Amandeep 4th as three Indian girls on track for European card

Amandeep Drall struggled but kept her poise to return a one-under 71 that kept her in contention for the top place after three rounds of the Ladies European Tour's Lalla Aicha Tour School Final Stage, here.

Drall, 24, who was co-leading the field after 36 holes is now Tied-4th after 54 holes. She has an aggregate of 11-under and four holes behind leader Frenchwoman Celine Boutier (67).

Boutier, who represented Europe at The 2011 PING Junior Solheim Cup, is now at 15-under-par after 54 holes and two clear of Australian amateur Celina Yuan, with Agathe Sauzon a stroke further behind in third.
 

The other Indians also did well. Neha Tripathi with a second straight 69 moved to T-10th at six-under, while Vani Kapoor (69) was T-17 at five-under.

Saaniya Sharma (73) at even par was T-36 and Sharmila Nicollet (70) at one-over moved to T-47. Gaurika Bishnoi (80) was T-98 and Anisha Padukone (79) was T-114th.

Players who finish in the top 30 and ties will earn Ladies European Tour Membership in category 8 for 2017, while those that finish from positions 31st to 60th and ties after the cut will earn Membership in Category 9b.

With the Q-School being played over two courses, Amandeep Drall was the best placed of those who played on the Samanah Course after a third round of 71.

"The front nine was going fine and I was two-under until the eighth hole, because I was sticking it close and holing putts, but a three-putt bogey on the ninth put me off a bit. I started with a couple of pars on the back nine and then a birdie on the 12th hole. After that, on the par 3s, off the tees I was pushing all my irons so they were not on line. I missed an up and down and then missed two more greens and made up and downs. The iron play was a bit off today, but the rest was okay," she said.

"The way I was playing I am happy with one-under. This was one of those off days so I'm really looking forward to the next two days. A couple of good putts tomorrow and keep the bogeys off the card will be good enough. The expectation is still the same: to get in the top 30. If I could get the win, that would be nice but I won't put pressure on myself. Two good rounds and I'll be happy with a top 30 finish and I'll be looking forward to playing on the Ladies European Tour next year."

Andrea Wong from California, USA, recorded the lowest round of the tournament with a nine-under-par 63 on the Amelkis course to climb into fifth place.