Nataliya Guseva fired a five-under round of 67 on day three in Morocco to lead the Lalla Aicha Q-School Final Qualifier Marrakech by two.
The 20-year-old produced rounds of 67 on the first two days of the tournament and continued her excellent form.
Playing at Royal Golf De Marrakech, Guseva rolled in back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes before making three birdies on the trot on eight, nine and 10.
She dropped her only shot of the day on the 13th but soon made up for it with another birdie on 17 to seal a round of five-under and sit at the top of the leaderboard on 16-under-par.
"I'm really happy. It feels amazing being here in Morocco,” she said.
"I've just got to try to keep going, take it shot by shot and not think about the end of the tournament. Stay in the moment."
Guseva played the 2023 season on the Epson Tour securing her first victory at the 2023 Black Desert Resort Championship in September.
She comes into this tournament off the back of earning her LPGA Tour card at Q-Series where she finished in a tie for 23rd place.
Amateur Shannon Tan sits in second place
Tan finished the day at 14-under-par after she fired a round of 68 (-5) at Al Maaden Golf.
The Singapore player was a co-medallist at the Pre-Qualifier held at Noria Golf and picked up where she left off last week.
In a similar fashion to Guseva, Tan has produced three rounds of 68 over the three competition days and today’s round of five-under included seven birdies and two bogeys.
Tan, who is in her second year at Texas Tech University, competed as an amateur in the Aramco Team Series Presented by PIF – Singapore earlier this season.
Having rolled in five birdies on the first two rounds and seven birdies in round three, the 19-year-old acknowledged that she’d improved certain areas of her game.
“Today, I was four-under for the par-fives which was a lot better and that was the biggest difference. I had a bit of a struggle with the 3-wood and 5-wood over the first two days but today I sorted it out.”
Chasing the leaders
Slovenia’s Ana Belac is in outright third place on 13-under-par having carded a round of 70 (-3) at Al Maaden Golf.
Belac dropped her only shot of the day on the 15th and made birdies on holes four, seven, eight and 14.
“The wind was definitely stronger; I think it played a touch more challenging,” said the Slovenian.
Two players sit in a share of fourth place with Thailand’s Aunchisa Utama and Mexico’s Fernanda Lira both on 12-under-par.
It was quite the round for Utama, who goes by the nickname Jan, as she began with two birdies in her first two holes before making a hole-in-one on the par-three third.
The Thai player made a bogey on the fifth but bounced back with birdies on eight and 11 before dropping another shot on 13, however, she made another birdie on 16 for her round of 67 (-5).
While it was a more frustrating day for Lira, who led after rounds one and two, as she carded a level par round of 73.
India’s Pranavi Urs and Spain’s Luna Sobron Galmes sit in a tie for sixth place on 11-under-par with South Africa’s Cara Gorlei in outright eighth place on nine-under-par.
Three players round are in share of ninth place with France’s Agathe Laisne, Poland’s Dorota Zalewska and English amateur Annabell Fuller all on eight-under-par.
The fourth round will begin at 9.30 am (local time) and there will be a cut to the top 65 and ties at the end of the day.
Competition format
90 holes of stroke-play competition with a cut after 72 holes with top 65 and ties progressing to the final day. For the first four rounds, competitors will alternate between Royal Golf Marrakech and Al Maaden Golf Marrakech. The fifth round will be played at Al Maaden Golf Marrakech.
What the players receive
Status received upon successful completion:
- Category 12: Qualifying-School Top 20 – Players finishing Nos. 1-20 (and ties)
- Category 16: #21-50 Qualifying-School – Players finishing Nos. 21-50 (and ties)
- Category 19: Remaining Final Qualifiers – Players finishing outside the Top 50 and ties
Any players who make the cut but finish outside the Top 50 and ties will be eligible for Let Membership in Category 19. Players who fail to make the cut after 72 holes will be eligible for LET Membership in Category 19. In all categories players will be ranked in final score order.
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