Giulia Sergas hangs on to top spot at New Zealand Women’s Open
Giulia Sergas retains her lead in the New Zealand Women’s Open after three rounds. The 31-year-old Italian golfer is drawing closer to her first victory in her 11 year career. Sergas carded two under par 70 in the third round to extend her lead to four strokes,
which was two strokes overnight. Sergas stands at the top of the leader board with a total aggregate of 13 under par 203 after first 54 holes.
The defending Champion, Laura Davies of England who made a comeback in the second round after disastrous first round of par 72, is in hot pursuit and looks to defend her title as she is placed second on the leader board. Davies carded three under par 69
in the third round to make the total aggregate of nine under par 207 after three rounds. She was in a 16-way for 15th place on the first day but after carding six under par 66 on the second day, Davies improved her spot on the leader board to be
tied in fourth place with three other players.
Sergas was excited to be paired with the legendary Davies for the final round. "It is something to look forward to. I just want to play golf and have fun. Laura Davies is a very special woman to play with," she said.
Australian Kristie Smith slipped to fourth place tying with three players including Cecilie Lundgreen of Norway, Diana Luna of Italy and Swedish Linda Wessberg with 71. Wessberg was unable to carry on her blazing form from the second round in which she equaled
the course record of nine under par 63. The wonder kid, 12-year-old amateur golfer Lydia Ko of New Zealand, posted par 72 on the third day. She was tied for eighth place with You-Na Park of South Korea.
Yet another debate to soften the rules of Golf was sparked after Sergas was penalized one stroke for playing slowly on the 18th hole. Fraser Munro, the rules official on the Ladies European Tour, said that the players were warned about going overtime
earlier when they were moving between the 13th and 14th hole. "The players were then formally informed that they would be timed as they came off the 14th hole and they remained on the clock until the 18th when Giulia Sergas unfortunately
exceeded the accumulated time and was penalized on hole 18," he said. However, Sergas was not happy about the decision. "They said I was a little too slow. It could've been, I play really, really fast.” She said with tears in her eyes, “It was really upsetting
because I am a really fast player and I got penalized for just one hole that went bad for me. I am really upset about it and the decision regarding it."
With Davies back in form and Sergas hungry for the first title of her career, the last day ensures plenty of drama to come.
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