Walsh losing grip on LPGA Q-Series spot after third round 74 in Spain
Lauren Walsh. Picture: Tristan Jones / LET
Lauren Walsh could miss out on a place in next week's Final Stage of the LPGA Q-Series after carding a third-round 74 in the season-ending Andalucía Costa Del Sol Open de España.
The Castlewarden star (25) must finish the season inside the top 10 in the final Ladies European Tour Order of Merit to earn an exemption into the battle for 25 LPGA Tour cards in Alabama.
But she was projected to fall from 10th to 12th behind France's Perrine Delacour and Canada's Anna Huang after carding a disappointing third round at Real Guadalhorce Club de Golf in Malaga.
The Co. Kildare talent followed a birdie at the fourth with a bogey at the sixth, a triple bogey eight at the seventh, and another dropped shot at the 11th.
While she fought back with birdies at the 15th and 18th, she was joint 39th on one under par and trailing Delacour and Huang in the Order of Merit projections.
Delacour, who has already secured her spot at the Final Stage of the LPGA Q-Series, was projected to jump from 15th to 10th in the rankings after carding a six-under 66.
The French star lies alone in second on 12-under par, just three strokes behind Thailand's Trichat Cheenglab, who shot 72 to remain at the top of the leaderboard.
“I would say I’m sorry for the Thai fans watching me, it was a boring game today, but tomorrow I will work very hard to get my second LET win,” said Cheenglab, who won the 2023 LET Order of Merit and Rookie of the Year titles.
“Anything can happen in golf. Tomorrow, I will focus on my first shot off the tee. It wasn’t as I expected today. I got just two birdies today because I didn’t have any chances for the short ones; I was further away. Tomorrow is going to be very fun for me to play in the leading group.
“I will shoot five-under tomorrow because I lost two points today when I missed short putts. The lines break a lot and the greens are faster. I will do my best tomorrow.”
Walsh must also keep an eye on Huang, who shares sixth on eight under after a 68 in an event where she needs a top-13 finish to overtake the former Curtis Cup star in the battle for that ticket to Q-Series.
Elm Park's Anna Foster also had a difficult day in Spain, carding a 74 to share 32nd on two-under.
Douglas' Sara Byrne hit 17 greens in regulation but had 36 putts in a 73 to share 47th on one-over.
As for the battle for the LET's Order of Merit, points leader Shannon Tan and second-ranked Mimi Rhodes matched scores for the third day running, carding 70s to head into Sunday tied for sixth on eight under.
At the Sunshine Tour's Fitch and Leedes PGA Championship, The K Club's Liam Grehan shot a third round 69 and goes into the final round tied for 31st on three-under, ten shots behind leader Luke Gerling of South Africa at St Francis Links.
Meanwhile, Ricardo Gouveia fired a third round 66 to grab a share of the lead heading into the final round of the DP World Tour's BMW Australian PGA Championship at Royal Brisbane.
He shares top spot with home favourite Anthony Quayle (67) and Spain's David Puig (65) on 13-under-par.
Past champion Min Woo Lee and halfway leader Kazuma Kobori were one shot behind the leaders in a tie for fourth.
