Brewerton on day three in Tenerife

(Saturday 26th September 2009) — Becky Brewerton of Wales kept a firm grip on the Tenerife Ladies Open, reaching 12-under-par after three rounds at Golf Costa Adeje.

The recent Open de Espana Femenino champion followed rounds of 66 and 69 with another 69 on a scorching day in the Canary Islands.

Brewerton finished three clear of England’s Felicity Johnson, with Spain’s Tania Elosegui and Germany’s Bettina Hauert two strokes further behind.

“It was very steady,” said Brewerton, a two-time winner on the Ladies European Tour. “It wasn’t too much glorious golf but I took advantage of the par fives, made all my birdies there for the day. It was tough again; the greens are getting tougher every day. I was very, very pleased with that.”

The 26-year-old Solheim Cup star from Abergele was in a relaxed mood having birdied the first, eighth, 11th and 13th holes. Her only error of the day was a three-putt bogey on the tricky par-three 14th.

“Another day like that tomorrow, I think that will be good enough and I’ve got to go out with the same attitude: keep playing the way I’ve been playing; try and stay aggressive on the greens,” she said.

Johnson, 22, from Birmingham, is yet to win on the Ladies European Tour and hopes to better her career best finish of third at last year’s Goteborg Masters in Sweden.

“It was good today. It was the first time I’ve really put myself in this position to go on and compete on Sunday,” said the third year tour pro, who shot a ten-under 62 in the first round of the Goteborg Masters.

She birdied the first, third, fifth, seventh and ninth holes going out, with two further birdies at the 13th and 18th. Her only dropped shot of the day came at the fourth hole.

Felicity Johnson

“I was just trying to go out there and do what I’ve been doing all week: fairways and greens and take it from there. I putted really well today, which was the key to my score really.

“It was just simple golf, which I think is the key to this course. If you put your driver on the par three, your tee shot in the wrong place, it’s really difficult to make par. I was swinging it well so it was just a matter of hitting the right shots at the right time and playing simple golf.”

Hauert, who won twice on the LET in 2007, shot 67 to share third place with Elosegui, who had a 68.

The highlight of Hauert’s round was when she holed a 50 foot birdie putt up a three-tiered green at the 14th. “I was front right and while I was reading the line I already had a smile on my face because I love those challenges,” she said.

Elosegui, who claimed her maiden LET title in the Netherlands in June, was also five shots off the pace and said, via translation: “It was a good return, but I am not absolutely satisfied. I seem to do well at hole-13 because I had an eagle there again today. I have a chance of victory but I am going to have to work very hard.”

Spain’s Beatriz Recari (73) and Italian Stefania Croce (67) shared fifth on five-under, with English rookie Elizabeth Bennett (67) and Spain’s Emma Cabrera-Bello (69) a shot further back in a tie for seventh place.

England’s Laura Davies, who was at the airport on her way home on Friday evening when she was told that she had made the cut, followed a 77 with a 66, moving to one-under for the tournament in a share of 15th.

She said that the putting made the difference: “I had 36 putts yesterday and a couple of three putts. I hit 16 greens and had 30 putts today and that’s always a good day. The grain is so difficult to spot we were just putting the putter down and hitting it. The majority of them went in.”

Final round action begins at 9.20am on Sunday, with the leaders out at 11.20am.