With just 18 holes left, Nataliya Guseva holds a two-shot lead at the Lalla Aicha Q-School in Marrakesh, Morocco.
The 20-year-old produced a three-under-par round of 70 on day four at Al Maaden Golf. She now leads with a total of 19-under-par.
Guseva rolled in a birdie on the fourth before dropping her only shot of the day on 15, she then eagled 16 and made a birdie on the last for her round of three-under.
“It was pretty good, it was a little bit cooler today than the previous three days and I feel there were some tricky pins out there – it was really hard to score well,” she said.
“I would say three-under was a good round. I played with Cara [Gorlei] who shot eight-under, and it was amazing to see this. Hopefully, we will get some good scores tomorrow and have fun as well.
“I just want to have fun and enjoy it. This type of pressure is a privilege, I take it as a privilege. I’m just going out there and having fun and playing golf in amazing weather.
“I’m fully ready to finish and get into the Christmas holidays. I’m going to get it done tomorrow and it will be an amazing present for Christmas.”
Cara Gorlei sits in second place
South African Gorlei is 17-under-par after she fired a bogey-free round of 65 at Al Maaden Golf.
The 27-year-old began with a birdie on the first before adding back-to-back birdies on holes four and five and again on seven and eight.
Gorlei then rolled in two more birdies on 12 and 13 before finishing in style with a birdie on the last for the best round of the day.
“I made a couple more putts than the first time I played here,” said Gorlei.
“Full status is definitely a goal of mine. It would be really nice to be able to play full-time on the LET. I have always said to my parents and my coach that I want to play on the bigger tours and to have the opportunity to do that and no stress about being the last person in the field will be great. It would be really nice.”
66 players through to final round
The cut fell at +1, with 66 players making it through to the final round to be played at Al Maaden Golf tomorrow.
Thailand’s Aunchisa Utama carded a round of three-under 70 on day four of Final Qualifier to be in third place on the leaderboard on 15-under-par.
The Thai player made three birdies on her front nine, she dropped shots on 13 and 18 but also had back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17.
One shot behind in fourth place is Mexico’s Fernanda Lira on 14-under-par after she produced a round of 70 (-2) at Royal Golf De Marrakech.
The 28-year-old started her round with a birdie on the first and nearly made an ace on the third leaving a tap-in birdie, she then made three bogeys on the trot on holes five, six and seven.
However, Lira turned the momentum around making birdies on nine, 10 and 17 to shoot a round of two-under.
“Today was a very plain round. At the beginning a little choppy – three birdies, three bogeys, three pars on the front nine,” said Lira.
“Then a little more steady on the back nine. By the end, it was getting to that boring golf that you like. Fairway, greens, just at birdies. So that was good.
“I’m really excited for tomorrow. I really came here with a focus that I wanted to play a full LET season next year. I think from day one that was in my mind. I tried to get as far ahead as possible. I think I’ve done pretty good so far. Hopefully tomorrow I can make more birdies. Whatever comes, comes. The result isn’t really on me. I will try my best.”
English amateur Annabell Fuller is in fifth place on 13-under-par after firing a round of 68 (-5) at Al Maaden Golf.
The 21-year-old from Roehampton had one eagle, four birdies and a bogey on her scorecard.
Fuller, who topped the leaderboard at the Pre-Qualifier held at Palmerie Rotana, said: “I hit it pretty solid and consistent, I hit my driver pretty well today which gave me a lot of chances on the par-fives – hence the eagle! I left a lot of shots out there; I had some things that went my way and some that didn’t. It was typical golf, but overall, I’m pretty happy.
“Today I was more able to adapt to the wind and pick up how holes are laid out differently. On the first day I didn’t understand how the last was into the wind, but then today I paid more attention to the direction of the wind which helped coming into the final stretch.
“It was great to play with Bel [Wardle] today, I have known her for a very long time and I went to Qatar with her and played all of the England tournaments with her. I haven’t seen her in a while so it was nice to catch up, we had a lot of laughs on the course today.”
Four players sit in a tie for sixth place with France’s Perrine Delacour, England’s Bel Wardle, Spain’s Luna Sobron Galmes and Singapore’s Shannon Tan all on 11-under-par.
France’s Agathe Laisne rounds out the top 10 on 10-under after she shot a round of 70 (-2) on day four of the competition.
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.
Follow all the action on @LETGolf and @letaccess on Instagram and Twitter and Ladies European Tour on Facebook – #RaiseOurGame #LETQSchool.
