Ashleigh Buhai carded the best round of the day on Saturday in the third round of the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open at Dumbarnie Links in Leven, Scotland, as her five-under-par 67 took her to within one shot of the lead.
She made six birdies and just one bogey as she moved to eight-under for the tournament and a share of fourth behind the three-way tie for the lead between America’s Ryann O’Toole, Charley Hull of England and Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand who were at nine-under going into the final round.
Buhai has said she was looking forward to the stint on links courses ahead of the AIG Women’s British Open, and she has had great results in the last two Opens with a fifth-place finish in 2019 and a share of 11th last year, and she revelled in the conditions at Dambarnie as she set about getting in touch with the lead.
“I love links golf!” she said. “You have to be creative, use your imagination and hit different shots high and low depending on what the wind is doing.
“It’s been windy the whole week so every day I’ve felt a little more comfortable playing this course as the wind direction has been constant. I’m striking the ball well which is key in the wind, but my putting has been good too. I holed a few good par putts to keep me going on the front nine, and then took advantage of the putts I had for birdies.”
She picked up two birdies on the outward nine on the seventh and the eighth to turn in two-under. By the time she reached the 16th, she had picked up three more birdies, on the 12th, 13th and 15th. She dropped a shot on the par-four 16th, but regained that stroke immediately with a birdie on 17.
Paula Reto had a three-under 69 in her third round to move to two-under for the tournament and a share of 25th.
