Hiding her face with her hands after miscuing a shot into the water, Christine Wolf would have been excused if she had broken down at the end of Round Three at the Hero Women’s Indian Open here on Saturday.
The Austrian, instead, walked up to the green, completed her round and even managed a smile for the spectators despite losing her spot at the top of the leaderboard.
Two years ago, Wolf came closest to winning her maiden LET title here before fading away in the final round. This time, the 29-year-old had another meltdown, on the final hole of the day, to lose a four-shot lead and slip to tied second at the DLF Golf and Country Club.
Becky Morgan, Eleanor Givens and Nicole Broch Larsen instead led the leaderboard. Till the 18th, however, Wolf had been holding her own. Playing safe and preferring caution, a couple of birdies on the front nine helped her stay in front.
“I was getting quicker with my drives and it affected the game. And then the 18th happened, which kind of changed it all. But better today than tomorrow. As it stands, I still have a chance to recover and make it all count tomorrow,” she said optimistically.
Leading scores (round 3):212: Becky Morgan (Wal, 72, 72, 68), Nicole Broch Larsen (Den, 74, 69, 69), Eleanor Givens (Eng, 71, 71, 70); 213: Felicity Johnson (Eng, 72, 72, 69), Manon Molle (Fra, 72, 70, 71), Christine Wolf (Aut, 68, 68, 77); 214: Olivia Cowan (Ger, 71, 74, 69), Noora Komulainen (Fin, 72, 72, 70), Marianne Skarpnord (Nor, 68, 74, 72); 215: Caroline Hedwall (Swe, 69, 77, 69); 216: Isabelle Boineau (Fra, 76, 75, 65), Karolin Lampert (Ger, 75, 74, 67), Laura Fuenfstueck (Ger, 72, 76, 68), Kanyalak Preedasuttijit (Tha, 75, 70, 71), Sarah Kemp (Aus, 73, 72, 71), Florentyna Parker (Eng, 69, 76, 71), Kanphanitnan Muangkhumsakul (Tha, 72, 71, 73), Tvesa Malik (Ind, 72, 71, 73).
