Manon De Roey Photo credit: Tristan Jones/Alps Tour
SAINT-MALO, FRANCE – July 6, 2019: Belgium’s Manon De Roey produced a third round of 69 and lies one shot off the lead in the Saint-Malo Golf Mixed Open – as men and women from two tours compete against each other for the first time in Europe.
At 16-under-par, De Roey, 27, from Antwerp, is just behind Frenchman Frédéric Lacroix, who is looking for his third Alps Tour title of the season in order to qualify for the European Challenge Tour.
Italian Enrico Di Nitto is in third place on 13-under, with Frenchmen Davey Porsius and Teremoana Beaucousin, Arthur Ameil-Planchin from Switzerland, Ireland’s Jonathan Yates and England’s James Sharp two shots further back in a tie for fourth place.
De Roey is the only woman inside the top 10, but England’s Rachael Goodall shares 16th place, with Scotland’s Laura Murray and Peruvian Maria Palacios tied for 20th.
De Roey is aiming for her second LET Access Series title, following her victory in last year’s WPGA International Challenge.
Her third round included five birdies and a double-bogey on the par-3 sixth hole, but she made a great par save on 16 after hitting her tee shot right off the tee onto the sixth green and then playing a superb approach shot over a large tree.
She said: “I’m still happy with my round. It wasn’t as good as the last two days, but I still finished with a minus three. I’m just one shot behind and I still think I can win.
“Frédéric started really strongly and was six-under-after nine, so I think I need a low one tomorrow, but I’ve done it before.
“I think it’s great playing with the guys. You see a different kind of game and it’s cool to compete with them. I think it’s fair. I hit it a bit further than them up the fairways but we all had short irons in so it was the same.”
Lacroix, 24, from Paris, looked determined as he went to the turn with six birdies on the front nine, but failed to capitalise on his chances on the back nine, making a solitary birdie on the long 15th hole.
He said: “Seven under, it’s a good round, even though it could have been a bit lower on the back nine; that’s golf. The wind picked up and it changed a little bit, but I missed a couple of easy shots.”
The final round will begin at 8.41am local time on Sunday and the last group tees off at 11.45am, with the final putt expected to drop at 4.15pm.
