Hull moves three clear at Royal Pines
BY iseekgolf.com | ALPG Tour | 2009 ANZ Ladies Masters | Round Three | 07 Feb 2009
Queensland’s Katherine Hull has birdied the final two holes to close the third round of the ANZ Ladies Masters with a three-shot lead over fellow Queenslander Tamie Durdin.
Hull, who comes off the back of two runner-up placings at the New Zealand and New South Wales Opens, reeled off six birdies and two bogeys on the way to a superb, and perhaps tournament winning, round of 68.
Hull is confident she has what it takes to win the tournament tomorrow.
“I believe I can win but there are 18 holes out there that still need to be played and there are some great names on the leaderboard. I will go out there tomorrow and stay foccussed on my game and hopefully it is enough in the end.”
After a poor start to her 2008 LPGA campaign, Hull took her game to the next level in the second half of the year with a victory at the Canadian Women’s Open in August and she eventually closed the season with prizemoney totalling over one million dollars.
Durdin, who is a regular on the JLPGA Tour alongside Nikki Campbell, proved to be the surprise packet of the day after firing seven birdies to move from equal 20th overnight in to outright second on nine under despite bogeying the 17th hole.
Durdin will be keen to make amends after leading in to the final round of the ANZ Ladies Masters last year before falling away with a final round 76 to finish in equal 23rd.
American Mollie Fankhauser quietly played her way in to contention today with a 4 under 68 taking her in to outright 3rd at -8 and just four off the lead.
After turning pro in 2004, the 29-year-old Fankhauser enjoyed limited success on the Futures Tour before graduating to the LPGA Tour in 2007, where here best finish came at the Longs Drugs Challenge in October of 2008 with a T11.
It was a disappointing day for the second round leader, Nikki Campbell, who slumped to equal 15th following a +6 (78).
Six-time champion Karrie Webb shot 69 and finished the day in a six-way tie for 15th place at four under.
With seven players within six shots of the lead, a tournament win is not out the question for those trailing Hull, however the determined 26-year-old will not want to let a third tournament in a row slip from her grasp.
