Daniela Darquea fired a round of 66 (-7) to hold a two-shot lead at the 72-hole mark of the Final Qualifier of Lalla Aicha Q-School.
The Ecuadorian went bogey-free on day four as she teed it up at Al Maaden Golf Marrakech for the second time.
Darquea made her first birdie of the day at the fourth hole before adding back-to-back birdies on six and seven.
The 29-year-old then rolled in back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11 before making two more on 16 and 17 to sit at the top of the leaderboard on 19-under-par.
“It was a really good round,” said Darquea. “It’s fun to play in a group where a lot of people make birdies. It was fun to play with Polly [Mack] and Teresa [Toscano] today. We had three good rounds in the group.
“My putting was better. I struggled with putting in the second round and today, I think I had the speed of the greens a little bit better. They’re different, one course from the other, so it’s good that I was able to adapt quick and obviously, have a good round today.”
Germany’s Polly Mack produced a bogey-free round for the third day in a row carding a 66 (-7) at Al Maaden.
The German made back-to-back birdies on the third and fourth holes before doing it again on the sixth and seventh.
Mack, who was a co-medallist at Q-School in 2022, made further birdies on 10, 16 and 18 to be in second place on 17-under-par.
“It’s steady golf,” said the German. “It’s being in the zone of one shot and one hole at a time of a marathon, overall. It was decent, good shots and no big mistakes, and a lot of greens hit two days ago, today and yesterday. Around the greens, on this course you can putt a lot, so it’s nice.
“Both 16 and 18 are par-5s, with me being a longer hitter they are reachable for me and I see them as birdie holes. Obviously, you still have to get them in. It’s good momentum, my putting and ball striking feels good, so I feel comfortable going into tomorrow.
“Overall, I’m a little calmer. I know what I expected, especially from last year too. I knew the courses, which usually helps, to prepare well and I know that this one is the easier course, and the other one is just trickier. Overall, I managed myself really well and I hope to have another fun, good day tomorrow.”
Two players are in a tie for third place with Wales’ Darcey Harry and Spain’s Teresa Toscano both on 15-under-par.
Spain’s Toscano shot a round of 69 (-4) around Al Maaden on day four which included six birdies and two bogeys.
Harry, who finished in a share of first place at last week’s Pre-Qualifier at Palm Golf Ourika, fired a round of 67 (-6).
Harry rolled in four birdies on her front nine before back-to-back bogeys on 10 and 11, however she immediately bounced back with birdies on 12, 13, 15 and 16 to be in outright fourth place on 15-under-par.
“It feels like I have played the exact same every single day and it’s funny I wouldn’t count any of the birdies [during my round], I’ve just played normal golf,” said the Welshwoman, who turned professional this week. “Then I look at my scorecards and it’s actually quite a lot of birdies.
“Today, I was just hitting it in the right places. It’s quite wide open here, so if there are a few forgiving drives if you get them offline, but again, it’s just hitting the right spots in the green and my putter is hot at the moment. It’s really good and the greens are rolling really nicely.
“It’s been amazing [having Paul Williams as a caddie], it’s been such a big learning curve for me. I’ve learned so much, and I can tell that it’s a massive help for my game. You never have a caddie in amateur golf, you do it on your own and I think that’s why you sometimes make silly mistakes. Here, he’s made sure that I haven’t made any, so I guess that’s the big numbers off the scorecard.
“This is my lowest tournament score. Last week in the first stage it was the lowest tournament score I’ve ever had, so I’ve shocked, myself. I knew it was always there, but it was just waiting for it to happen, and I guess it’s happened at the right time. I worked hard and it’s nice to see it pay off.”
Ireland’s Anna Foster produced a round of 70 (-2) at Royal Golf Marrakech to be in solo fifth place on 13-under-par.
“It’s funny, I shot one-under here the other day, and I felt like I played a lot better here today and I was reminding myself of that throughout the round when I wasn’t at the same score,” said Foster.
“I stayed super patient and kept grinding it out and finally, a few dropped towards the end which was great to see. Especially the last five holes, just being able to bring that momentum into tomorrow will be great.
“My short game in general was good, I had to do a bit of work today. I give a lot of credit to my scrambling, it’s quite an intimidating course to play in comparison to Al Maaden, so really trying to plot your way around is the main focus. All I was trying to do was fairway, green, two-putt, next hole. To make a few birdies was a bonus.”
New Zealand’s Amelia Garvey fired a round of six-under at Al Maaden which included an eagle, five birdies and one bogey to climb into a share of sixth place on -12.
“I’ve been playing great the last two weeks, and I haven’t been too hot on the greens,” said Garvey. “I came out here and shot even the other day and it was a really disappointing round, this course really suits me a lot.
“I can really take advantage of my length out here, so I just stayed steady all day. When there were some hard shots, I just took the middle of the green, but I really took advantage of the par-5s today and just kept it going. I didn’t make too many mistakes.
“I’m hitting driver off every tee at Al Maaden, at the other course I only hit three drivers in the round. I love it out here, I can just open the shoulders and relax a little bit. It was nice to finish today off pretty well on the back nine.”
South Africa’s Danielle Du Toit and Spain’s Blanca Fernandez both sit alongside Garvey in T6 after rounds of 68 (-4) and 73 (+1), respectively at Royal.
Sweden’s Michaela Finn and Northern Ireland’s Annabel Wilson end the day in share of ninth place on 11-under-par with Sweden’s Ellinor Südow one shot further back in 11th place.
The cut fell at +1 with 70 players making it through to the final round which will be played at Al Maaden Golf.
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