Paris, France: Helen Briem posted a five-under 66 and team-mate Alexandra Forsterling shot a one-under 70 as Germany bolted to a four-stroke lead over the United States and Chinese Taipei with a round three score of 136 at Le Golf National that is the second lowest in Women’s World Amateur Team Championship history.
“It’s amazing. The girls were on fire today,” said German Captain Pia Gassner. “They played their hearts out. They played with gusto. They wanted it and held it together even when the last holes are so tough. They did such a great job.”
The Germans stand at 13-under par at 415 with the US and Chinese Taipei sharing second at 419. Sweden, which held the 36-hole lead by two strokes over Germany and the US, shot 143 and sits in fourth place.
Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan led the Chinese Taipei challenge in round three with a four-under 67, her best return of the tournament, while Liao Hsin-chun continued her outstanding week with a 70, her third successive sub-par round.
“It has been an honour to play here. This is a challenging course. I hope we will play better tomorrow. Tiffany didn’t let me down,” said Gabriel Huang, Captain of the Chinese Taipei team.
Also in contention heading into the final round are Japan (tied sixth, 422) and Australia (tied ninth, 428).
Of the other Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation member countries taking part, Korea are tied for 13th on 430, followed by Thailand (21st, 440), Hong Kong (23rd, 442), New Zealand (tied 24th, 443), the Philippines (28th, 448), India (tied 29th, 451), Singapore (tied 40th, 462) and Guan (55th, 508).
In the individual standings, Chinese Taipei’s Liao is second on six-under 208, one shot behind pace-setting German Briem.
Japan’s Saki Baba, the US Women’s Amateur champion, is equal fifth on 210 with American Rose Zhang, number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. A further stroke back in a share of ninth is Chinese Taipei’s Huang.
Korean Kim Min-byeol is tied for 15th on 212, followed by Australians Kelsey Bennett (tied 19th, 214) and Kirsten Rudgeley (tied 22nd, 215), New Zealand’s Fiona Xu and Japan’s Miku Ueta (tied 28th, 217) and Thai Suvichaya Vinijchaitham and Hong Kong’s Arianna Lau (tied 32nd, 218).
Briem, a member of the victorious European team at the 2021 Junior Solheim Cup, birdied five of her first seven holes and finished with eight birdies against three bogeys.
“It is not often that you play with world number one (Rose Zhang) and number two (Ingrid Lindblad) in one flight,” Briem said. “I was a little nervous at the start because there were so many people. After my start I felt much calmer and went low.”
Gassner felt that an unassuming attitude coming into the WWATCs played in her team’s favour. “Sometimes when you don’t have expectations that’s the best thing,” she said. “You don’t put pressure on yourself. They just went out and played and played well. Now, we must manage expectations for tomorrow.”
Zhang, who shot a two-under 69, had a positive perspective of her team’s position.
“We just have stay steady and have the mindset that we are trailing but we have the skill set and the mental fortitude to push forward,” said the three-time Mark H. McCormack Award winner. “We are better coming from behind and this is team play. I don’t think anything is impossible. I have full faith in my team-mates.”
