialling in an excellent approach – before the 26-year-old handed a shot back to her Spanish rival with a bogey at the 11th.
As the wind picked up in Belgium, a tense back-nine followed with Bennett picking up a birdie at the 15th to reclaim her two-shot lead as Chacarra parred home for a round of two-over 74.
Bennett is chasing a second win on the Ladies European Tour (LET) after claiming the Australian Women’s Classic on home soil in March. She is currently third on the LET Order of Merit – the highest position of anyone in the field this week.
“It was a pretty solid day,” she said. “I actually didn’t really know what the scoreboard was doing, so it’s good to know I’m now two shots clear. Nothing was overly special but nothing was really bad. I was plotting my way around and this course sets up well for my game. The shot on the 10th was very nice. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing tomorrow.
“It was pretty breezy out there. Most of it is quite a lot of the cross-breeze, so it’s pretty tricky. If you the miss the fairway and you’re in that long grass, you’re not finding it. I actually had two shots today that went in there and I got blessed as they were not in the long grass! I’ll count my blessings and take them.”
Meanwhile, Chacarra is teeing up in her only second LET event of the season and carded a course-record 65 in the second round. She is the brother of Eugenio, a multiple-time winner on the DP World Tour.
“It was still a good day today,” Chacarra said. “It was definitely tougher with the windy conditions. It was definitely harder. I hit it as close as yesterday, but the putts just didn’t drop. I fought hard out there and am very proud of myself. I’ll try to keep up the momentum tomorrow.
“The ninth was just a couple of bad shots in a row. Just one bad hole. But there were plenty of good holes and good shots out there. So I’ll try to stay positive and go again tomorrow. I don’t have a score in mind tomorrow but will definitely need to go under par and make as little mistakes as possible. Yesterday’s score definitely gives me confidence. It’s a course I like and there are birdie opportunities out there.”
In a tie for third at five-under par sit the duo of Indian Olympians, Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar. Using this week’s tournament as preparation for next week’s Amundi Evian Championship, Ashok, a five-time winner on the LET, produced a grandstand finish by birdieing three of her final holes for a round of 70 in testing conditions.
“I didn’t feel like I had my good stuff today,” the Indian said. “But I was able to roll in a couple of long putts coming in, so it ended up good.
“It’s my first time to Belgium. I’ve always struggled at Evian and I figured out it’s because I always go straight there from the US. I felt like getting to Europe earlier this year to get on the same time zone. A week before might be helpful and of course it’s always nice to be back on the LET.”
Dagar, a two-time LET winner, carded a round of 71 in Belgium to remain five shots adrift of the leading total.
Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab, winner of the 2023 Order of Merit, sits alone in fifth heading into the final round at three-under-par. Ireland’a Anna Foster, England’s Bronte Law and Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux share sixth on two-under.
Englishwoman Lianna Bailey matched Bennett’s round of the day (69) to move into ninth at one-under alongside recent LET winner, Smilla Tarning Soenderby from Denmark. The 25-year-old was victorious at the MCB Ladies Classic – Mauritius in May.
Elsewhere, major winner Georgia Hall continued her comeback trail after having a baby boy, Conor, earlier this year. The Englishwoman carded a round of one-under 71 in the third round to move to T-16.
